My Africa Today

The Rwandan government is in final preparations to receive about 60,000 Rwandans who will return from Tanzania next year due to the East African country’s crackdown on illegal immigrants in its territory. Foreign Minister Dr Charles Murigande said an agreement had been reached between the two countries to finalise the process by the end of next year. “We have been holding meetings with our Tanzanian counterparts over the issue of illegal Rwandan settlers living in their territory, and very soon an estimated 60,000 refugees will be repatriated,” the minister told The New Times on Wednesday.

He said many of those to be repatriated are pastoralists living in Karagwe District.

A couple of months ago, Tanzania expelled an estimated 3,000 Rwandans who allegedly had no rights to live in the vast East African nation.

Murigande said representatives of both governments held comprehensive discussions on the matter last June in Kigali, after which it was decided that the repatriation process would be finalised in September 2007.

The minister said that the Kigali administration had already sent a delegation to sensitise the Rwandans about the impending repatriation.

He said the delegation scouted different parts of Tanzania that are occupied by Rwandan refugees, particularly Karagwe District for 15 days, urging them to return home voluntarily.

Most of these refugees are opposed to the move because the areas they currently occupy are vast enough for their animals to graze, a drastic difference from the situation in Rwanda.

Murigande said both governments had agreed to let the process take that long, because of other activities involved. Such activities involve mass vaccination of the refugees’ animals against cattle diseases.

Over the past few years the government stepped up efforts against cattle diseases such as foot and mouth, with serious restrictions for the entry of cattle and dairy products into the country.

Without delving into the details, the minister said an inter-ministerial committee between the ministries of Infrastructure, Education, and Lands and Environment has already decided on the areas in which to resettle the refugees upon return.

A recent World Food Programme emergency report indicates that the number of expelled Rwandan refugees from Tanzania was soaring each month.

The August 25, 2006 report said that 610 returnees were still accommodated in 171 temporary tent stands, and that 520 had been settled.

Murigande said the expulsions are in no way related to the relations between the two countries. Tanzania had the right to expel illegal immigrants.

“Tanzania claims that there are people who have been living on her territory illegally and they have decided to send them away. So, as a sovereign state, this decision cannot be overlooked,” he said.


He however could not rule out a possibility of some opportunists using the situation to distabilise legal settlers, and robbing them of their property.

The majority of the expelled Rwandans say their cattle and other assets were confiscated from them by Tanzanians during the process.

The two governments set up a joint team to study the returnees’ complaints and a report is yet to be released.

Inspired by nature, and one of its most beautiful elements, gold, Nokia today unveiled the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold - a bold and prestigious new style statement. Encased in a luxurious 18-carat gold plating, the precisely crafted Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold combines timeless design with a contemporary flair, resulting in an exclusive display of personal style and elegance. The Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold is now available in select markets, with an estimated retail price of EUR 1000, before taxes or subsidies.

A smooth sliding mechanism reveals a high-resolution camera (2 Megapixel) and the intuitive and ergonomic keypad. Further “inner beauty” highlights of the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold include a stunning color screen (up to 262K colors), and a wide array of messaging functionalities. The elegance of the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold is also complemented by a coordinating desk stand and color-matching Bluetooth headset.

Design: Nokia

Any concept vehicle with a name derived from the word the Inuit’s use for their dwellings made of Earth, whalebone, and animal skins is bound to be interesting. Hyundai Europe’s Design and Technical Center in Russelsheim, Germany partnered with GE Plastics in the Netherlands to create the QarmaQ a quirky looking Crossover Coup concept.

One of the QarmaQ’s key features is its innovative use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles to create a large portion of the vehicle’s skin. GE says the use of plastics, instead of more traditional metal and glass, gives the vehicle a 130-pound weight savings. That weight loss equates to 20 gallons a year savings in gas, not to mention fewer plastic bottles clogging up the local landfill. These numbers are nothing to scoff when you think of all the cars on the road.

The Green theme extends further as the vehicle use less paint and other chemicals that create massive amounts of greenhouse gases. Hyundai said some of the production techniques used in the QarmaQ could roll out beginning with the 2008 model year.

Design: Hyundai [ Via: Treehugger ]

I prefer using my bank card over physical cash and here’s why. With a card, I can’t view real-time data on my account usage. In a way I feel I can keep shopping all willy nilly without a care in the world and not feel guilty since I can’t see what it’s doing to my checking account - no doubt bleeding from my frivolous shopping trips.

Designer Jacob Palmborg’s solve for shopaholics like me is an RFID card linked to every account you have. A small interface indicates your own economic situation and forecasts what effects your purchases might have on your future economic status. The whole thing works wirelessly so no actual date is stored on the card. The card also has biometric security so only you can access it. This opens up the possibility of it being your driver’s license, student ID, passport, etc. Now if it only had customizable wallpapers, I’m sold!

Designer: Jacob Palmborg

Stephanie Nieuwoudt

Nairobi

Strolling through the aisles of one of the shops of the biggest supermarket chain in Kenya, it is easy for a South African to spot familiar brands. There are boxes and bottles full of cereal, instant coffee, fruit, soup, toiletries and other products imported from South Africa. And then there are the well-known clothing retailers.

But these products do not come cheaply. Due to import and excise duties those who want to purchase these brands in Kenya pay up to three times more than they would in South Africa. It is painful for consumers in Kenya but there is still a ready market for South African goods in the east African country.

South African exporters have the upper hand to their Kenyan counterparts. Import and export figures for the month of March 2007 show a trade imbalance between the two countries. South Africa exported produce worth 57,6 million US dollars to Kenya while Kenya exported only a fraction of that amount (1,86 million US dollars) to South Africa.

Kenya exports, among other products, tea, coffee, flowers and vegetables to South Africa.

According to a media release issued by South Africa's department of foreign affairs, there are more than 30 South African companies in Kenya, making South Africa the biggest foreign direct investor in the east African country.

Kenya is also South Africa's biggest trading partner on the continent outside of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

These facts are testament to a growing self-reliance in Africa, an interdependence that will make development and progress on the continent less contingent on ties with either the West or the East.

But it also touches a nerve that is becoming ever rawer as the economic giant that is South Africa strides more confidently across what is in many ways its own backyard. Its large trade imbalances with fellow African countries expose South Africa to accusations that it has, ironically, become imperialist.

"Yes, trade imbalances exist," South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma told reporters in Nairobi during her visit to Kenya in November last year. "However, it is something that can only be corrected in the long run. Our economic relations are like a long distance run, not a 100 meter sprint."

This trade imbalance is supposed to be addressed by a pending joint commission for bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the South African high commissioner to Kenya, Tony "Gab" Msimanga, told a Kenyan radio station recently.

Among others, the agreement will address in an amicable manner trade problems that both countries experience. This will be provided for in the soon to be concluded legal framework, he said.

The idea of a joint commission was raised in 2003 when Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki visited South Africa for Thabo Mbeki's inauguration for his second term in office as president.

However, any possibility of the agreement bringing Kenya to the level of an equal partner with South Africa is far away. "I do not see this happening soon," a South African businessperson, who asked to remain anonymous, told IPS.

"We are dealing with supply and demand and at this stage South Africa wants less from Kenya while Kenya is much more dependent on the more diversified markets of South Africa," he pointed out.

Stewart Henderson, chairperson of the South African Business Association of Kenya, told IPS that the value of the joint commission will lie in the easing up of red tape. There is also the potential of huge gains in the building of human capacity.

"South African road engineers will for example share knowledge and skills with their Kenyan counterparts. It is absolutely essential that both the public and private sectors get involved in capacity building. The Kenyan private sector is incredibly dynamic and can for the most part measure up to international standards," he said.

There is room for improvement regarding the time lapse between the application and the issuing of business licences and the maze of bureaucracy that businesspeople confront before they can establish a business in Kenya, according to Henderson.

American policy is based overwhelmingly on the idea that Africa can lift itself out of extreme poverty through its own efforts, that aid is largely misused because of corruption, and that the United States already gives generous amounts. This is wrong on all counts: Africa is trapped in poverty, many countries are well poised to use aid effectively, and America’s contribution is tiny relative to Africa’s needs, America’s promises and America’s wealth.

Africa suffers simultaneously from three challenges that trap it in poverty. First, Africa does not grow enough food. Unlike Asia, Africa did not have a Green Revolution in food production. In 1965, India averaged 854 kilograms of grain per hectare in use, while sub-Saharan Africa averaged almost the same, 773 kilograms per hectare. But by 2000, India was producing 2,293 kilograms per hectare, while Africa was producing only 1,118.

Second, Africa suffers from disease unlike any other part of the world. Africa’s AIDS pandemic is well known; its malaria pandemic, which will claim three million lives and a billion illnesses this year, is not. India controlled malaria after the 1960’s, while Africa did not, one reason being that Africa’s malaria-bearing mosquitoes are particularly adept at transmitting the disease.

Third, Africa is economically isolated, owing to very poor infrastructure, large over-land distances and many landlocked countries. These geographical barriers keep much of Africa—especially rural Africa—out of the mainstream of international trade. Without the benefits of trade, much of rural Africa struggles at subsistence levels.

Bush might think that America is doing a lot to help overcome these problems, but the truth is that U.S. aid is minimal. Blair’s Africa Commission, as well as the U.N. Millennium Project, found that Africa needs about $50 billion per year in aid by 2010. America’s fair share of the total is about $15 billion per year. Yet official U.S. aid to Africa is only $3 billion per year, and much of that covers salaries for American consultants rather than investments in Africa’s needs.

This tragically small sum amounts to just three cents for every $100 of U.S. gross national product, which is less than two days of U.S. military spending.

Not only is U.S. aid a tiny fraction of what it should be, but American explanations for the lack of aid are wrong. Bush and others imply that Africa wastes the aid through corruption. But impoverished and slow-growing African countries like Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Benin and Malawi are ranked as having less corruption than fast-growing Asian countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Indeed, America’s own Millennium Challenge Account has already recognized such African countries for their strong governance. Good governance surely will help in Africa and elsewhere, but corruption should not be used as an excuse not to help Africa.

On hunger, the key is to help Africa achieve its own Green Revolution. Rich countries should help African farmers use improved seed varieties, more fertilizer and better water management, such as small-scale irrigation. The techniques are known, but Africa’s farmers are too poor to get started. With increased help to African farmers to grow more food (as opposed to shipping food aid from the United States), it would be possible to double or even triple crop yields.

On disease, malaria could be controlled by 2008 using proven, low-cost methods. But, again, Africa cannot afford them. The first goal should be to distribute long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to all of Africa’s rural poor within four years. The best estimates show that Africa needs about 300 million bed nets, and that the cost per net (including shipping) is around $10, for a sum of $3 billion. This cost would be spread over several years. In addition, Africa needs help with anti-malaria medicines, diagnostic equipment and training of community health workers.

On economic isolation, Africa needs help with the basics—roads and ports—but there is also an opportunity to “leapfrog” technology. Cell phones and Internet connectivity could reach all of Africa at low cost, ending the economic isolation of hundreds of millions of people. Some reasonable estimates put the cost at around $1 billion for an Africa-wide fiber-optic network that could bring Internet connectivity and telephone service across the continent’s villages and cities.

Africa is ready to break out of poverty—if the United States and other rich countries help. Europe appears poised to do more, while the United States appears to be the main obstacle. The G-8 Summit provides an opportunity for America, which will spend $500 billion on its military this year, to make a lasting—and certainly more cost-effective —contribution to global security by saving millions of lives in Africa and helping its people escape extreme poverty.

Mr Adebari said it was a great honour

A Nigerian man who arrived in Ireland as an asylum seeker seven years ago has become the country's first black mayor.

Rotimi Adebari has been elected as first citizen of Portlaoise in County Laois.

The 43-year-old fled from Nigeria in 2000 because of religious persecution. After a few weeks, he and his family settled in the County Laois town.

In 2004, he was elected in the local elections as an independent councillor and on Thursday he became mayor.

The move was the result of a voting pact between Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and independent councillors.

The father-of-four has completed a masters degree in intercultural studies at Dublin City University and now works for Laois County Council, co-ordinating an integration project for local immigrants.

Mr Adebari said it was a great honour to become Portlaoise's first citizen, but that praise should be given to the people who elected him three years ago.

"Ireland is really changing. The immigrant community in the town has been growing, especially since the accession countries joined the European Union on enlargement in 2004," he said.

However, he added: "That is not to say that I did not have my own share of the prejudice that would be out there against maybe Nigerians, or immigrants or asylum seekers."

"But I don't let the attitude of a very small minority over-shadow the fact that the people are wonderful."

Strengths.

* Starbucks Corporation is a very profitable organization, earning in excess of $600 million in 2004.The company generated revenue of more than $5000 million in the same year.
* It is a global coffee brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has almost 9000 cafes in almost 40 countries.
* Starbucks was one of the Fortune Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2005. The company is a respected employer that values its workforce.
* The organization has strong ethical values and an ethical mission statement as follows, 'Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.'

Weaknesses.

* Starbucks has a reputation for new product development and creativity. However, they remain vulnerable to the possibility that their innovation may falter over time.
* The organization has a strong presence in the United States of America with more than three quarters of their cafes located in the home market. It is often argued that they need to look for a portfolio of countries, in order to spread business risk.
* The organization is dependant on a main competitive advantage, the retail of coffee. This could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise.

Opportunities.

* Starbucks are very good at taking advantage of opportunties.
* In 2004 the company created a CD-burning service in their Santa Monica (California USA) cafe with Hewlett Packard, where customers create their own music CD.
* New products and services that can be retailed in their cafes, such as Fair Trade products.
* The company has the opportunity to expand its global operations. New markets for coffee such as India and the Pacific Rim nations are beginning to emerge.
* Co-branding with other manufacturers of food and drink, and brand franchising to manufacturers of other goods and services both have potential.

Threats.

* Who knows if the market for coffee will grow and stay in favour with customers, or whether another type of beverage or leisure activity will replace coffee in the future?
* Starbucks are exposed to rises in the cost of coffee and dairy products.
* Since its conception in Pike Place Market, Seattle in 1971, Starbucks' success has lead to the market entry of many competitors and copy cat brands that pose potential threats.

'Starbucks' mission statement is 'Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.' The following six guiding principles will help us measure the appropriateness of our decisions' more? Then go to Starbucks.

Disclaimer: This case study has been compiled from information freely available from public sources. It is merely intended to be used for educational purposes only.

This representation is quite different from the typical lithe, long-haired, light-skinned and delicate-featured depiction of the man Christians consider the son of God.

Israeli and British forensic anthropologists and computer programmers got together to create the face featured in the 1.2-million circulation magazine, which occasionally veers from its usual coverage of motors and tools to cover the merger of science and religion.

“What did Jesus look like?” the article asks. “An answer has emerged from an exciting new field of science: forensic anthropology.”
Looking in on forensic anthropology

The same science has been used to create artists’ depictions of dozens of famous faces, including the father of Alexander the Great and King Midas of Phrygia. This new conceptualization of Jesus is based in large part on the work of Richard Neave, a medical artist retired from the University of Manchester in England.

“Using archaeological and anatomical science rather than artistic interpretation makes this the most accurate likeness ever created,” Jean Claude Gragard, producer of the BBC documentary “Son of God,” told The London Times. Gragard used the same image last year in his series.

“It isn’t the face of Jesus, because we’re not working with the skull of Jesus, but it is the departure point for considering what Jesus would have looked like,” he added.
How they started

Neave and a team of researchers started with an Israeli skull dating back to the 1st century. They then used computer programs, clay, simulated skin and their knowledge about the Jewish people of the time to determine the shape of the face, and color of eyes and skin.

They turned to the Bible to determine the length of his hair. In the New Testament, “would Paul (one of the apostles) have written, ‘If a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him’ if Jesus Christ had had long hair?” the article speculates.

The magazine’s editors admit that they cannot be certain of the accuracy of this facial representation.
‘Hard to find a lot of evidence’

“There is no way that we are saying this is the skull of Jesus,” Popular Mechanic’s Mike Fillon told CNN. “Christians believe … that Jesus’ entire body was resurrected, so there would never be any bones or skull or DNA evidence of Jesus. Plus, his ministry was very, very short. So it would be hard to find a lot of evidence.”

Instead the article focuses on describing the painstaking effort of imagining the face and how science and theology both played a part in the process.

Despite the concerns about accuracy, Alison Galloway, a professor of anthropology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, told Popular Mechanics that: “This is probably a lot closer to the truth than the work of many great masters.”

By Chris Ferree

The lands that make up what is now Uganda and Kenya were one of the last places on the African continent to be explored by white men. Apart from a few lusty adventurers ( such as Speke, Grant, and Stanley) and the occasional missionary , the map of what was to be British East Africa was blank until nearly the turn of the century. In fact, the knowledge of the area was so lacking that Stanley’s Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1887 went to Lake Albert by way of the Congo. Even into the 1890’s and expedition could expect to make some sort of geological, zoological or ethnological discovery.

