WHY AFRICANS ARE ALWAYS TIRED

WHY AFRICANS ARE ALWAYS TIRED, its not laziness, here is the reason

For a couple years many Africans have been blaming it on lack of sleep

too much pressure from job, poor blood, but now the real reason has been found:

We're tired because we're overworked. Here's why:

The population of Africa is 800 million: 

200 million are retired.

That leaves 600 million.

There are 200 million in school.

Which leaves 400 million to do the work.

Of this, there are 100 million employed by the government. 

Leaving 300 million to do the work.

50 Million are in the armed forces & related jobs.

Which leaves 250 million to do the work..

Take from the total the 150 million people unemployed.

And that leaves 100 million to do the work.

At any given time there are 50 Million people in hospitals. 

Leaving 50 Million to do the work.

There are 20 Million people in prisons..

Leaving 30 million to do the work. 

1 Million are Chiefs, Kings, Queens , Presidents, Ministers, 

pastors, Voodoo or Juju Masters 

Leaving 29 Million to do the work.

Now, 28,999,998 Africans are out of Africa . In Europe, USA , Asia etc.

That leaves just two people to do all the work.

You and me.... but you're sitting on your chair, at your computer,

reading this joke instead of working............

That leaves one person, only me, to do all the work....CLOSE THIS WINDOW 

AND 

GET BACK TO WORK NOW

African Diaspora for African Development

 A poem by Ali Balunywa

Chairman Pearl of Africa (www.pearlofafrica.nl)

 Recited at the Africa Diaspora Night in The Hague in honour of the Africans who an inspiration to others. 

The theme of the night is security and development

The consequence of that is stability and improvement

No security means conflict and disagreement

No development means instability and discontent

 

The members in the audience tonight

Are Africaners whose significance is their might

Their supporters full of radiance are in sight

And the organizers whose importance is great

 

A glance at the countries presenting tonight

Is a look at the continent’s fighting might

The peoples in these nations bleed from the conflicts

For the finances in these states fled with the politics

 

Billions are wasted as Ethiopia fights Eritrea           

Millions are executed as Sudan and Congo fight for Utopia

Clans exterminate each other in stateless Somalia

As Uganda and Burundi douse the tasteless hysteria

 

The average African lives in abject poverty

As the community’s lack of opportunity creates insecurity

And the population’s illiteracy leads to unawareness

Yet the citizen’s ill health is a sign of sickness

 

Europe and America enjoy peace, tranquility and security

Followed by development, growth and prosperity

Africa and some Asian countries wallow in conflict and obscurity

Followed by ignorance, disease and poverty

 

What makes the African Diaspora the solution to the glitch?

They’ve gained the skills and resources for combating the hitch

The experiences of the filth in the south and the best in the west

Qualifies them to engage the south in the development quest

 

Challenges of Development Cooperation organizations are applauded

Changing and reforming governance, socio-economic expansions

Through trade, not aid. Partnership, not handouts or contributions

And consolidation of achievements in security and development

 

The Africa Diaspora has now mastered the development lingo:

Mobilization, organization, migration, collaboration and