In the late 1870’s missionaries coming from the south or up the Nile arrived on the west coast of Lake Victoria to preach the gospel. There were also Arab traders from Mombasa and Zanzibar as well as Mahdist from the Sudan shouting the praises of Islam. Of the Christian missions, French Roman Catholics and British Protestants of the Church Mission Society were responsible for the conversions to Christianity in Uganda. While the Muslims had no formal missions ( at least none mentioned in the European history books) converts to the word of the Prophet kept pace with both of the Christian sects combined. The rivalry between the Wa-Fransa (Catholics) and the Wa-Ingleza (Protestants) was only surpassed by their mutual hatred of the Islamic faction. This was a recipe for war and violence that would last for years.

At the beginning of this period, Wagandan beliefs held that their Kabaka (King) was a deity. Both Christianity and the Muslim religions disputed the god-like stature of the Ruler resulting in their persecution. Unfortunately for the Kabakas (first Mtesa then Mwanga), he could not stem the tide of conversions and the ranks of Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant continued to swell. For Mtesa, continued persecution was the answer. When Mwanga ascended to the throne the situation was becoming serious. In the year 1888, he planned to rid himself of all of the converts, Christian and Muslim. Mwanga was going to lure them onto one of Victoria’s islands and leave them to perish. However, news of the plot was leaked and Mwanga was just able to escape .

Kiwewa, Mwanga’s brother, was names Kabaka by the Christians who assumed the majority of offices in court. The Muslims, outraged by the division of power, made a surprise attack at a council meeting, killing many Christian chiefs and capturing Kiwewa. The Mohammedan chief tried to force the Kabaka to conform to Islam, but Kiwewa stood firm. In fact he was able to dispatch two Muslim chiefs before he made good his escape. At this point the near leaderless Christian population fled Uganda to Akoli on the south end of the lake. The White missionaries were left in the Muslims hands. They were soon set adrift onto the lake and their goods were looted.

By the middle of 1889 the “Arabs” as Lugard called them, were in control of the country. Karema, another of Mwanga’s brothers, was made the Islamic king of Uganda. The non-converted part of the population was still mistreated, and the Christians were looking for a leader. Mwanga, after his flight, was held by the Muslims of Magu district. He was able to escape and eventually ended up at the French mission station of Bukumbi. The Christians offered to reinstate Mwanga, provided some changes were made in his policies. With the help of Stokes, a former mission agent turned trader/gun runner, Mwanga led the Christians back to Uganda.

Unfortunately, The Arabs were ready and the christian army was pushed back to Ankoli. They did, however, have control of the lake. The king occupied the Sesee Islands near the capital, Mengo,but the main army was in the south. It was at this time (June 1889) that word came of an Imperial British East Africa Company safari camped at Kavirondo on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. Mwanga sent letters to Jackson, the leader of the expedition, asking for help. Jackson replied that he could only enter Uganda if Mwanga would sign a treaty giving Britain exclusive rights to trade.

By September of 1889, Mwanga’s Christian coalition was falling apart. He called for the missionaries to join him on the islands to help solidify the his forces. With the help of the missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, Mwanga regained control of his forces and drove the Muslims from the capital. With this success, Mwanga rejected Jackson’s offer. His success was short lived and it was not long before Mwanga was back on the islands and the Arabs were back in Mengo. More letters were sent to Jackson, stating that he, Mwanga “was ready to do business”. Father Pere Lourdel, the chief Catholic missionary, also sent a request to Jackson for aid. Jackson was, however, away exploring and did not get the letters until November.

Dr. Karl Peters, leader of the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, read Jackson’s letters and immediately pushed on for Uganda. When he reached the Nile, in Usoga Province, Peters was told that the Pasha had been rescued by Stanley. The good doctor then decided to push on to Mengo to render aid to the embattled Mwanga. Once Jackson returned to Kavirondo and found his opened mail, he too set off for Mengo.

As the fortunes of war turned again in the Christians favor, in February 1890, Mwanga was back in his capital. Dr. Peters arrived later in the month and signed a treaty with Mwanga leaving all Uganda open to any European. Dr. Peters did no enjoy his triumph for long, however. Because of his behavior he fell in to ill-favor and soon moved south to German territory.

Jackson arrived at Mengo in April 1890. His arrival was somewhat of a disappointment to Mwanga, as he had too few rifles and no flashy uniforms like Peters’ men. He also came to lager-heads with the Catholic Fathers because his treaty would put the I.B.E.A. in control. With the Catholics advising the king, negotiations went nowhere.

Because of the political stalemate, Jackson decided to leave Uganda. He would leave behind his colleague Mr. Gedge with 35 men and 180 rifles. Gedge also had instructions to buy up any guns that entered the country ( Mr. Stokes was away at this time obtaining them for the Waganda ). When Jackson told the court of his intention of leaving, the Wa-Ingleza decided to go with him. This move would leave the Catholics greatly outnumbered, so they decided to leave also. AS this plan would not work, Jackson took a representative from each party to argue the case in front of a higher authority.

Two events occurred at this time that would change the fortunes of the British Company. First, a treaty was signed between Britain and Germany that recognized the border between their spheres of Influence west of the lake as 1 degree south latitude. This placed Uganda well within British territory. Of course, Jackson did not find this out until he returned to the coast. The second was the death of Father Lourdel. Lourdel was the man who had the King’s ear and with him gone the British had a chance.

As Jackson was leaving Mengo Frederic Lugard was moving off the coast. Lugard was the company man that would settle the question of European control in Uganda. He marched towards Uganda armed with the Anglo-German treaty, 270 armed porters ( about 1/3 he classed as reliable), 50 Sudanese and Somali askari, a few other Europeans and a worn out Maxim gun. What he lacked was ammunition, he only had about 11 rounds apiece for the men when he arrived at Mengo.

Gedge was, unfortunately, not he man to leave behind. He was not one to stand up to the Kabaka and was soon beat down. His situation in Mengo soon became intolerable and he left for German territory. Before he left though, Gedge handed out the 180 Snider rifles and ammunition in his charge. This was incase the Muslims attacked.

Lugard arrived in Uganda by December 1890. He entered the country without asking permission of the Kabaka, set up his camp in the capital, and then told Mwanga when he would be ready for an audience. Upon their meeting, Lugard said he only came by to make his introductions and that other matters would wait. This was done and Lugard took his leave, again without asking for approval. Lugard’s bold approach earned him the respect of the king.

The company’s fort was begun on Kampala Hill, opposite Mwanga’s palace atop Mengo Hill. Lugard anxiously awaited the arrival of Mr. Williams, his second in command, with much needed supplies (including ammunition). He also began negotiations for a treaty with Mwanga. Lugard showed no partiality for either party and attempted to make friends with all the chiefs. In this, he met with some success, though it did nothing to bolster the Protestants resolve or curb the Catholics haughtiness. The result was an ever widening rift between the parties.

Mwanga’s court was divided down the middle. Half of his councillors were Catholic, the other half were Protestant. In addition, each office was controlled by its party. If a particular officer wished to change his party, he would forfeit his office and the controlling party would select a new officer. This arrangement was made after the last recapture of the capital by the combined Christian armies. Lugard’s indifference in the politics of court put the advantage to the Catholic side. Again the Wa-Ingleza were on the verge of exodus when a last deputation was sent to Lugard. They were given the impression that he was only biding his time until reinforcements arrived. This was good enough and the Protestants decided to stick it out.

As the year of 1891 dawned, Lugard continued work on his fort and got a signed treaty from Mwanga. The Protestant Bishop Tucker arrived at the capital, and finally at the end of January Williams showed up with more Sudanese and Swahilis and an additional Maxim.. Bishop Hirth, a Roman Catholic, arrived in February and the stage was set for a new round of religious turmoil.

Lugard was now ready, or thought he was ready to tackle the problems of this divided people. The arguments Lugard heard involved shamba, council positions. Those members who wished to change religions did not want to lose their shamba, while the leaders of the parties wished to rid themselves of those members leaning toward the opposite faction. Bishop Hirth brought up the question of religious freedom as proclaimed by the company charter. Lugard found a loophole around this point. It seems that party control of shamba was guaranteed in a treaty signed by the Catholics back in 1889. Lugards treaty with Mwanga respected previous treaties made by the factions. Lugard argued that a new treaty with the company would be required if he was to take up this subject.

It was lucky for Lugard at this time that the Muslims reentered the fray. Arab forces began raiding in the Unyoro Province (on the banks of Lake Albert). Again the Christians put aside their differences and marched against the common foe. Lugard was gone for the rest of the year. In that time he defeated the muslims and established a line of frontier outposts manned by Sudanese left by Emin Pasha.

Williams, who remained at Mengo, didn’t have it so easy. He was bombarded with accusations and stories of atrocities from both sides. It was only by the cool heads of the higher level chiefs that civil war was averted. But, the cool heads would only prevail while the muslim threat continued.

Lugard returned to Kampala Fort on December 31, 1891. He had 100 Sudanese troops with him (more leftovers from Emin) and found plenty of ammunition and other supplies at the fort. The rigors of campaigning had Lugard and while he waited for the trial of a gun theft complaint to begin he became ill. As he left he noticed the Wa-Fransa chief giggling amongst themselves and thought something was up. Lugard’s Swahili interpreter, Duala, stayed for the trial.

Duala reported the trial as follows: A Catholic sub-chief had a gun stolen by one of Apolo Kagwa’s men (Kagwa, a Protestant was the Katikiro the next office under Kabaka). Kagwa agreed to deliver a gun to the injured party, but was not forthcoming, as he was waiting for the return of one of his guns that was stolen previously. Therefore, the Wa-Fransa setup a ruse beer stand in the market and when a Wa-Ingleza stopped to get a drink, the snatched his rifle. This man, one Tabula by name, rounded up some guys to retrieve this gun. When they entered the enclosure containing the thief, they were met with a volley and Tabula fell.

The Kabaka Mwanga ruled that the Protestants took the law into their own hands and, therefore, got what they deserved. Lugard felt the trial was rigged. In response, he handed out 40 muzzleloading rifles and a barrel of powder to the Wa-Ingleza. Mwanga protested the handing out of rifles. Lugard in turn, protested the acquittal of the Catholic stating that, “… if no justice is done there will be war.” That night, the 23rd of January, the war drums were beating and Mwanga was moving powder and shot into the palace.

On the morning of the 24th, Mwanga set a message to Lugard asking him to call of the war. Lugard replied that he would be glad to if Tabula’s murderer was turned in and he recieved an apology for the insults of the past two days. While waiting for the Kabaka’s response, Lugard handed out about 150 Sniders and 300 to 350 muzzleloaders to the Wa-Ingleza. This was for their own protection as the Wa-Fransa we massing at the palace.

Around 11:00 am shots rang out. A wounded man was brought to the fort, shot by Catholic potato thieves. Lugard sent another letter to Mwanga demanding the perpetrator of this last act of violence. Mwanga sent in a peasant in place of the real perpetrator, but Lugard saw this as a sign of good faith and was ready to talk.

It was, however, too late. Some Catholics went to steal clothes and bananas from Kagwa’s plantation (as a sign of contempt for the Katikiro). They were chased off by Kagwa’s men, but returned in greater numbers and an argument ensued. Shots were exchanged and a Wa-Ingleza went down. A large group of Protestants in the market heard the shots and advanced up the road.

The Protestants were cut off by two Catholic enclosures which opened fire. Some Wa-Ingleza continued to battle their way up the main road to the palace, while another group circled around to the right. They met some resistance, but finally mounted Rubaga Hill, on which set the Catholic mission. The mission was put to the torch.

The burning church was visible by all in Mengo, including Lugard and Mwanga. The Wa-Fransa, in response to the burning of their church, assualted the enclosure of Apolo Kagwa enmasse. The Katikiro’s enclosure was just below the palace in a mainly Catholic part of town. Kagwa’s men were soon routed and ran to the fort. The Catholics were hotly pursued the Protestants until Lugard opened fire with one of his Maxim guns. Though it didn’t cause many casualties, it did check the Wa-Fransa advance.

This gave Apolo Kagwa time to regroup and counterattack. The Protestant advance was supported by Williams and 200 Sudanese. The Catholics broke on all fronts and escaped to the islands of lake Victoria.

Though there was still much work and fighting to be done, by the end of the day the I.B.E.A. Company was the ruler of Uganda

PAJERO is one of those names which "built" the Mitsubishi fame and reputation. Throughout the years it went from a strict off-roader to an SUV but always with serious 4x4 abilities. The latest generation makes no exception and the 3 diamonds brand decided to show it a little love through a limited edition called "EXCEED".

The image of the Pajero has always been strong and safe, this special edition intends to improve the overall quality feel through classic body colors (Black Mica - White Pearl), a slightly modified front grille and, the cherry on top, a new Satellite Navigation System featuring a 30GB hard disk drive, 7 inches monitor and compatible with the Japanese Digital Television called 1Seg, a sweet addition for those who want to enjoy their favorite medias in the middle of nowhere.

The excellent 3 litre V6, 4 speeds auto gearbox and all wheel drive system are of course all there, the price tag of 3.696.000yen, not too far from the price of a standard version makes it a very interesting offer for all our Japanese friends.

Double Your Gas Mileage! 2X - video powered by Metacafe

The concept of trade is as old as time itself. Modern civilisation and its attendant development is an offshoot of trading activities. The West African sub-region has a long history of trade and commerce, which is traceable to the era of trade by barter and the trans Saharan trade routes.

Thus, the recent disclosure by the Minister for Cooperation and Integration in Africa, Chief Bimbola Ogunkelu of the establishment by Nigeria and six other West African countries of a free trade area is a much-expected development. The initiative, which is part of the fruit of the new democratic dispensation in Nigeria, is one of President Olusegun Obasanjo's programmes to forge the integration of the people on the continent by encouraging closer economic relation by national governments.

The participating countries in the programme are Niger, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria. Basically, the aim of the free trade zone is to eliminate tariff regimes inhibiting persons, goods and services originating from the affected countries. Consequently, all barriers impeding the free flow of goods will be dismantled.

According to the Minister, the short to medium term goal of the project is to facilitate the integration of Africa through infrastructure development. This is being pursued vigorously at the ECOWAS sub-regional level. Strong indications of these are the numerous projects at various stages of implementation. Among these are:

* An ECOWAS marine transportation, ECOMARINE
* Air transport facility, ECOAIR Rail network from Lagos to Accra with possible extension to Dakar through Abidjan
* Joint electricity power pool
* A West African Gas Pipeline to boost electricity supply for industrial and domestic usage
* A project named INTELCOM II, to service the regions telecommunication sector trans-coastal and trans-Sahelian highways to facilitate land transportation
* Single currency for the sub-region by 2004
* An ECOWAS passport, and
* An African Parliament

This idea is quite similar to the European experience in trans-border interactions, which is manifested through the European Union (EU).

As globalisation and the principle of contending market forces (liberalisation) are fast eroding geographical barriers in the flow of goods and services globally. At the least it is hoped that the new free trade zone idea will enjoy the maximum support and cooperation of the government's of each participating states. This much is expected with the balance that the democratisation wave in Africa has achieved in terms of political stability, instabilities in the past has been the bane of such earlier projects. With time the fruit of this programme will be reaped with careful implementation.

Top 10 Windows Tools

1. Cain & Abel - Cain & Abel is a password recovery tool for the Microsoft Windows Operating System. It allows easy recovery of various kind of passwords by sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords using Dictionary, Brute-Force and Cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, revealing password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols.

2. SuperScan - SuperScan is a powerful TCP port scanner, pinger, resolver. SuperScan 4 (Current Version) is a completely-rewritten update of the highly popular Windows port scanning tool, SuperScan.

3. GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner - GFI LANguard N.S.S. is a network vulnerability management solution that scans your network and performs over 15,000 vulnerability assessments. It identifies all possible security threats and provides you with tools to patch and secure your network. GFI LANguard N.S.S. was voted Favorite Commercial Security Tool by NMAP users for 2 years running and has been sold over 200,000 times!

4. Retina - Retina Network Security Scanner, recognised as the industry standard for vulnerability assessment, identifies known security vulnerabilities and assists in prioritising threats for remediation. Featuring fast, accurate, and non-intrusive scanning, users are able to secure their networks against even the most recent of discovered vulnerabilities.

5. SamSpade - SamSpade provides a consistent GUI and implementation for many handy network query tasks. It was designed with tracking down spammers in mind, but can be useful for many other network exploration, administration, and security tasks. It includes tools such as ping, nslookup, whois, dig, traceroute, finger, raw HTTP web browser, DNS zone transfer, SMTP relay check, website search, and more.

6. N-Stealth - N-Stealth is a commercial web server security scanner. It is generally updated more frequently than free web scanners such as whisker and nikto, but you have to pay for the privilege.

7. Solarwinds - Solarwinds contains many network monitoring, discovery and attack tools. The advanced security tools not only test internet security with the SNMP Brute Force Attack and Dictionary Attack utilities but also validate the security on Cisco Routers with the Router Security Check. The Remote TCP Reset remotely display all active sessions on a device and the Password Decryption can decrypt Type 7 Cisco Passwords. The Port Scanner allows testing for open TCP ports across IP Address and port ranges or selection of specific machines and ports.

8. Achilles - The first publicly released general-purpose web application security assessment tool. Achilles acts as a HTTP/HTTPS proxy that allows a user to intercept, log, and modify web traffic on the fly. Due to a cyber squatter, Achilles is no longer online at its original home of www.Digizen-Security.com...OOPS!

9. CookieDigger - CookieDigger helps identify weak cookie generation and insecure implementations of session management by web applications. The tool works by collecting and analyzing cookies issued by a web application for multiple users. The tool reports on the predictability and entropy of the cookie and whether critical information, such as user name and password, are included in the cookie values.

10. Netcat (The Network SwissArmy Knife) - Netcat was originally a Unix utility which reads and writes data across network connections, using TCP or UDP protocol. It is designed to be a reliable "back-end" tool that can be used directly or easily driven by other programs and scripts. At the same time, it is a feature-rich network debugging and exploration tool, since it can create almost any kind of connection you would need and has several interesting built-in capabilities.

High Five!!! Its sexy time!’ from Borat! And ‘Hollywood Baby Names’ from the Celebrity Cultural Milieu, Named Top Words from Hollywood Impacting The English Language

The Global Language Monitor analyzes and catalogues the latest trends in word usage and word choices, and their impact on the various aspects of culture. The Top HollyWORDS are released in conjunction with the 79th Academy Awards ceremony that were broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Top HollyWORDS for Impact Upon the English Language in 2006 with commentary follow.

1. “High Five!!!! It’s sexy time!” (Borat) – Borat’s wedge into doing or saying anything he pleases on his American Tour.

2. Suri, Shiloh Nouvel, and the rest of the Hollywood Babyland parade. (Hollywood Baby names) -- Opening an entire new world of possibilities to young parents, who are taking to the idea of ultimately, outré, names to inflict upon, err, bestow upon their children.

3. Pursuit (Pursuit of Happyness) – Will Smith's stunning epiphany from the words penned by Thomas Jefferson some 230 years ago.

4. Nazi bullets (Little Miss Sunshine) -- "I still got Nazi bullets in my ass." Grandpa's excuse to do or say anything he pleases.

5. Non Serviam (The Departed) – “I will not serve” from James Joyce. Franks Costello’s pledge as he refuses to be a product of his environment. He wants his “environment to be a product of me”.

6. A reluctant cannibal (Last King of Scotland) -- Forest Whittaker's portrayal of an illiterate, brutal African dictator, who may or may not enjoy feasting upon his victim.

7. A Moral Issue (An Inconvenient Truth) -- … and not a political issue. Al Gore's chilling documentary about Global Warming and it ultimate impact upon the human environment.

8. "Will someone please save these people from themselves!” (The Queen) -- Tony Blair's observations of The Royals as he attempts to heal the rift between The Queen and her subjects.

9. "Help! Ayúdenme! HELP!" (BABEL) Crying for help in a land apparently with out ears.

10. "The details of your incompetence do not interest me." (Devil Wears Prada) – Meryl Streep with yet another nurturing remark to those who surround (and serve) her.

11. Classic Figures (Dreamgirls) –For more than 200,000 years of human history these were the celebrated dimensions of women. What was the tipping point? Twiggy in the 60s?

12. Labyrinth (Pan's Labyrinth) -- Before 'quagmire's' there were 'labyrinths'. In the 21st Century 'labyrinth' is perhaps the better word.

13. Film Noir (Black Dahlia) -- Plenty of 'noir' but not much 'film' in the Black Dahlia. Perhaps Film Noir is better suited to a less cynical age.

14. Arrgh! (Pirate of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest) -- Spreading ever more deeply into popular culture.

15. "Rotemorizing" (Akeelah and the Bee) -- The technique of blindly memorizing spelling words.

16. “Make us disappear!” (The Illusionist) – Sophie’s request to a young Eisenheim (Ed Norton).

17. maya yucateco (Apocolypto) -- Mel's Gibson's choice of language for his film depicting a collapsing civilization. (Actually still spoken from some 6 million Maya descendants in the Yucatan.)

18. Dame (Notes on a Scandal) -- What more can be said: Dame Judi Dench, Indeed.

19. Hero (Flags of our Fathers) – Some thing the ‘heroes’ of Iwo Jima never asked to be, much like their 9/11 grandsons.

20. Chica chica, boom boom (Happy Feet) -- That's just one sign that attack of spontaneous happy feet dancing is about to begin.


Top Words for 2006 and 2005

In 2006,‘Brokeback’ from multi-Oscar nominated film 'Brokeback Mountain' was named the Top HollyWORD in the Global Language Monitor's annual survey of words from Hollywood that profoundly influenced the English Language. In 2005, 'Pinot' from the movie Sideways, was named the Top HollyWORD.

John Legend dating a Nigerian Model-TAYO OTITI
John Legend is currently dating a Nigerian Model named Tayo Otiti. Tayo is a model with top modelling agency,Wilhelmina.
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SHOT FROM HER BIRTHDAY DINNER!!

CORDIAL RELATIONS: President Museveni(L) being seen off by his Tanzania counterpart Jakaya Kikwete at Mwanza Airport. (File Phto)
That dubious claim that Amin was a butcher of tens of thousands is coming under closer scrutiny each week.


On April 11, 1979, a joint expeditionary force of the Tanzanian army backing several armed Ugandan exile groups of the Uganda National Liberation Army captured Kampala and the five-month war against the regime of President Idi Amin was over. Amin fell from power.

Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans celebrated the fall of Amin and that Easter Sunday churches were filled with worshippers grateful that an eight-year "reign of terror" had at last come to an end.
It bears debate, however, whether this war to remove Amin was worth the effort, money, and lives it took.

It is said that the Tanzanians fought to remove a dictator and yet today Ugandans are ruled by a leader whom some Tanzanian legislators denounced as a dictator in 2005 as the constitution was being amended to enable him rule beyond the then stipulated two terms.

It has also been widely claimed over the last 30 years that Amin's regime killed between 300,000 and 500,000 Ugandans. This was partly the basis for Tanzania's intervention in late 1978.

Economically, Uganda suffered in many ways during and especially immediately after this unnecessary war. The MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighter-bombers of the Uganda Airforce have never returned to the level at which they were in the 1970s.

A Ugandan peacekeeping contingent to Somalia would have been a formidable sight and no Somali would have dared fire mortars at a plane bringing Ugandan troops to Mogadishu, as happened last month when the UPDF arrived to take up position.

Today, the fact that the Ugandan army does not create a psychological deterrence and does not put fear into the armed Somali groups in Mogadishu, tells of what a shadow of an army Uganda has when compared with that of the 1970s.

Army and police barracks that were well-maintained in the 1970s are today some of the most embarrassingly dilapidated public housing estates in Uganda.
Masaka and Mbarara towns were bombarded during the war and although Mbarara has recovered somewhat since 1979, it has never returned to what it was in the 1970s and Masaka has never recovered at all from that 1979 destruction.

When Amin left power, Uganda did not have any foreign debt but today subsequent governments have still not cleared the debt owed to Tanzania. The war cost Tanzania over 500million dollars which, in 1979 terms, was a lot of money.
The Tanzanian government from time to time has reminded Uganda to repay that money, to no avail.

Instead, President Museveni finds it more important to order Bank of Uganda to pay off businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba's personal debts than to pay of the more important debt of gratitude to Tanzania.

It is said that Amin persecuted the Acholi and Langi tribes with a vengeance during his rule. But it is clear now that never have the people of Teso, Lango, and above all Acholi suffered and been economically and materially deprived as much in Uganda's history as they have since 1986.
The Acholi have spent 20 years in sub-human conditions, a situation that would have been and was unthinkable under Amin.

Less than two years after the war to oust Amin, Uganda was embroiled in a civil war again, launched by two guerrillas, Andrew Kayiira and Yoweri Museveni, who claimed that the root cause of Uganda's problems had been Amin and once he was removed from power, Uganda would return to sanity.

To this day, the Tanzanians do not seem to realise that they were fooled by the Ugandan exile groups to fight a war against Amin that had nothing to do with restoring democracy.

The first official casualty of the NRA war was not a UNLA soldier, but a Tanzanian sentry standing guard at the quarter guard at the Kabamba army barracks on February 6, 1981.

In March 1979, the Libyan strongman Colonel Muammar Gaddafi sent a contingent of Libyan soldiers to help shore up the beleagured regime of Amin. The Tanzanians fought these Libyans, many were killed, and Tripoli was humiliated.

Libya then embarked on an anti-Tanzania diplomatic campaign throughout the Arab and Islamic world in the 1970s and Tanzania suffered for it in a boycott by some Arab countries.

But just three years after 1979, Kayiira and Museveni were already getting arms and financial support from Gaddafi, much to the irritation and dismay of the Tanzanians.
In 2005, during the debate within Uganda over the extension of the term in office of President Museveni, several Tanzanian members of parliament angrily denounced Museveni and the NRM regime over breeding dictatorship in Uganda, the removal of which had been the primary reason for Tanzania's costly war of 1978 and 1979.

That is where the story ends --- after all the wasted resources, lives, and time fighting Amin, Uganda is back to square one, a war that was utterly unnecessary. That is how ironic history can be.

Even as movie maker Michael Moore demonstrated on the steps to California's state capitol here, Bush administration operatives moved behind the scenes to counter his latest movie, 'Sicko'. Moore's new movie exposes many features of the US health care system embarrassing to the administration.

"Lookit!" said an administration spokesman for the Department of Justice. "This traitor Michael Moore is bringing out a bunch of facts the American public has no reason to know. We see no reason at all for people to know how pharmaceutical companies' political contributions affect legislation and rules under our system for example. That kind of thing only confuses people and makes them uneasy and dissatisfied and likely to vote for Democrats."



"And, there's absolutely no reason at all for for the public to have access to performance versus cost statistics either." he said. "The fact that our system costs far more and provides far less coverage than others around the world has no bearing on the way we run things. If Republicans didn't have access to those political contributions, there's a strong likelihood we could not stay in power, and then where would we be?"

"Just look what that might do for the security of our country! We might as well be communists, or worse, be under a Democratic administration for God's sakes! No, we look upon it as our sacred duty to protect the security of our citizens. That's why we are going after Mr. Smart-Ass Michael Moore and those so-called 9/11 heroes who went to Cuba with him. Just how much treason do they think we will tolerate anyway?

The movie unfavorably compares the US health care system to Cuba and several other third world countries. Moore is said to have stashed copies of his movie in Canada and Spain to prevent its seizure by US authorities who wish to prevent its airing. Unless prevented by authorities, the movie is scheduled for public viewing on June 29.

And, even as the administration sought to stifle the movie, and Moore's imprisonment for 'crimes against the administration', it is rumored that President Bush's chief of staff Karl Rove had secretly traveled incognito to Cuba for treatment of an unspecified ailment.

It was hinted to reporters that, "Karl was seeking medical treatment not available in the US."

Entebbe IAP, Uganda, sometimes between 1972 and 1977; the original Ugandan Air Force was formed with Israeli support, in 1964, initially operating 12 Fouga Magisters, six C-47s, and one N.2502D Noratlas, all supplied from Israel. The Israeli influence could have been also the reason for the camouflage colors of the MiG-17F seen here, which is one of around a dozen supplied from the USSR, either in 1966 or in 1972, together with some helicopters and L-29 Delfin trainers. The Israelis also destroyed at least four Ugandan MiG-17Fs during the Entebbe raid, in 1977, when their commandos were rescuing hijacked El Al passengers. The last Ugandan MiG-17Fs flew several sorties during the war against Tanzania, in 1978 and 1979. One was shot down by Tanzanian SA-7s on 11 October 1978, and the remaining two or three captured and then wrecked by Tanzanian troops on Entebbe, in April 1979.

Uganda, early 1970s; African MiGs are not very often seen in flying, but this one was - and at a very low level, sometimes in the early 1970s, when the UAF MiG-21MF was still largely intact. Ugandan Air Force acquired at least 16 (but probably 18) MiG-21MFs and at least two MiG-21Us from the USSR in the early 1970s. The Israelis destroyed seven of these during the Entebbe raid, in 1976, and at least one was lost during the war with Tanzania, in 1978. It is unknown if this example survived: the MiG-21U "U901", for example, can still be found on the scrap yard near Entebbe IAP, together with remnants of two or three other examples.

Entebbe, Uganda, 5 April 1979; this MiG-21MF was one of only seven survivors from the original batch supplied by the USSR, in the early 1970s. It was captured by Tanzanian troops at the Entebbe IAP, at the end of the war between the two countries and then flown out to Tanzania. Note that it is possible the serials of Ugandan MiG-21s were applied in a lighter color than black: eventually red or green could have been used either.

Despite some rumors to contrary, Uganda never operated any MiG-21F-13s. Nevertheless, in 1998 five ex-Polish Air Force and one ex-Polish Navy MiG-21bis were purchased, three of which were then given to IAI for refurbishment and upgrade to a standard similar to that of the MiG-29. These three aircraft were seen at Lod IAP, in Israel, last year, probably short of their delivery. Flown by - probably Byelorussian - mercenaries, they were finally delivered early this year, but one crashed on 15 July, killing the pilot.

On the ninth floor of the Dangote Group headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria's most successful businessman has a panoramic view of the sprawling urban mass, which makes up Nigeria's commercial capital.

His visitor, Mr Otedola has made a fortune from trading fuel and petroleum products in Nigeria, but Mr Dangote is in another league.

His business empire spans the economy. He dominates the markets for sugar, cement, rice, pasta, textiles and salt, and he is big in transport, oil and gas.

"I think I have to be rated by Forbes magazine first before I can be [called] the richest man in Africa," says Mr Dangote modestly. "But, you know, I'm comfortable."

New investments

Mr Dangote has come along way from his early days of trading commodities in his home town of Kano in the north.


We have had a generational change in business and this is now going to happen in government
Aliko Dangote, Dangote Group

He recently turned 50 and has listed two of his 13 companies on the Nigerian stock market. His stake in those two alone is worth more than $4bn (£2bn).

In politics, as in business, he is also a powerful player. He is not ashamed to be financially supporting President Olusegun Obasanjo's ruling People's Democratic Party and he is confident that its candidate Umaru Musa Yar'Adua will become Nigeria's next president.

"I am close to people in government because I am one of the big businessmen in Nigeria," he explains. "If we don't have the right people there then [all the] money I have is useless. If the country turns into another Zimbabwe, for example, then I will become a poor person."

For now, Mr Dangote is confident about the future and he lists some of the $9bn of investments in Nigeria he is currently planning, including the world's biggest sugar refinery, a 300,000 barrels a day oil refinery and a massive 5,000 megawatt power project.

THERE is hardly anyone born in Nigeria or sub-Saharan Africa who has not had an encounter with malaria at least once in their lifetime. Indeed, besides HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, malaria is now said to be one of the topmost killer diseases across the globe.

Worst hit by the disease are African countries, where it ravages communities, thus enforcing multiplication of efforts by governments at different levels to save their countries' populations. Each African country has designed its own malaria control and roll back programmes for implementation with global partners.

No fewer than half a billion cases of malaria occur each year say scientists, who have warned that the World Health Organization's estimates are off by nearly 50 per cent. Figures compiled by a team of tropical medicine specialists add up to 515 million clinical attacks of the deadliest form of malaria worldwide

The disease, which accounts for over 90 per cent of deaths in Africa, remains a heavy burden in the continent with devastating effects on her socio-economic welfare. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) weekly epidemiological records, the burden of malaria is weighing too heavily on the continent, especially within the poor.

Latest statistics hold that malaria kills between one to two million children each year in sub-Saharan Africa, while some 15 to 40 per cent of children with cerebral malaria, as well as malaria associated acidosis and anaemia die, half of the deaths occurring within 12 hours after arrival at the hospital.

Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. The resulting disease in humans can be devastating. After spreading rapidly through the blood stream to the liver, the parasite emerges again into the blood stream, finally to settle in the red blood cells, where it multiplies and emerges in bursts of new organisms. These parasites, because of their large numbers, can cause particular damage to the nervous system, liver, and kidney.

In young children and adults who have not recently been infected - and therefore have not developed natural immunity - this cycle can result in death within hours from cerebral malaria. Others also die at a later stage in the infection from overwhelming anaemia or liver and kidney failure. Untreated, up to 20 per cent of persons infected with falciparum malaria die.

Four species of malaria infect humans, though only two, falciparum and vivax cause the vast majority of clinical cases and nearly all of the deaths and serious incidence of the disease. The disease is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, and is common throughout tropical regions of China, India, Southeast Asia, and South and Central America.

Almost all of the serious morbidity caused by falciparum malaria occurs in children under the age of 10, and the impact is especially severe in those under the age of five. Protecting these children from malaria therefore, is a major goal of current malaria vaccine development efforts.

Malaria has a complex life cycle. Infected female mosquitoes inject malaria sporozoites, or parasitic cells that infect new hosts, when they bite, and they are carried to the liver where they rapidly infect liver cells. Without causing symptoms, these sporozoites undergo a radical change and multiply furiously over the next four to five days.

Tens of thousands of asexual stage merozoites, or daughter cells of the parasite, are released from each infected liver cell, each of which rapidly target and invade a red blood cell. Every few days, the merozoites multiply ten-fold and burst out to infect other red blood cells. This cyclic and massive increase in parasite burden gives rise to the clinical disease we recognize as malaria.

In the absence of immunity or drug treatment, death can occur within hours of noticeable symptoms. If death does not occur and infection continues, some of the parasites further differentiate into a form that is infectious for mosquitoes, thus permitting the life cycle to continue.

Strategies for developing malaria vaccines have been targeted at specific points in the parasite life cycle during which the organism appears particularly susceptible to the host's immune system

Children of less than five and pregnant women are population groups at highest risk for malaria morbidity and mortality. It is recorded that over 90 per cent of all malaria deaths in Africa occur in young children. Most often, they experience their first malaria infections during the first one or two years after birth, in forms of cerebral malaria, anaemia, diarrhoea, respiratory infections and other delicate diseases.

An estimated two per cent of children who recover from cerebral malaria infections suffer from learning impairment, disabilities, epilepsy and spasticity, according to WHO's Africa malaria report, 2003.

Much of the morbidity and mortality associated with malaria is caused by the rupture of iRBCs (infected red blood cells) during the stages of reproduction of the parasite by cell division. Intense fever, occurring in 24-72 hour intervals, is accompanied by nausea, headaches, and muscular pain among other symptoms.

The characteristic fever spike has been correlated with incremental rises in blood levels of cytokines or immune system proteins - associated with the release of parasite proteins during the rupture of red blood cells. Furthermore, a variety of potentially fatal symptoms, including liver failure, renal failure, and cerebral disease are associated with untreated P. falciparum

The immune system is the human body's natural defence apparatus for all infections including those of the malaria parasites. However, the immune response to malaria is not well understood. The presence of blood serum antibodies - the immune system's foot soldiers in the form of proteins - in individuals living in regions where malaria is endemic indicates that the immune system mounts a blood fluid response against the parasite.

This immunity is parasite strain-specific and can be lost if the individual migrates to a region where malaria is not endemic. Furthermore, the efficacy of the humoral or blood fluid response is limited by the intracellular behaviour of the parasite as well as its ability to alter its surface molecules through various stages of maturity

Since ninety percent of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, preventing infection is especially important because resistance to anti-malarial drugs is a growing problem. This means that immunisation must come into the frame of medical assault on malaria. However the vast majority of vaccine candidates fail during development, making vaccine development an expensive and financially risky endeavour.

Nonetheless the need for a malaria vaccine is urgent, but unfortunately traditional market forces are not strong enough to prompt substantial investment in vaccines that protect against a disease that primarily affects people in developing countries.

To be continued.

The 15 Tips for Writing an Apology Letter: What You Need to Know Writing an Apology Letter: What You Need to Know
By Alice Feathers, M.A. TESOL, Professional Editor and Writer

Each of us has, at one time or another, said or done something that we wish we hadn't said or done.Rather than dwell on the mistake, however, we should take quick action to remedy the problem and then get on with life. An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process and can helpturn "lemons into lemonade" and actually improve a relationship. This short article will give youseveral reasons for writing an apology letter and offer a few important suggestions to help you write agood one.

* TIMING. Write the apology letter as soon as possible.

* ACTIONS. Rather than focusing on the damage you have caused, write about things you will do to rectify the situation.

* BRIEF. Keep your apology letter short and to the point.

* SINCERITY. No one wants to read overly dramatic language. Choose your words carefully and express yourself clearly and simply.

* TONE. Your apology letter should be considerate and respectful. Remember, you are trying to rebuild a damaged relationship.

* BLAME. Take full responsibility for what you have done.

* FOLLOW UP. Try to set up a time when you can apologize in person, then back up your apology with considerate behavior in the future.

It has become an axiom of faith that these days, no week passes by without a major western newspaper, magazine, television news program or radio commentators, commenting on the Chinese penetration in Africa, and especially how the Chinese are snapping up Africa’s important natural resources on the cheap. In fact, the word these western commentators are more likely to use is “pillaging” Africa’s natural resources. Just last week, African leaders gathered in the sunny French Riveria city of Cannes. According to an Associated Press article, titled “African Union Bemoans Continent’s Image,” “French President Jacques Chirac recited a list of challenges that lie ahead for Africa and the international community, not least how to tap but not squander its natural resources - most recently being sought by China, India and others.” (Italics mine). Chirac continued, “Africa is rich, but Africans are not. The continent holds one-third of the planet’s mineral reserves. It is a treasure trove. But it must be neither pillaged nor sold off cheaply.” (Again, italics mine for emphasis).

Again, on February 6, 2007, there was a news report that the U.S. President, George Bush, had authorised the establishment of a “command centre for Africa” to oversee US military activities on the continent. “This new command,” said President Bush, “will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa.” The U.S, he said, would ‘consult’ with Africa later, yet he had talked of ‘cooperation with Africa” earlier. In analysing this new U.S. initiative, a BBC correspondent stated that, “The U.S. gets more than 10% of its oil from Africa and is worried about increased economic and diplomatic competition from China.” Anyway, views or criticisms about Chirac or Bush are not the essence of this article, but the question as to whether China’s involvement in Africa is imperialistic.

Last November, a delegation of U.S. and African experts visited Beijing, and concluded that though China’s aggressive courtship of African could “benefit the poor continent,” (mark the word 'poor'), but observed that “shady Chinese businessmen and no-questions-asked aid policies” could backfire on Beijing. The delegation of course which had gone to Beijing to discuss the “different approaches to Africa”, endorsed the observation that “Chinese aid policies in Africa have drawn criticism from some Westrn aid donors who say Beijing is undermining global efforts to foster reforms and good governance and supporting brutal governments in states such as Sudan or Zimbabwe.” A Stephen Morrison, head of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, was quoted as saying, “There is a need for a more strategic approach by the United States if a costly and damaging and unnecessary U.S.-China clash is to be avoided.” In a preview of a study by the CSIS, according to the article, “the delegation also warned China against naivete or undue optimism about the troubled (mark the word 'troubled') continent and China’s role there.” A so-called business advisor, an Anthony Carroll, said that he had warned Chinese officials about “bad actors and trade practices that affect China’ s reputation.”

My God!! Another 1884 European scramble for Africa, but this time between the United States, Europeans on the one hand, and China on the other? At least, as far as I know 10% of the African population of over 900 million people are well educated, yet issues are being discussed as if we don’t exist.

Writing in the January 9, 2007 online issue of Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation, Lucien van der Walt & Michael Schmidt, under the title, “Is China Africa’s New Imperialist Power?”, wrote that “there is a more serious question we have to ask, one with implications beyond our borders (South Africa): Will China replace Britain as South Africa’s imperialist power, a changing of the guard, so to speak - leading to South Africa embarking on military expeditions in Africa to protect Chinese capitalist interests? All serious anti-imperialists must consider and plan for the possibility of Africa becoming the future battle-ground between US-backed Western and Chinese expansionist interests, and unite the continent’s people in a battle against the oil barons.”

Of course, I could continue quoting articles upon articles about how the western powers are frothing in their mouths about the Chinese presence in Africa, which they have now began to refer more dirisively as “invasion” and “imperialistic.” When you hear the jingoism of fear and anti-Chinese presence in Africa by the likes of Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, Britain’s Gordon Brown, as well as the leader of the only super-power left in the world, President Bush, you not only wonder in amazement about this new found love affair for Africa, which the same group which has pillaged Africa, not only in terms of its raw materials, but as well as human lives through brutal slavery, now have the temerity to be warning Africa about.

It is oxymornic to state that the Chinese have landed in Africa. Of course, the Chinese have landed in Africa. But the question and the debate that Africans should be engaging in is whether the Chinese have come as an benefactor or as an imperialist. I hate to see this debate being orchestrated in the Western world (press), while Africans as usual, in our lackadaisical manner, engage in useless and meaningless discussions as Africa is being foisted with another “Scramble” for our continent’s resources. At least, in 1884, we could proffer an excuse that we didn’t understand what was going on then. As I said earlier, with more than 10% of the African population being well educated, this type of excuse will be a great disservice to our continent, as well as to the future generation of Africans, who would ask how we stood by and let another “Scramble for Africa” take place with our eyes with open.

I remember sounding the same type of alarm in my keynote address to the Black Management Forum in South Africa on October 13, 2005, when I stated at the conclusion of my address with this warning, “Finally, I must sound this note of warning to Africa: there is a new kind of slavery marching through Africa - it is the economic giant called China. Yes, it is stimulating and exciting seeing the competition the Chinese are giving to the western world in Africa. But we are again abandoning our independence for a quick solution to our economic woes. Africa needs to suffer a little if we are going to build a solid economic base for the generation of Africans to come. First, it was slavery, then colonialism, and now we are letting economic slavery into the door. In the past, we could make the excuse that our forefathers and fathers were not in a position to know or do anything about it. We can’t say the same thing now that we don’t know what is going on. We don’t want to mortgage the future of our children for a quick-fix economic solution.”

Of course, before we attack or defend the Chinese presence in Africa, it is necessary that we analyse how the Chinese themselves see their involvement in Africa, how African leaders see the Chinese involvement, how the projects that the Chinese are carrying out in Africa are different from Africa’s former colonial masters as well as U.S. and the West’s conditional aids to Africa, as well as their attendant interference in the interenal affairs of respective African countries.

For one thing, far from being imperialistic, the Chinese see their presence in Africa as the knight in shining armor, galloping to rescue us from the treacherous West which have used military might, religious might and commercial might to destitute the continent, and right now continues to attach conditionalities to the pittance of aids that they give to Africa, which they take back immediately in another form, insisting on our purchasing their products, or through the connivance of corruption by allowing corrupt African leaders to lodge their stolen booties in their banks unimpeded. According to China’s Assistant Foreign Minister, rather than the Chinese presence being exploitative and imperialistic, he said that his government “wanted to conduct mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation with African countriesm” and “will vigorously encourage Chinese enterprises to participate in improving infrastructure in African countries,” Finally, he insisted that, “China’s economic aid for African countries is free of political conditions and is based on African countries’ priorities.” Other Chinese leaders have gone on to articulate basically the same sentiment, especially orchestrated by high-powered visits by the Chinese leader’s visits to different African countries recently.

Africans have eyes and could see the difference between what the Chinese are doing in Africa, building infrastructure in different African countries - railroads, dams, hydroelectric projects, highways, etc, etc., compared to the exploitative nature of Western presence in Africa, which amounts to nothing but the continued extraction of Africa’s natural resources and leaving the continent with nothing but more poverty as well as environmental degradation especially in the oil countries in which they operate.

As to how African leaders feel about the Chinese presence in the continent, the only answer I can give is that 48 of them trooped to Beijing in November, 2006, where they were extravagantly feted by the Chinese, with displays of our giant size animals on murals and cheer leaders. They came away with a promise that the Chinese were forgiving the continent of $1 billion in debt. Especially for those countries which have been blacklisted by the West like the Sudan, Zimbabwe or Equatorial Guinea, the Chinese are God-sent. Some of our leaders are so ecstatic about the Chinese presence and the competition that China is giving to the United States and her western allies. Their present loans to African countries don’t have the same conditionalities that the West attaches to their loans.

Having said all of the above, the question remains as to whether China’s presence in Africa is as an benefactor or an imperialist. Let me say here, that there is nothing altruistic about what China is doing in Africa. China is an imperialist, as imperialistic as its western counterparts. It is imperialistic because Africans have not done the same thing that the Chinese did to become what they are today - control who comes in or doesn’t into the continent as the Chinse did for almost three decades, or how they come in. China is imperialistic, just as its western counterpart, because it needs the natural resources of Africa, in exchange for which it dumps billions and billions of its manufactured products to Africa, as well as its human export, to the extent that there are now estimated to be about 3 million Chinese in Africa and growing.

Am I then advocating that Africa stops its relationship with China? Absolutely not. Any day, I prefer the Chinese economic model of interraction with Africans - a built infrastructure can never be uprooted and taken home, just in case Africans wake up one day and decide to kick out the Chinese. We cannot say the same thing about the West, they practically have no meaningful presence in Africa, except extracting our natural resources and taking them back to their respective countries, manufacture and send the finished goods back to us.

But what we as Africans don’t want is Africa as a battlefield between America and its western allies on the one hand, and China on the other. We should call the bluff of the western powers and their hypocrisy, and the African Union should tell them in no uncertain unmistable language - to mind themselves. As I said earlier, Africans should be in the forefront of this debate, we don’t want anybody to pull any wool over our eyes ever again. We are capable of thinking for ourselves, and visually we should not allow ignorant so-called Western-minded ‘experts’, or the Chinese themselves, to define this debate for us.

When Africa breaks free from the grip of poverty and famine—as it now looks poised to do—Monty Jones, 56, will have played a pivotal role. A native of Sierra Leone, Jones is the revered plant breeder who developed NERICA, the New Rices for Africa, a set of high-productivity rices adapted to West Africa's growing conditions. Jones' efforts in creating NERICA are legendary. He and his team painstakingly crossed varieties of Asian and African rices to find stable and fertile breeds that would combine the yields of Asia's plants and the toughness of Africa's. NERICA is now being taken up by farmers across West Africa, boosting food security and incomes. Jones' work has also helped inspire other groups to support an African Green Revolution. The payoff will be a healthy, well-nourished continent on a path to economic development.

1. nmap - Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free open source utility for network exploration or security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. Nmap runs on most types of computers and both console and graphical versions are available.

2. Nikto - Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3200 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 625 servers, and version specific problems on over 230 servers. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated (if desired).

3. THC-Amap - Amap is a next-generation tool for assistingnetwork penetration testing. It performs fast and reliable application protocol detection, independant on the TCP/UDP port they are being bound to.

4. Ethereal - Ethereal is used by network professionals around the world for troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol development, and education. It has all of the standard features you would expect in a protocol analyzer, and several features not seen in any other product.

5. THC-Hydra - Number one of the biggest security holes are passwords, as every password security study shows. Hydra is a parallized login cracker which supports numerous protocols to attack. New modules are easy to add, beside that, it is flexible and very fast.

6. Metasploit Framework - The Metasploit Framework is an advanced open-source platform for developing, testing, and using exploit code. This project initially started off as a portable network game and has evolved into a powerful tool for penetration testing, exploit development, and vulnerability research.

7. John the Ripper - John the Ripper is a fast password cracker, currently available for many flavors of Unix (11 are officially supported, not counting different architectures), DOS, Win32, BeOS, and OpenVMS. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. Besides several crypt(3) password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors, supported out of the box are Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 LM hashes, plus several more with contributed patches.

8. Nessus - Nessus is the world's most popular vulnerability scanner used in over 75,000 organisations world-wide. Many of the world's largest organisations are realising significant cost savings by using Nessus to audit business-critical enterprise devices and applications.

9. IRPAS - Internetwork Routing Protocol Attack Suite - Routing protocols are by definition protocols, which are used by routers to communicate with each other about ways to deliver routed protocols, such as IP. While many improvements have been done to the host security since the early days of the Internet, the core of this network still uses unauthenticated services for critical communication.

10. Rainbowcrack - RainbowCrack is a general propose implementation of Philippe Oechslin's faster time-memory trade-off technique. In short, the RainbowCrack tool is a hash cracker. A traditional brute force cracker try all possible plaintexts one by one in cracking time. It is time consuming to break complex password in this way. The idea of time-memory trade-off is to do all cracking time computation in advance and store the result in files so called "rainbow table".

"My life has changed so much and my words come across as an understatement..."
Since crowning for Miss Kenya, Eunice Karanja ( Tshyro) has gone through a tremendous change in her careers. In May 2006 she became the official Miss Kenya USA. Crowning has come along with various duties although Eunice has been in college most of her running year she has manged to accomplish quite a lot.

Ms. Karanja was a guest of the first Miss Kenya Preliminary in Boston, Massachusetts where she not only mentored the beautiful ladies but she hosted the show. Later that night she celebrated her birthday with mostly new friends she had made during the time she was there. Our lady has been representing Kenya in many other projects such as the Miss Africa USA Pageant that was held in Atlanta, Georgia on October 20th.

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006

#1 Bush Administration Moves to Eliminate Open Government
#2 Media Coverage Fails on Iraq: Fallujah and the Civilian Death#3 Another Year of Distorted Election Coverage
#4 Surveillance Society Quietly Moves In
#5 U.S. Uses Tsunami to Military Advantage in Southeast Asia
#6 The Real Oil for Food Scam#7 Journalists Face Unprecedented Dangers to Life and Livelihood
#8 Iraqi Farmers Threatened By Bremer’s Mandates
#9 Iran’s New Oil Trade System Challenges U.S. Currency
#10 Mountaintop Removal Threatens Ecosystem and Economy
#11 Universal Mental Screening Program Usurps Parental Rights
#12 Military in Iraq Contracts Human Rights Violators
#13 Rich Countries Fail to Live up to Global Pledges
#14 Corporations Win Big on Tort Reform, Justice Suffers
#15 Conservative Plan to Override Academic Freedom in the Classroom
#16 U.S. Plans for Hemispheric Integration Include Canada
#17 U.S. Uses South American Military Bases to Expand Control of the Region
#18 Little Known Stock Fraud Could Weaken U.S. Economy
#19 Child Wards of the State Used in AIDS Experiments
#20 American Indians Sue for Resources; Compensation Provided to Others
#21 New Immigration Plan Favors Business Over People
#22 Nanotechnology Offers Exciting Possibilities But Health Effects Need Scrutiny
#23 Plight of Palestinian Child Detainees Highlights Global Problem
#24 Ethiopian Indigenous Victims of Corporate and Government Resource Aspirations
#25 Homeland Security Was Designed to Fail

All public schools in Rwanda are expected to join the information super-highway by the end of next year. Already, half of the primary and secondary schools have embraced the new technology, which has been given priority by the Government under its 2020 vision programme.

Out of 2,300 primary schools, 1,138 have at least one computer each, with 400 secondary schools fully equipped and 39 of them having wireless internet access.

The Rwandese Government has supplied the 400 schools with 4,000 desktop computers and 4,000 power units (UPS), in addition to training 2,000 teachers in basic computing.

The on-going programme includes tertiary and university students, and is part of a national IT policy to make the tiny Great Lakes nation, which is still recovering from the 1994 genocide, a force to reckon with globally. Over 800,000 people were killed in the genocide.

Currently, the land-locked country of eight million people depends heavily on agriculture as its major foreign exchange earner.

But this is expected to change, as Rwanda could soon be the leading ICT-endowed state on the continent. Under the programme launched by President Kagame last year, over 60 per cent of primary and secondary schools have been equipped with hardware and IT instructors.

In the next phase, all urban and rural schools will get the machines, which will be connected to electricity lines, generators or solar power.

More than 400 students have been benefited from full scholarships to study information technology in India, South Africa and the United States. They are expected to graduate and return home to take up civil service jobs to promote the ICT programme.

Dr Shem Ochuodho, the immediate former director of the Rwanda Information Technology Agency, says all ministries have been mandated to appoint ICT directors to promote the programme.

Dr Ochuodho, who is now an ICT advisor to the Ministry of Infrastructure, says each of the 17 ministries is required to spread the ICT gospel.

Earlier, Dr Ochuodho served as MP for Rangwe (1997-2002). He was then appointed by President Kibaki as the managing director of Kenya Pipeline Corporation for over a year.

The new technology has also been embraced by the Rwandese Cabinet, where ministers attend meetings on Wednesdays armed with laptops. The public and the Press are free to log on to the Government website 24 hours later and find resolutions of such meeting posted there.

Unlike in Kenya, the Rwandese Senate and Parliament have a website which is updated daily. A similar proposal for Kenya was shelved last year after a brief test run, following protest and controversy after the media published details of MPs’ academic and professional backgrounds.

But plans are at an advanced stage by Speaker Francis ole Kaparo to officially launch the much-awaited website next month, as part of the Rapid Results Initiative headed by a sub-committee chaired by Mr Harry Owino, a senior systems analyst.

Last year, the national management committee of the Constituency Development Fund launched its website, which shows details of how each of the 210 constituencies received the Sh7 billion kitty, and which projects were supported.

The Rwandese Government wants to cut costs of stationery and boost service delivery to the public. All ministries are inter-connected by fibre optics to cut telephone bills and improve transparency.

The ministers are appointed from the private sector by the President. They are all professionals who must be endorsed by the Senate.

Over 100 ICT directors have been deployed to all the State corporations, and the two chambers of Parliament, the Senate and the Lower House, so far.

The Secrets Behind the 'Black Money' Scam.
After being caught in the midst of a scam by 20/20, Ghanian native Eric Amoako decided to come clean and show Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross one of the most ingenious tricks pulled off by Internet con artists -- the "black money" scam. First, Eric says the trick involves tracing thousands of outlines of currency on black construction paper.

Floors: 64
Architect: Chaccour Construction
Developer: SilverBird Group
The tallest skyscraper in the capital of Nigeria and probably in Africa, this tower is to consist of 64 storey Apartment - Hotel Complex, 400 luxury apartments, 250 suite 5-star hotel, Private Spa & health club, Restaurants, Sky lounge, Helipad and much more.

KENYA’S WEALTH IN FOREIGN HANDS

If Kenya were a cake to be shared out,Kenyans would only lay claim to 31 per cent of the country’s total wealth. The rest would go to foreigners. Agriculture,tourism and banking,which combined bring in the country’s largest earnings,are in foreign hands. Last year,tea,tourism,flowers and coffee earned the country Sh140 billion,nearly half of the annual national budget. Of this money,only 31 per cent ended up in the country - as tax and real earnings to the nationals. And shareholding in the richest 20 companies that trade at the Nairobi Stock Exchange is foreign. The skewed distribution of wealth between foreigners and Kenyans puts paid to all efforts since independence to hand control of the country to its citizens.

Tea growing,which earned the country Sh43.5 billion last year,is concentrated in the hands of six leading agricultural companies whose shareholding is largely foreign. Up to 78 per cent of earnings from tea went,therefore,to foreigners - leaving the balance for Kenyans. The Big Six in the tea sector are Unilever Tea Kenya,Kakuzi Ltd,Williamson Tea Company,Kapchorua Tea,Limuru Tea Company and Sasini Coffee and Tea. The British-owned Brooke Bond Group holds 43.1 million shares of the total 48.8 million shares issued in Univeler Tea Kenya . The same group owns 54 per cent of the total 3.9 million shares issued in Limuru Tea Company. In Kakuzi Ltd,foreigners have a total shareholding of 68.3 per cent of the total 19.6 million shares issued. They hold the shares through Bordure Ltd and Lintak Investment Ltd,with 35.1 and 33.2 per cent shareholding,respectively.

Britain’s Williamson family has a controlling majority shareholding in both Williamson Tea and Kapchorua Tea companies. In Williamson Tea,it holds 67.2 per cent of the total 8.8 million shares issued through their company,Ngong Tea Holding PLC. In Kapchorua tea,they hold 40 per cent of the 3.9 million shares issued. Sasini Tea and Coffee Ltd is 87.3 per cent owned by business magnate Naushad Merali,a Kenyan. Merali’s companies hold his shares in these businesses: Legend Investments Ltd (51.7 per cent),East African Batteries (18.7 per cent), Yana Towers (15.9 per cent) and Swan Estates (1.04 per cent).

The reinvigorated tourism sector,which earned Sh42 billion last year,is also foreign-owned. And just as the Sh43.5 billion earnings from tea sector ended up in foreign pockets,so did the Sh42 billion that came from tourism. Tourism earnings went into three directions: Hotels,airlines,and travel/booking agents,in that order. Of Kenya ’s 290,000-plus tourist hotel bed spaces,foreign hoteliers own 74.3 per cent of it. Tour flights to Kenya are entirely in the hands of foreign airlines. It is all the more foreign-dominated in the traditional tourist peak periods of Easter and Christmas,when there are no scheduled flights to Kenya ’s tourist hub of Mombasa . During the two seasons,tourists arrive in Mombasa in chartered jets arranged by European tour operators.

Foreign companies stationed in European and American capitals also entirely control hotel bookings and transfers. Where internal travel is concerned,foreigners too,dominate by owning 7 of the 11 leading local tour travel firms. At the end of the day,tourism in Kenya remains a foreigners’ enclave with indigenous Kenyans left to scratch the surface on petty trades like selling curios and prostitution. After years of lobbying,last year the European Union set aside Sh250 million to economically empower indigenous Kenyans to get a fair share of the lucrative industry. Seven projects were targeted to tilt the balance in a programme called Tourism Diversification and Empowerment Project. But a spokesman at the Nairobi EU office said the money is yet to be released as project proposals submitted are still under evaluation. The only hotel chain listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange is the TPS Serena. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development holds the company’s majority shareholding through its company,TPS Holdings Limited.

Horticulture,which earned Kenya Sh28.2 billion last year,is the country’s third largest foreign exchange earner. It,too,is a foreigners’ affair. Indigenous Kenyans mainly come in as casual labourers on the flower farms. Of the 44 certified companies dealing with horticulture products,26 are foreign-owned. But an even bigger irony is that the leading 10 players in the industry - all foreign-owned - bag 83 per cent of the total income from the sector. Flower farming (floriculture) is the key plank in Kenya ’s agriculture sector. Seventy six per cent of Kenya ’s total flower production is concentrated in foreign-owned flowers farms around the Naivasha area. The big three are Homegrown,Sulmac and Oserian. Late last year, Kenya overtook Israel and Columbia as leading exporters of cut flowers. But you would not know that from the world’s leading flower auctions in Amsterdam and London . Why?

Foreign flower exporters in Kenya have registered their companies abroad - mainly in Amsterdam - and sell flowers they have grown in Kenya under a foreign label. In that case,while flowers from a local company are sold in Amsterdam as flowers from Kenya ,Dutch companies growing their flowers in Naivasha sell theirs as flowers from Holland . The consequence of it is that flowers owned by Dutch companies receive preferential treatment at the auction,including exemption from the strict EU-imposed export rules. Flower auctions in Amsterdam and London account for 65 and 25 per cent of Kenya flower sales respectively. Of the approximate 60,000 tonnes of flowers exported from Kenya last year,37,000 tonnes were sold in Amsterdam and London auctions as flowers from Holland . The statistics can make it look like the entire flower industry in Kenya is one big conspiracy against indigenous people. Foreign air charters,the only ones used in flower transport,charge the highest rates in Nairobi . Freight charges on flowers from Kenya are twice those in the capitals of Kenya ’s nearest competitors Israel , Columbia and Costa Rica . There are also 40 to 45 per cent higher than in Egypt and South Africa , Kenya ’s two biggest competitors on the continent. At $400 a day,inspection and storage charges at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport are the highest in the world. So is the freight charge of $1.85-$2.2 per stem.

Flowers sold in Kenya ’s name are inspected stem by stem at the JKIA at the cost of 12 Euro cents a stem. Those grown in Kenya but marketed by overseas-accredited companies are only inspected in bulk. On average,it costs upwards of $1 million to set up a typical flower farm on a half acre spread,which in turn brings in a $50,000 a year. Kenya’s fourth leading export earner,coffee,is equally depressing on the ownership scale. The majority of small-scale coffee growers in Kenya sell coffee raw from the farm,earning less than 10 per cent of what the finished end product earns in foreign markets and in a foreign label. Though touted as an agricultural country,the other large-scale agricultural activities in Kenya are also foreign-owned. Rea-Vipingo Plantations,which deals mainly in sisal and dairy farming is 77 per cent owned by the Robinson family of England . They hold the shares through REA Holdings PLC,Unibuckle Holdings Ltd and REA Trading Ltd.

Del Monte,world famous for pineapple products,is entirely a French affair and sells its products with the label “Made-in-France”. The question of who owns Kenya ’s wealth sticks out like a sore thumb in the banking sector. The leading two banks with a combined market share of 71.4 per cent are Barclays Bank of Kenya and the Standard Chartered. They are foreign-owned. Barclays Bank plc of London owns 68 per cent stake in Barclays Bank of Kenya . Standard Bank Africa,a London outfit,in turn owns 81 per cent shareholding in Standard Chartered Bank. To avoid domination by foreign banks, Nigeria and South Africa enacted laws on percentages of shareholding a foreign bank could own. Foreign ownership is also the same cord that runs through key blue chip companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. At the East African Breweries,British-owned Guinness plc holds 63.5 per cent of the total equity,leaving Kenyans to scramble for the rest. Guinness shares are held in the names of Diageo Kenya Ltd and Diageo Netherlands B.V.

In the Nation Media Group,the Aga Khan holds 28.2 million shares of the 35.6 million shares issued. The Aga Khan’s shares are held in the names of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development and Amin Nanji Juma. In Kenya Airways,Dutch company,KLM,holds 40.6 per cent equity. In Total Kenya Ltd,French companies Total Outre-mer and Elf Oil Kenya Ltd,own 77 per cent of the total shareholding,while in BAT Kenya Ltd, Molensteegh Investment BV of London ,holds 68 per cent of the total shareholding. The question of who owns Kenya ’s wealth generated a national debate in 1968 when the National Council of Churches of Kenya published a paper entitled: “Who Owns Kenya ’s Industry?” In the paper,the late Anglican Bishop,the Rev Henry Okullu,regretted that five years into independence,”the compass needle had not moved in the direction of indigenous ownership of Kenya ’s wealth.” Thirty-seven years later,the Rev Okullu would turn in his grave to note that the needle has drifted even further away.

Philip Emeagwali was voted history's greatest scientist (#1) of African descent — and the 35th greatest African of all time — in a survey for the September 2004 issue of the London-based New African magazine. President Bill Clinton extolled Philip Emeagwali as “the Bill Gates of Africa” but his fans countered that “Bill Gates is the Philip Emeagwali of America.” Emeagwali won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, the Nobel Prize of supercomputing.

In this day and age when Japanese, Chinese or anyone remotely resembling Asian descent is automatically presumed to hold superior mathematical and technological aptitude, Dr. Emeagwali poses a refreshing reminder (1) to the world that intellectual gifts come in all races, creeds and colors; and (2) to Igbos that when we strive for excellence, there is no limit to what we can achieve ... so strive for excellence!

Philip Emeagwali, biography, supercomputer scientist, Internet pioneer, mathematician, inventor.

So who is Philip Emeagwali, and what has he done that has made him so famous? Emeagwali first entered the international limelight in 1989 when he received the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for performing the world's fastest calculation at 3.1 billion calculations per second. This calculation was remarkable not only because it was twice as fast as the previous world record, but also because of the method used to achieve this phenomenal task. Rather than use a multimillion dollar supercomputer, Emeagwali used the Internet to access 65,536 small computers simultaneously (called massively parallel computers).

Lindblom (1920:p419)[1]: “The boys and girls play “father, mother and children” together. They build small huts of grass and imitate grown-ups, an imitation which is sometimes so carefully done that not even the sexual part of marriage is omitted. As is well known, such things cease to be a mystery to children of primitive people at a very early age”. Ndeti (1973:p109)[2] adds that the “period before puberty is characterized by very little sex education and sexual differentiation. Perhaps there is no need for this because sex roles are defined fairly early in life”. Girls are instructed at menarche by the mother or, in most cases, the grandmother. At this time, they may be ritually deflowered by a stick, while boys receive additional genital surgery beyond the circumcision they had at a younger age (Nida, 1962)[3]. Muthiani (1973:p55)[4] notes that “[s]ex education was the responsibility of the parents and, [in the case of girls,] the mothers. Girls had to be brought up to know not only what kind of people they should refrain from on the basis of sexual relations, but also when and where not to have sexual contact. With their little biological knowledge, they managed to train their girls to the best of their limited ability; thereby training them for avoidance (breaking of sexual mores). As a result, cases of incest and premarital births or even pregnancies were very, very rare”. The same could be true for boys. A girl was not desirable in marriage until she has conceived (Eloit, 1:p125)[5]. During the second of puberty rites (age 15 or so), boys perform symbolic sexual acts on girls with special sticks (Mbiti, [1990:p121]). Marriage does not take place after circumcision or menarche (Kyewalyanga, 1977:p42). Clitoridectomy is practiced at ages unassociated with puberty, sometimes at age 4 or 5 (Middleton and Kershaw, 1965:p80)[6]. A man is not punished if he fornicates with a girl past puberty, even if part of the bride price has been paid, provided no pregnancy results; if she is prepubertal, he pays a goat. If he commits “unnatural” behaviour with a boy, a rare thing among the Kamba, he pays a goat and a bull (Penwill, 1951:p73, 74, 76)[7].

Egypt is represented by the Sawiris dynasty patriarch Onsi and the new generation Naguib, Nassef and Samih. South Africa's representation is more varied with entries from the Oppenheimer family, the Rupert family and Donald Gordon. Here is how they pan out according to Forbes Magazine.

Naguib Sawiris (Egypt)
African Rank No.1 - World Rank No.62 - Wealth $10 billion

When the Onsi Sawiris decide to retire after building arguably what is one of the most powerful conglomerates in Africa, Orascom Holdings, it was time for the second generation of Sawiris, Naguib and his brothers Nassef and Samih to step to the fore. Each concentrated on different parts of their fathers empire and have sought to consolidate and then extend the achievements they inherited. Naguib has largely concentrated on Telecoms and has developed Orascom Telecom into one of the most powerful telecom operators in the Mediterranean and middle east.

Nicky Oppenheimer & Family (South Africa)
African Rank No.2 - World Rank No. 158 - Wealth $5 billion

The De Beers legacy started in 1888 and has grown into one of the largest producers of diamonds in the world, with around 40% of world diamond production by value attributable to De Beers "Family of companies". The Oppeheimers have been associated with De Beers since 1929 and have reaped the benefits as clever marketing and strategic alliance has seen the company grow. The Oppenheimers also have extensive holdings in the Anglo America Corporation, the gold mining firm.

Onsi Sawiris (Egypt)
African Rank No.2 - World Rank No.158 - Wealth $5 billion

Once the richest man in Africa, he has since divided his substantial commercial empire amongst his sons. The patriarch of the Sawiris family, Sawiris single-handedly built the Orascom empire from a little engineering consulting firm in Upper Egypt to the global empire it is today. He has since handed day to day running of Orascom's affairs to his three sons.

Johann Rupert & family (South Africa)
African Rank No.3 - World Rank No.194 - Wealth $4.3 billion

Johann Rupert is the eldest son of the late South African tycoon Anton Rupert. The elder Rupert built the industrial Conglomerate into a billion dollar conglomerate from a business he started with £10 in his garage. The conglomerate spans luxury goods, finance, mining interests and more and is now headed by Johan Rupert who has built on the successes of his late father.

Nassef Sawiris (Egypt)
African Rank No.4 - World Rank No.226 - Wealth $3.9 billion

The youngest of the three scions of Onsi Sawiris, Nassef has focused on the construction interests of the Orascom empire. Through a joint venture with Swiss cement giant Holderbank, Orascom controls over 25% of the Egyptian cement market.

Donald Gordon South Africa
African Rank No.5 - World Rank No.432 - Wealth $2.2 billion

Founder of Liberty Life, a life insurance company which he set up in 1958 and sold in 1999. He now has extensive holding in shopping centres, breweries and more. Gordon now lives in the United Kingdom.

Samih Sawiris (Egypt)
African Rank No.6 - Work Rank No.664 - Wealth $1.6 billion

Samih Sawiris took charge of the tourism and leisure interests of Orascom Holdings after his father's retirement from active management. Orascom has extensive holdings in hotels across the middle east.

1. Hotel Ivoire - *** - 750 rooms - built 1973, 1977 (Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire)
2. Transcorp Hilton Abuja Hotel - ***** - 670 rooms - built 1987 (Abuja, Nigeria)
3. Eko Hotel & Suites - **** - 604 rooms - built 1983, 1988 (Lagos, Nigeria)
4. Sandton Sun & Towers InterContinental - ***** - 565 rooms - built 1984, 1993 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
5. Southern Sun Waterfront - **** - 546 rooms - built 1998 (Cape Town, South Africa)
6. Sheraton Abuja Hotel & Towers - **** - 540 rooms - built 1985 (Abuja, Nigeria)
7. ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel - ***** - 483 rooms - built 2003 (Cape Town, South Africa)*
8. Southern Sun Elangeni - **** - 450 rooms - built 1971, 1973 (Durban, South Africa)
9. Garden Court Sandton City - *** - 444 rooms - built 1994, 1995 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
10. Grand Hotel Kinshasa - *** - 422 rooms - built 1976, 1989 (Kinshasa, Congo DR)

*To be renamed Westin Grand Hotel Arabella Plaza by end of July 2007

US$ Billionaires
Global rank___Name_______________Country______Worth (billion US$)
62_______Naguib Sawiris____________Egypt_______10
158______Onsi Sawiris______________Egypt_______5
158______Nicky Oppenheimer & family_South Africa__5
194______Johann Rupert & family____South Africa__4.3
226______Nassef Sawiris____________Egypt_______3.9
432______Donald Gordon___________South Africa__2.2
664______Samih Sawiris_____________Egypt______1.5

Biggest Companies
316 Standard Bank Group.. South Africa.. Banking
333 FirstRand ..South Africa.. Banking
474 Sasol.. South Africa.. Oil & Gas Operations
554 Sanlam.. South Africa.. Insurance
656 Telkom.. South Africa.. Telecommunications Services
705 MTN Group.. South Africa.. Telecommunications Services
1023 Remgro.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1115 Bidvest Group.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1190 Impala Platinum Holdings.. South Africa.. Materials
1273 Imperial Holdings.. South Africa.. Transportation
1433 Naspers.. South Africa.. Media
1443 Barloworld.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1702 Steinhoff Intl Holdings.. South Africa.. Consumer Durables
1748 Alexander Forbes.. South Africa.. Insurance
1765 Gold Fields.. South Africa.. Materials
1837 Metropolitan Holdings.. South Africa.. Insurance
803 Royal Caribbean.. Liberia.. Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
1508 Attijariwafa Bank.. Morocco.. Banking
957 Orascom Telecom.. Egypt.. Telecommunications Services
1560 Orascom Construction Inds.. Egypt.. Construction
1763 Telecom Egypt.. Egypt.. Telecommunications Services

Dubai: DP World said yesterday it will invest $534 million (Dh1.95 billion) in Senegal to upgrade the Port of Dakar and build a container terminal as part of several projects being considered in the West African nation.

The company said it has won a 25-year concession from the Senegal government to manage the port facilities. It will initially invest about Dh490 million in infrastructure and equipment at the Terminal à Conteneur to more than double its capacity to 550,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units).

The first phase of the project will be operational by the beginning of 2008 and completion is due by 2010.

In the second phase, DP World will develop and manage the new container terminal called Port du Futur. To be built at a cost of Dh1.46 billion, the facility will become operational in early 2011. Its annual capacity will be 1.5 million TEUs.

The Senegal project will be DP World's biggest port investment commitment in Africa. The Dubai firm is building a $300-million container terminal in Djibouti, which will open in late 2008 and create a transshipment hub in the East African nation. DP World also runs Djibouti's existing seaport and airport, while other Dubai companies manage customs operations and operate a free trade zone.

Several Dubai entities that form part of Dubai World, DP World's parent company, are planning to invest in Senegal, which is building a new $30-billion capital on its Atlantic coast.

Dubai investment will help the former French colony to establish much needed modern infrastructure.

The port concession follows an accord signed between Senegal and Jafza International, a unit of Dubai World, in December 2006 to set up an integrated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Dakar. The agreement is expected to be finalised soon.

"There is potential for development of a free zone affiliated to the new port at Dakar. We also see considerable potential for tour-ism in Senegal with its beautiful coastline and extensive national parks. We are looking at investing in hotels and other recreation facilities there," Dubai World chairman Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem said.

Jafza International acted as a consultant to the Senegal government in the drafting of the legal framework required to facilitate the creation of the SEZ.

Skyscrapers in Africa by City and Country

Kenya Live TV is the first thematic channel from Kenya whose purpose is to promote Kenyan values and traditions globally, while encouraging and attracting development to and within Kenya. Kenya Live TV multi-dimensional repertoire of programs covers all facets of human endeavors, including news reports, action sports, soap operas, cultural entertainment shows, musicals and documentaries. Bring Swahili, English and other Kenyan dialect languages entertainment and Kenyan family values into your home with Kenya Live TV, the first nationwide Kenyan American TV network.

This new TV programming will be on satellite and not on the internet – no more delayed news, screen freezing, picture distortion and loss of connection. Kenya Live TV will offer programming for every member of the family 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Catch a wide array of live news and talk shows, children programming, comedies, dramas, movies, documentaries, East African music videos and much more. Live news will be provided by Citizen TV. Programs such as Vioja Mahakamani, Vitimbi, Nje Huu Ni Ungwana, Tausi, Usiniharakishe, Tushauriane, Kisulisuli, Memorable Moments, Nguvu Zake Mwenyezi Mungu, Kuna Nuru Gizani, Chemi Chemi ya Baraka, Gospel Hour and Neno Litakuweka Huru will be broadcast by KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation)

In a thought-provoking article in The Sunday Standard on December 24, 2006, Prof Ali Mazrui questioned Tanzania’s historical accounts especially in relation to the late Tanzanian President Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere’s public policy decisions.In an earlier article that was published in Britain titled: “Tanzania versus East Africa: A Case of Unwitting Federal Sabotage” Mazrui argued that Tanzania’s pursuance of socialism and self-reliance unintentionally destroyed the prospects for an East African Federation.

In most historical accounts Nyerere is said to have been willing to delay Tanganyika’s independence if it would lead to an East African Federation.

The extent to which Nyerere’s ujamaa (socialism) policy contributed to the collapse of the East African Community (EAC) is seldom mentioned.

Historians in Tanzania have not considered whether the country’s divergent policies were the main reason behind the collapse of the community.

Most historians blame former Ugandan dictator, the late Idi Amin, for the collapse of the EAC. In our distorted historical perspective Tanzania’ s hands are clean!

Mazrui left Nyerere’s Pan-Africanist image in tatters when he claimed the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar was initiated by the West to protect Anglo-American cold war interests. He dismissed historical accounts that it was a home grown initiative to build one Africa.

Mazrui suggested that Nyerere was not amused by the contention that the union was part of the cold war strategy and not a case for Pan-Africanism.

Our history books are inundated with information on how our shared history, common security interests, economic needs and a desire for one Africa guided the unification of Tanganyika with Zanzibar.

But Mazrui argued that the then US President Lyndon Johnston and British Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas feared that the archipelago of Zanzibar would be converted by the Soviets into a communist nation with the suport of the Soviet Union and Cuba. This assertion cannot be found any where in our history books.

The books briefly mention that foreign manipulations of Zanzibar were detrimental to mainland interests without singling out machinations of the Soviet Union.

A foreign-initiated unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar meant that external interests were paramount rather than the need to respond to local interests.

This may explain why the much envisaged benefits of the union are nowhere in sight.

But the professor must account for espousing contradictory thoughts in his column.

His suggestion that Zanzibar was more communism-prone than mainland Tanganyika is not plausible. Zanzibar, which was ruled by the Sultanate of Zanzibar, was feudal in nature. It was ruled by feudalism apologists who were unlikely to change policy direction. The Zanzibar Marxists, who were determined to wrestle power from the rulers of the time, depended on the Sultan’s moral and financial support.

In other words whichever direction the wind of political change in Zanzibar blew the colonial legacy of the economic blueprint of the Sultan would be firmly unaltered.

Socialist Tanganyika was more likely to fall under Soviets control and be a worry to Western hegemonies than Zanzibar. It is likely that the unity was brought about by the confusion in Zanzibar and Tanganyika’s experimentation with the virtues of an egalitarian society.

General Electric — the world’s second largest company — is planning to announce the creation of what could be the region’s biggest company in one massive investment.

This follows an act daring in the first quarter of this year by a committee set up to investigate possible areas of investment in Africa. A few months ago the committee approved the setting up in Kenya of GE’s largest and most capital-intensive venture in the continent, marking a turning point in the company’s investment policies.

Through expansion, GE says that it expects its businesses to achieve over ten per cent earnings growth most years, and is projecting long-term returns at 20 per cent. It is the search for these aggressive earnings figures that has brought GE knocking at Kenya’s door with a proposal that will shock foreign direct investment statistics noticeably in the next three years.

If the Kenyan deal goes through, it will rank as the single-biggest investment by a multinational in East and Central Africa. It will also provide thousands of job opportunities and boost Government tax revenue by an estimated Sh10 billion annually.

Miss Angola/2007, Micaela Reis, is among the world’s 10 most beautiful women, following an election in the 56th edition of the Miss Universe contest held Monday in Mexico city.

The pageant beauty contest, which brought together 80 candidates from across the world, was won by 20-year old Ja
panese Riyo Mori, followed by Brazilian Natália Guimarães, and Venezuelan Ly Jonaitis who ranked third.


In order to achieve that place, the 19-year old, 1,75-metre Angolan representative underwent qualifying proceedings before the members of jury chose the five finalists.
Micaela Reis was elected Miss Angola/2007 following a beauty pageant contest held in December 2006, in Luanda.Miss Universe Miss contest started in 1952.

On the 14th October 2005, the Kenya Airports Authority announced their plans to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Over the next two years, the authority announced that it would improve airport facilities across Kenya, especially at Nairobi.

The expansion project was prompted as Jomo Kenyatta annual passenger flow topped 4 million, as the airport was only constructed to handel 2.5 million passengers.

In the expansion, the airport's size will be more than doubled, from 25,662 sq metres to 55,222 sq metres. Aircraft parking, which is currently constrained, will be increased from 200,000 square metres to over 300,000 square metres, and additional taxiways will be included. The arrivals and departures section would be fully separated, and the waiting area would be revamped.

The expansion would increase the airport's capacity to 9 million from 2.5 million. The project will cost the Kenya Airports Authority $100million. The World Bank will provide $10million.

It is currently being debated in government if Jomo Kenyatta Intl Airport should build a second runway. This followed an incident that closed the only operational runway for 1 day.

OPRAH WINFREY
Through her Angel Network, the public charity she founded in 1998, talk-show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey has helped fund 28 schools in five African countries as well as personally creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in South Africa, in 2007. She says, "Education is freedom; it's the only way out. Despite the poverty and despair many of these young African children face every day, they have a fierce determination to get an education. I want to help give them the chance they deserve."

BARACK OBAMA "I can still remember my first trip to Africa, two decades ago, when my sister's Volkswagen Beetle broke down," says Senator Barack Obama. "When I went back recently we had better transportation. But there was another difference. While that first trip was about discovering my past, my recent trip was about Africa's future. And it filled me with hope—because while significant obstacles remain, I believe we have the chance to build more equitable and just societies so that all people have the chance to control their own destinies."

On July 22, 1975, photograph Stanley J. Forman working for the Boston Herald American newspaper when a police scanner picked up an emergency: “Fire on Marlborough Street!”
Climbed atop the fire truck, Forman shot the picture of a young woman, Diana Bryant, and a very young girl, Tiare Jones when they fell helplessly. Diana Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene. The young girl lived. Despite a heroic effort, O’Neil knew he had been just seconds away from saving the lives of both.

Photo coverage from the tragic event garnered Stanley Forman a Pulitzer Prize. But more important, his work paved the way for Boston and other states to mandate tougher fire safety codes.

The photo is the “Pulitzer Prize‿ winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan Famine.
The picture depicts stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat him. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who
left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.

Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.

It is said this picture killed an industry. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg dirigible exploded killing 35 of the 97 people aboard. The incident killed the zeppelin travel industry, which was, at the time, considered the safest mode of air travel available. The funny thing is that it wasn’t the worst zeppelin accident but the only one cought on a picture…

Omayra Sánchez was one of the 25,000 victims of the Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia) volcano which erupted on November 14, 1985. The 13-year old had been trapped in water and concrete for 3 days. The picture was taken shortly before she died and it caused controversy due to the photographer’s work and the Colombian government’s inaction in the midst of the tragedy, when it was published worldwide after the young girl’s death.

June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government at the time. Buddhist monks asked the regime to lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag, to grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism, to stop detaining Buddhists and to give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion.

While burning Thich Quang Duc never moved a muscle.

This picture won the Pulitzer Breaking News Photography 2007 award. Photo’s citation reads, “Awarded to Oded Balilty of The Associated Press for his powerful photograph of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces as they remove illegal settlers in the West Bank.

This picture is one of the most famous moments in sporting history! It shows Cassius Clay knocking out Sonny Liston (former heavy weight champion) in the first minute of the first round, in a rematch (Muhammad won the match the year before after Sonny resigned to defeat complaining of a shoulder injury).

Speculations circulated about Liston’s fall, many spectators considered the bout fixed, even the FBI investigated the case. Some say while preparing for the fight, Liston was visited by Black Muslims who threatened to kill his daughter Eleanor if he should win the rematch, others say Liston lied down for money.

Picture was taken April 18, 1906. It is the most famous photo of the destruction of San Francisco by earthquake and fire on April 18, 1906. After his camera was damaged during the earthquake, Arnold Genthe borrowed a hand-held camera from George Kahn, his dealer, and started taking pictures of the disaster. The most memorable is this one, showing enormous clouds of smoke ominously approach, buildings’ facades collapsed from the quake, and residents standing and sitting in the street…

After capturing and executing Che in 1967, before bury him in a secret tomb, the executioners made a group photo with the body, to demonstrate the people that In Grande Che is dead. The picture actually made him a legend, his admirers said he had a forgiving look on his face and compared him with Jesus.

The tourist guy, is an Internet phenomenon consisting of a photograph of a touristPhotoshopped pictures after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The tourist was identified as Péter Guzli.

Soon after 9/11 an image showing a tourist while an airliner was about to hit the building beneath him circulated on the Internet. It was claimed that the picture came from a camera found in the debris at Ground Zero. The picture won a best 9/11 Photoshopped picture contest.

A Great Day in Harlem is a black and white group portrait of 57 jazz musicians.

Art Kane, a photographer working for Esquire magazine, took the picture at around 10 a.m. in the summer of 1958. The musicians had gathered on 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues in Harlem, New York City.

Jean Bach, recounted the story behind it in her 1994 documentary film, A Great Day in Harlem. The film was nominated in 1995 for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

The photo was also a key object in Steven Spielberg’s film, The Terminal.

Star forming pillars in the Eagle Nebula, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope’s FPC2. These eerie, dark pillar-like structures are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars. The pillars protrude from the interior wall of a dark molecular cloud like stalagmites from the floor of a cavern.

Soviet Union soldiers Raqymzhan Qoshqarbaev and Georgij Bulatov raising the flag on the roof of Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany in May, 1945.

The ‘Second Great Fire of London is commemorated in a famous photograph taken from the roof of the Daily Mail building by Herbert Mason, in which the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral rises above clouds of black smoke.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong put his left foot on the rocky Moon. It was the first human footprint on the Moon. They had taken TV cameras with them. The first footprints on the Moon will be there for a million years. There is no wind to blow them away.

Famous photograph of Che Guevara was taken on March 5, 1960 by Alberto Korda at a funeral service for victims of the La Coubre explosion, it was published seven years later. Che Guevara was 31 at the time of the photo.

Adolf Hitler visits Paris with architect Albert Speer (left) June 23, 1940

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

The photograph was extremely popular, being reprinted in thousands of publications. Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and ultimately came to be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all times.

Actually this is the earliest surviving photograph, c. 1826. It required an eight-hour exposure, which resulted in sunlight on both sides of the buildings.

In 1901 Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen was the first recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics, and he truly deserves his place in history because his discovery revolutionized the medical world. A series of experiments helped him notice that barium platinocyanide emits a fluorescent glow. Combining his observation with a photographic plate and his wife’s hand, he made the first X-ray photo, and thus, made it possible to look inside the human body without surgical intervention.

December 17, 1903 was the day humanity spread its wings and rose above the ground - for 12 seconds at first and by the end of the day for almost a minute – but it was a major breakthrough. Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle mechanics from Ohio, are the pioneers of aviations, and although this first flight occurred so late in history, the ulterior development was exponential.

Albert Einstein is probably one of the most popular figures of all times. He is considered a genius because he created the Theory of Relativity, and so, challenged Newton’s laws, that were the basis of everything known in physics until the beginning of the 20^th century. But, as a person, he was considered a beatnik, and this picture, taken on March 14, 1951 proves that.

A first for the general public, the picture of the “mushroom cloud is a very accurate approximation of the enormous quantity of energy spread below. The first atomic bomb, released on August 6 in Hiroshima (Japan) killed about 80,000 people, but it didn’t seem enough because the Japanese didn’t surrender right away. Therefore, on August 9 another bomb was released above Nagasaki. The effects of the second bomb were even more devastating - 150,000 people were killed or injured. But the powerful wind, the extremely high temperature and radiation caused enormous long term damage.

World War II was a harsh time for everyone, and of course, the most affected were those involved in combat. Taken away from their families and home lands, the American men were eager to hear from home, but, unfortunately, mail didn’t come very often, and when it did, it may have contained a Dear John letter.

Their salvation appeared in 1942 with Betty Grable – her beauty, charm and sexy legs reminded the boys what they were fighting for, and so, the war became a little less unbearable.

This is probably the most famous picture you know. This is the picture of a student who tries to stop the tanks in Tiananmen Square standing in front of them. The tank driver didn’t crush the man with the bags but shortly after, the square filled with blood. The photo showed the Chinese that there is hope. However, China is still controlled by a communist regime.

This is a famous picture, taken in 1930, showing tho young black men accused of raping a white girl, hanged by a mob of 10,000 white men. The mob took them by force from the county jailhouse. Another black man was saved from lynching by the girl’s uncle who said he was innocent. Even if lynching photos were designed to boost white supremacy, the tortured bodies and grotesquely happy crowds ended up revolting many.

Over the past few years, a growing number of people in the TED community have become passionate about Africa, a continent that appears to be at an important tipping point. Its problems and challenges are well known. Less well known is that across the continent, change is afoot. Instead of relying only on development aid, Africans across the continent are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Ingenious solutions are being applied to tackle some of the toughest health and infrastructure problems. Businesses are being launched that are capable of transforming the lives of millions. New communication technologies are allowing ideas and information to spread, enabling markets — and governments — to be more efficient. And the numbers suggest that incomes are starting to nudge up in some countries and real growth is on the way. A new Africa beckons.

This was the east africa back in 1950's , a beautiful place be. comments are wellcome.

The Arusha region, mainly its urban outlets, has been described as an extremely ‘dollar-ized’ precinct, where major and minor transaction are carried out using the American currency. The tendency is said to further weaken the Tanzanian shilling against the US dollar.

This was remarked this week, by the Head of sales, Structured Solution and Global Markets for the Standard Chattered Bank, Lawrence Mafuru, during a one day workshop which was organized by the Bank for its corporate customers an event which took place at The Arusha Hotel conference room, last Tuesday.

According to Mafuru, Arusha leads in the country for being a precinct where the dollar rules the economy and most of the local transactions. “In Arusha practically everything is done in US dollars, people pay their house rents in dollars, hotel rooms are charged in dollars and all retails outlets accept dollars some even insisting the foreign medium of exchange over the local currency.

Mafuru was presenting a paper on ‘Global Markets’ when the issue of local currency fluctuations became inevitable. The Tanzanian Shilling apparently is badly falling against the dollars and for the last two months, this has been a major concern among local people, especially those with a foothold in the country’s economic circles.

“It is all speculation, there is no need for fear, among the major fundamentals of economy is that it does not thrive on speculations.” Assured Mafuru adding that, while the local shilling was far from being stable due to the country’s high import bill, compared to its measly exports, Tanzania still had an edge in the economy, due to its political stability, which as far as he was concerned, it was the most important economic factor.

“Currency fluctuation is a normal thing, not only in Tanzania, but in other countries worldwide.” Pointed out Mafuru, explaining that the 8-10 percent trend has been a regular figure, until recently when due to some contributing factors, the fluctuation shot up to 14 percent. He named the unavoidable factors as being prolonged drought spells and the current electricity power problems.

“But on the other hand, we are also contributing in creating the high but unnecessary demand of the US dollar through entertaining mass usage of the currency, even in trivial matters such as shopping and settling bills, a negative trend which is becoming a ‘popular’ habit, but in reality we are actually shooting ourselves in the foot.” He warned, adding that, “This trend was mostly becoming rampant in Arusha.”

The current exchange rate in Arusha Municipality, by the time we went to press, was around Tsh.1335 against a single dollar. Six months ago in January 2006, the average exchange rate here was around Tsh. 1200 per dollar. As a result most business outlets and landlords here are now insisting to transact in the dollar medium.

Standard Chattered Bank hosted the workshop purposely to educate its Arusha customers on the various products that the Institution was offering, to the customers who were running companies and large businesses. More than 50 such customers attended the occasion.

The workshop was opened by the Bank’s Arusha based, Business Development Manager Mrs Lilian Bulengo, who also presented a paper on corporate Visa cards being issued by SCB. Later that evening, the Bank’s head of sales for Clients Relationships Department, Mr. Anthony Angelo, officially winded up the event.

Standard Chattered, according to the Bank’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Juanita Mramba, has a history of over 150 years, with an extensive global network of 1200 branches, in over 50 countries, employing more than 50,000 people, representing over 90 nationalities in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and Americas.

Doing Business in Africa


According to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the UN trade agency, UNCTAD, Africa offers the highest return on direct foreign investment in the world, far exceeding all other regions. While petroleum products are the driving force behind those returns, other sectors offer impressive growth.

One of the fastest growth areas is telecommunications. From 1999 to 2004, cell phone use in Africa grew at an annual rate of 58%, whereas in Asia, the region with the next highest growth, cell phone use grew at a relatively paltry 35%.

Africa is of increasing strategic interest to the global economy. The continent is expected to soon provide the US with more petroleum than the Middle East. The top supplier of oil to China is Angola. China and India are rapidly increasing their business dealings with Africa. These new power-houses are often beating out American and European firms.

Africa offers a consumer base of more than 900 million people. While more than half of Africa is estimated to live on a dollar or less a day, the other half does not, and they are hungry for products and services. Even among the poor, there are surprising opportunities. The rapid expansion of telecommunications is a prime example of the premise of C. K. Prahalad’s groundbreaking book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Incremental profits may be low, but vast numbers of potential consumers can result in high overall profits.

The risks of investing in Africa remain high, just as they are for most emerging markets, but as noted by Kim Jaycox, CEO of Emerging Markets Partnership’s Africa Fund, the largest fund investing in Africa, the perceived risk is much greater than the real risk. And once the risk goes down, the returns won’t be as good.

For more information on investing in Africa, contact:

International Trade Administration (ITA)
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20230
1-800 USA TRAD(E)
http://trade.gov/index.asp

The Corporate Council on Africa
1100 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 835-1115
Fax: (202) 835-1117
http://www.africacncl.org/

The Whitaker Group
1725 I Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
Tel. 202-349-3781
thewhitakergroup.us

AGOA – Africa Growth and Opportunities Act – US Government site with trade information and a very helpful resource page.
www.agoa.gov

Mbendi – online information service on business in Africa.
www.mbendi.co.za

Databank Financial Services Ltd. - investment house and mutual fund managers in Ghana.
www.databankgroup.com

Liquid Africa Holding Ltd. – investment and information service for all African markets.
www.liquidafrica.com

Allafrica.com – news service with financial information on African markets.
www.allafrica.com

Blount (1973:p325)[2]: “Young Luo boys begin to experiment with sex when they are four to six years of age, but their behaviour is severely criticized and restricted. As mobility is limited, boys are first interested in girls who reside in the immediate vicinity, and due to residential patterns, these girls are close relatives. Sexual relations with them are incestuous and although this concept is not immediately understood by a young boy, he quickly learns that they are not “available sex playmates”. If need be, a young boy will be sent to stay with a relative to remove him from temptation of nearby female cousins or sisters. Only after a boy becomes a youth, at the approximate age of 13 to 15 years, is there opportunity for considerable contact with members of the opposite sex”. Luo boys are said to practice a preputial conditioning at the age of 10 to 12 (Parkin, 1973:p335-6)[3]. Schoolgirls begin to take a great interest in romantic aspirations, and eagerly await thelarche (Ominde, 1952)[4]. The marital cycle “proceeding” to the act of childbearing, is imitated (p31). Genitals are compared, and “something approaching a crude sexual intercourse” takes place when older members of the family are absent.
During the period when the crops are ripening these older children, sometimes accompanied by younger ones who act as sentries, disappear into the cornfields to carry out this practice”. The parental reaction is one of reproach and restriction. Before age eleven, restrictions of exogamy are suggested to the girls. The girls learn from the coquetry and customs of more mature girls with whom they sleep. Sexual instruction for girls took place within the swindhe, a form of communal living (Cohen and Odhiambo, 1989)[5].

Child betrothal (p92) or marriage (p117) may take place (Wilson, 1961)[6], but this seems a peripheral custom. Child marriage (nyar osiep) includes marriage ceremonies without consummation (cf., Kyewalyanga, 1977:p24)[7].

Africa may seem an unlikely investment opportunity, but with its markets growing at a clip, the continent looks increasinly attractive, says Simon Wilson.

Isn’t Africa a mess?
Yes. Much of sub-Saharan Africa has got poorer in recent decades, thanks to wars, corrupt or weak governments, lack of education and healthcare, and crippling debt ­ most of the world¹s poorest 30 countries are African. And its share of world exports fell from about 6% in 1980 to 2% in 2002. The contrast with Asia is striking. Malaysia and Ghana are broadly similar countries: both achieved independence in 1957, both lie just north of the equator, and both had similar levels of income dependent on commodities. At the time of independence, Malaysia¹s income per capita was roughly equal to Ghana¹s. Today it is ten times Ghana¹s ­ yet Ghana is a success story in African terms.

So why invest there?
To help Africa help itself ­ and make profits in the process. Despite the continent’s structural problems and the relentless focus on aid and debt relief, Ghana’s stockmarket was the world¹s third-best performer last year, while Egypt topped the global table and is soaring this year too. In the long term, Africa¹s best chance for prosperity and stability is not from dependency on foreign aid, but from sustained private investment and enterprise. Currently, only about 1% of the private capital in the world is invested in sub-Saharan Africa. As the continent becomes gradually more prosperous, levels of private investment are set to increase significantly, especially since (according to World Bank figures) Africa currently offers ‘the highest returns on foreign direct investment of any region in the world’.

How are Africa’s economies doing?
Currently, they are doing pretty well. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing its ‘best economic performance in years’, according to Goldman Sachs economists, who reckon ‘gross domestic product growth could average 5% over the next decade, compared to less than 3% over the past 30 years’. They also point to dramatic differences in outlook between countries, with Botswana near the top and Zimbabwe near the bottom. The big growth areas for the continent are infrastructure, agribusiness, vehicles, tourism, finance and natural resources.

But is it safe to invest?
Investing in Africa is high risk for many reasons, including currency fluctuations, poorly developed markets and political risk. (Although in Transparency International’s most recent survey, Botswana is rated less corrupt than Italy or Greece.) Yes, there are still some poorly run and unstable countries, but the number of African democracies has jumped from just four in 1990 to 17 today. At the same time, many countries have begun liberalising their economies and developing their capital markets. A good example is Uganda, whose GDP grew an impressive 7% a year from 1993 to 2002.



So how are stockmarkets doing?
Extremely well ­ and not just in Ghana and Egypt. African markets easily outperformed the world averages last year and over the past three years. Moreover, the number of stock exchanges has jumped from ten to 18 in the past decade. In the best-case scenario, Africa could be right at the start of a virtuous circle of investment, in which the growing size of the markets and the growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows boosts credibility in Africa¹s exchanges, making it easier to raise capital and encouraging Africans to invest in them.

What about South Africa?
The picture there is pretty rosy too ­ crucially, as it accounts for a quarter of Africa¹s entire GDP. The economy is growing strongly ­ predicted annualised growth of 6% in the second quarter ­ together with a strengthening rand, employment levels are up, and government debt down. In spite of a solidly performing stockmarket (up 9% this year), assets are still cheap compared to the developed world. Most significantly, FDI is buoyant. The return of Barclays last month is widely seen as a major boost to investor confidence in the region. This is the latest in a line of big FDI deals in the country, including General Motors¹ decision to build Hummer H3s in Port Elizabeth.

So how do I invest in Africa?
It’s not easy. As yet, low demand means that none of the mainstream UK fund managers offer African funds, although investors can get good exposure to South African mining stocks through popular funds such as Merrill Lynch Gold & General, or JPMF Natural Resources. Some emerging-market funds do offer exposure to Africa, in particular the successful Genesis fund, which is 10% invested in South Africa and 5% in Egypt, with smaller holdings in Ghana, Kenya, and other African states. Elsewhere, the boutique private-client investment firm Blakeney has a strong track record of investing in Africa. Alternatively, investors could consider investing directly in South African plays such as Investec, the Anglo-South African bank, or European-listed colonial’ firms with significant African assets, such as Belgium’s SIPEF.

In Africa, the paradigm of a united Africa is spreading like a veld fire. People are being made aware of uniting forces that they believe can benefit us all here in Africa.

The principle of synergy teaches us that 1 and 1 doesn’t necessarily make 2. I heard a story told to me by a farmer that one of his workhorses could haul a wagon with a load of three and a half thousand pounds (one and a half thousand kg), but when he uses two horses the weight doesn’t double - it triples. With two horses he couldn’t only haul double what one horse could do, he could haul triple - a wagon with a load of ten thousand pounds (four and a half thousand kg). This is synergy; one labouring with another brings about a result higher than the sum of the two working separately.

Many circumstances should be in place to accommodate any paradigm shift successfully. One of the circumstances that would contribute to assisting the paradigm of the African renaissance to succeed is economical sustainability. Economical sustainability is a very scarce idea in Africa. In Africa, we either live for the here or now or we are simply ignorant of the way we should think economically.

A paradigm most definitely worth our earnest consideration for successful transition to African renaissance is the paradigm of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial thinking frees people to embrace their autonomy and take charge of the future they want to create. Entrepreneurial thinking elicits in us the willingness to embrace responsibility that motivates us to participate in creating economical sustainability.

One wonders which one came first – poverty or a scarcity mentality? I know for certain a scarcity mentality can lead to (physical) poverty. I also believe poverty created by natural or external circumstances, like drought or dictatorial leadership, can eventually cause a scarcity mentality in people. In Africa we had our fair share of these external and natural circumstances that inhibited us to live in abundance.

Now if it’s true that we have to change our thinking, even our thinking that was formed by external and natural circumstances, how are we going to do it? How can we embrace a paradigm of abundance, like entrepreneurial thinking, to lift us up from the scarcity mentality that has made ingrained roads on the creases of our brains?

A quick answer added to this article will simply not suffice to give a clear picture of what we should do to embrace the entrepreneurial paradigm of abundance. I suggest you frequent this blog over the next couple of weeks in order to follow a line of thinking that will empower you to take hold of yourself. A line of thinking that will empower you to embrace the entrepreneurial paradigm of abundance.

I will show you, thought by thought, how we can get up from the dust, shake it from us and start to live the way we were meant to live!

What corruption can do for a poor country like Uganda. Here are some of properties owned by the first family in Uganda.

1.Charm Towers, the former headquarters of Uganda Commercial Bank in Kampala.

2.Garden City Complex, Kampala. That is why it was built on a wetland but nobody could say anything to stop it.

3.Roofings Limited. This is the property of Janet Museveni. We are yet to find out if she owns it alone or as a partnership with her children.

4.Uganda Telecom. This one is owned by Janet Museveni but we have information that she got it in conjunction with her relative and the then Finance Minister Sam Kuteesa.

5.MTN Uganda. The First Family owns a 47.5 percent stake in MTN Uganda which is Uganda’s largest mobile phone service provider.

6.Kabira Club we are also told is owned by the First Family using Sudhir Ruparelia as a front. It follows therefore that Kabira International School is also owned by the First Family.


7.Orient Bank. It is controlled exclusively by Sam Kuteesa and he made sure that all the payments to the Uganda Revenue Authority whether they are normal taxes, general receipts for driving permits, passports, trading licenses, new car registration and so on are paid through Orient Bank. You can imagine how much he gets from the URA account.

8.Kampala International University Kampala and the proposed Mbarara branch are also owned by the Museveni conglomerate using businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba as a front.


9.Lake View Hotel Mbarara is also for the First Family. It was bought from Wavamuno some years back.

10.St. Lawrence Citizens High School is owned by the First Family. In fact you could remember a story in the newspapers recently when Museveni and Janet were the guests of honour at Parents Day at the school but when they have no children in the school.


11.Imperial Resort Beach Hotel. It has a bullet-proof presidential suite and sometimes Museveni goes there to rest from his state duties or to meet his other women behind Janets back.



12.Nakasero Market. That one is now in the hands Janet Museveni and Basajjabalaba was brought in as a frint with Kampala Mayor Nasser Sebaggala as a "facilitator."

13.Speke Resort Munyonyo is another property owned by Janet Museveni with her children that is why you see that when heads of state have been coming to Uganda they have been booked there.


14.The Simu 4 U phone call boxes in Kampala are owned by Janet Museveni. These boxes were targetted by protestors during the arrest of Besigye in 2005 becasue they knew the owners.

15.We suspect that Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel Entebbe of Karim Hirji and Crested Towers in Kampala are also owned by Museveni these days. But we cannot yet confirm it.

16.The greedy man and his family have now been entering joint businesses with the Libyans to co-own Uganda Telecom, Crested Towers, and the National Housing flats in Kampala.




17.Reports of Museveni family hotel in London.
We are getting reports that the Museveni clan owns an hotel in Knights Bridge in SW1, London, the United Kingdom. If anybody has information on this, please send it in.



18.Museveni owner of BIDCO factory in Jinja
BIDCO company which manufactures cooking oil in Jinja is also has the First Family's hands all over it. The factory is located in Masese. Why do you think Museveni pushed for Bidco to get the huge land on Kalangala island the same way he is pushing for Mabira to go to Mehta?

If you know other properties owned by the Museveni family as usual feel free to give us a shout and tell us so that we shout it to the Ugandans.

Recently I had the pleasure of touring Tanzania. During my one-week tour, I managed to travel through five popular regions of the country, where I had the opportunity of seeing the Tanzanians up-close.

I was leaving Uganda on my way to South Africa, through Tanzania, where I would board a flight in Dar e-Salaam. So I boarded one of Gateway's Dolphin coaches from Kampala to Bukooba in Tanzania. This journey seemed shorter and more interesting for most travellers on board courtesy of the hospitality accorded to us by this bus' crew.

In just a few hours, we were already at Mutukula border post, and to my surprise the Ugandan immigration officers at the border cleared us very fast. This seemed like a miracle considering what I have seen and undergone through the brutal hands of immigration officers at different border posts in the country.

We hurriedly crossed the border and we were equally accorded the same hospitality in Tanzania, although this time the officers there, greeted us with smiling faces accompanied with words like "Karibuni katika Jamuhuri ya Maungano ya Tanzania" (Welcome to the United Democratic Republic of Tanzania).

URBAN GROWTH: The aerial view of expanding Bukoba town in Tanzania.

As we arrived in Bukooba town, everybody I cast my eyes on seemed to have friendly gestures, which showed a lot about Tanzanians' hospitality.
While in Bukoba, I visited standard tourist sites like the Rocky Mountains that surround the beautiful town, then the Bandari-Beach and several other nooks. While at the beach, I put on my swimming suit and enjoyed the warm summer water that Tanzania has to offer.

And while still on the streets of Bukoba, I drank the popular Swahili coffee locally referred to as Gahawa. Although the coffee was concentrated with no sugar, I loved it. My Swahili friends told me that once I drank Gahawa I wouldn't sleep in the night and so they asked me if at all I needed a "dada" to "push the night" with. I replied in the affirmative.

Tanzanian students stand by their national flag raised in their school compound. Net photos

So we visited one of the popular nightspots in town located in Camp Swahili area not far away from my hotel room. This popular pub was playing Saida Karooli's popular Wanchekecha, which revellers seemed to enjoy a lot as I noticed that everyone was singing along to it.

I watched with admiration as the Wahaya (tribe) women wiggled their waists. As I continued staring at the Wahaya beauties, one girl speaking a language similar to Runyakore approached me, muttering something, similar to, "Hallo Braza (Hullo Brother) are you waiting for someone or you're in need of company?"

Although at first I was amazed at the brazenness of this Tanzanian woman, it later it turned out to be an exciting encounter. I have never been good at the seduction routine anyway, but this time I was determined to experience what I used to hear about the women of Bukoba.

"You have no company, eh? I will offer you all the company you need, welcome to Bukoba," she assured me. Although I rarely go to the dance floor, here I was dancing to Karooli's hit and my night's companion was busy making endless requests. "Oh darling, buy chicken and beer." I had nothing to do but succumb to her wishes.

Tanzanians are friendly, their cities are safe and clean and most of all, everything works; from streetlights, policing, sanitation to road usage. Although Tanzania is a country where most people are still poor because of Mzee Nyerere's communist policy, the citizens have peace, love and unity that they enjoy.

It is a country where you would be proud to serve in the military, perhaps because shops, restaurants and theme parks give you discounts and preferential treatment because you are serving in the military or police. It's a country that honestly believes that things must be bigger and better.
MORE WORK: Like in the rest of Tanzania, Bukoba town road network needs developing.

The country lags behind
However, Tanzania is a country that still needs to develop its road network. Owing to the fact that Tanzania is big enough and has many natural resources, the country still lags behind in terms of infrastructural connectivity.

But it is also a country filled with paranoia; where to get onto a plane; you must get your bags thoroughly searched and remove your shoes, belt and all metallic items; where a snow globe from Disney World is confiscated by petty airline security officials as it has liquid in it; where a kite is broken in half to ensure that it is just a kite and that nothing sinister is hidden in the dell rods.

Tanzania seems to be more security conscious because of the 1998 bomb blasts on the US embassy in Dar-es-salaam. But despite all that, I envied them - for I have never seen a people more patriotic and proud of their nation like Tanzanians; where flags adorn every building and where people drive cars with bumper stickers praising their country "Oya Tuku Nyumbani" (meaning Proudly Tanzanian).

Source: http://www.kforumonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=528

WHILE President Jakaya Kikwete is today scheduled to lead Tanzanians to cheer up the national soccer team, a 19.5m/- bounty awaits Stars after a do or die match with Senegal at the CCM Kirumba Stadium here today.

The president made the promise to attend today’s encounter at the end of his official tour to Mwanza a few weeks ago.

A member of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Imani Madega announced the reward yesterday in Mwanza in the presence of Coach Marcio Maximo and team captain Mecky Maxime.

He said the money had been jointly raised by the TFF and Stars’ chief sponsors Serengeti Breweries Ltd (SBL). TFF contributed 15m/- while SBL put in 4.5m/-

“We would like to announce a non-conditional motivational package of 19.5m/-to Taifa Satrs players and leaders immediately after the match today,” said Madega who is heading the TFF delegation to Mwanza.

Meanwhile, Stars players were in top mood to win the return leg tie against the lions of Teranga from Senegal, national team skipper Mecky Mexime assured Tanzanians on behalf of his fellow players here yesterday.

Mexime told a battery of reporters last evening that good training coupled with moral and material support they had received from the National Coach Maximo, and other Tanzanians, there was every indication that they would win today’s match.

The skipper explained that their coach had drilled them on all mistakes the players committed during their first leg tie in Senegal and that all players were physically and psychologically motivated to face Senegal without fear.

Thrilled by the support his team was receiving from city residents ever since they arrived here on Wednesday, Maximo observed that ordinary people had understood his decision to groom a reliable team gradually rather than preparing a team for a single match.

Responding to critiques that he selected too young players for the national team, Maximo admitted that his team comprised players of three generations to build a team that would last for at least three years, stressing that Tanzania had a lot of nascent talents that ought to be nurtured.

Allaying fear of the presence of a number of professional players in the Senegal team, Maximo said only tactical, technical, physical, psychological support was required for Taifa Stars to win confidence and to jointly employ their talents to the maximum.

Maximo reiterated his call on all stakeholders in the game to refrain from analysing Taifa Stars basing on results of a particular match, arguing that football entailed more than results of a match.

The Simba of Teranga players refused accommodation and transport arranged by their hosts here on Thursday, contending that New Mwanza Hotel and the minibuses were substandard, compared to the services with which Taifa Stars players were provided back home.

Financial Controller of the Senegalese Football Association, Songa Matar Ndiaye, who arrived about a week earlier, had booked a newly built three-star hotel known as Isamilo Lodge situated on the hill on which the British explorer, John Speke, stood when he first discovered Lake Victoria.

The lodge with 25 rooms ranging between 50 and 120-US-dollar each does not only cater for a spectacular view of the lake, but, according to the players first impression, resemble one in France and another in South Africa with the exception of faulty air conditioners, which were, however, rectified yesterday.

In another development, Madega said all preparations and procedures for the match were completed last evening with the exception of referees, who were late yesterday expected to join the match commissar here from South Africa.

Madega paid a glowing tribute to the city residents and media practitioners for supporting and advocating for the team, which, he said, was receiving all necessary services at the camp within the Bonk of Tanzania Institute premises.

He, however, called on soccer fans to cheer the national team peacefully and to reciprocate the generosity the Senegalese had extended to Taifa Stars during the fist leg tie in Dakar.

Until September 1972, there was only one Magic Roundabout and it was a children's television programme featuring Dougal the dog, a hippy rabbit called Dylan and the spring-loaded Zebedee.

Then a revolutionary idea (in more ways than one) which had been tested in Colchester, Essex, was also tested on Swindon's County Ground Roundabout. Until then the area had been a motorist's nightmare which routinely failed to handle the volume of traffic which converged on it from five directions.

1. Common Words (net, mart, school)
2. Greek and Latin Prefixes (ante, contra, intra)
3. Greek and Latin Suffixes (able, icle, tion)
4. Greek and Latin Roots (chrono, hydro, lum)
5. Beginning Word Parts (other than Greek and Latin Prefixes)
6. Ending Word Parts (other than Greek and Latin Suffixes)
7. Ending rhymes (blue/shoe)
8. Last syllable rhymes (timber/harbor)
9. Double rhymes (conviction/prediction)
10. Beginning rhymes (physics/fizzle).
11. First syllable rhymes (carrot/caring)

"Postpartum depression is a common, but frequently unrecognized, devastating mood disorder," says Kathryn Leopold, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics at Albany Medical Center in New York.

Postpartum depression (developed within six weeks of delivery) is severe and long-lasting, with symptoms including:

# Anxiety, sadness or despair (constant mental basketcase and bitchy attitude)
# Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, especially failure at motherhood (you will be blamed for everything she does wrong)
# Loss of interest in usually pleasurable activities (sex stops, constant nagging starts)
# Difficulty concentrating or making decisions (similar to mentally retarded child)
# Fatigue (did nothing the whole day, yet always tired)
# Changes in appetite or sleep (becomes fat, then obese)
# Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide (completely mentally insane)



67% of "women of independent minds" agree that they are mentally messed up. And that's before they give birth and have Postpartum depression on top of their existing mental problems. Truly scary stuff.

Here's how it starts

You want to sell your old car, or Aunt Tillie's bureau, or those terrific dogs you breed? Just run an ad in any one of the online classifieds and you can reach an audience of thousands.

One of those thousands is a swindler who has been patiently watching his screen all morning, just waiting for you - and several hundred other people - to post an ad.

He or she will contact you by email or phone and offer to buy what you're selling, usually no questions asked, sight unseen. What a deal! Your item will be picked up on behalf of the so-called buyer by someone local. As for the payment, you'll be sent a check that's way over the amount you're asking. Please just go ahead and deposit the check and send the buyer the difference.

Where do these checks come from?

In the beginning, most of the checks arrived by mail with a return address of "Maryland, LAGOS." That is to say, they came from Nigeria but a quick glance would lead you to believe it arrived from the State of Maryland in the U.S.

The check forging rings are so widespread that members can be found just about anywhere. They stay in place on long enough to ensure the forged checks arrive at their destination. Most communication from the phony buyer is received via email, cell phone, and satellite phone.

Who says you can't cheat an honest man?

Most Nigerian scams rely on a certain amount of greed on the part of the target and a willingness to overlook the legal aspects of the proposal, such as ferreting illegally acquired funds out of Nigeria or other countries.

The Counterfeit Check scam, on the other hand, is based on the total honesty of the swindler's target which is you, the seller.

Following the buyer's request, you deposit the check into your account. If you have received a Cashier's Check or have an excellent credit record with your bank, the check will be credited to your account without delay. If the funds were wired directly to your account from another bank, then there is no question that the money is readily available.

You then immediately arrange for the excess funds to be wired to the bank account number the buyer has supplied to you for that purpose, or to forward the funds through Western Union. Your bank sends the funds out either that day or the following morning, or you run down to the nearest Western Union office to wire the funds to London or Italy or wherever.

Shortly thereafter you receive a call from the bank and the roof falls in on you.

Fact is, NO legitimate business transaction asks you to wire excess funds anywhere. It's simply not done for the basic reason that no legitimate business person is about to trust an absolute stranger with their money.

Who ends up paying the price?

In most instances, you are going to have to pay for the loss. That means you will have to make up for the amount that you wired - plus any of the money you spent. In rare instances, the bank will absorb the loss, but don't count on it.

The reason for this is that when you endorse a check, you are vouching for the validity of that check.

But what about Cashier's Checks? Or funds wired directly into your account? In those instances the liability is determined on a case by case basis. Some banks are on the alert for the scam, others are not. Nonetheless, the final responsibility lies with the depositor.

You see, the only responsibility a financial institution has toward its customers is to keep each person's funds accounted for and safe from harm. Those are the basics. Beyond that, there are Federal regulations, state regulations, and internal regulations. Laws are different for Credit Unions, Commercial Banks, and brokerage houses. Each is accountable to a different oversight organization.

The Toyota Crown is a line of full-size luxury sedans by Toyota. The range was primarily available in Japan and some other Asian countries, although it was also sold in the United States during the late 1950s and up until 1971. Exports to Europe began in 1964 with the first cars going to Finland. Other European countries which saw imports of the Crown included the Netherlands and Belgium. The United Kingdom was another market until the early 1980s. It was also exported to Canada for a few years - 1965-68. In many markets the Crown was very expensive and was replaced by the Cressida when that model became available for export in the early 1980s.

Australia was another important export market for the Crown - to the extent that it was manufactured there from the mid 1960s until the late 1980s using many local components.

The new 2007 Toyota Crown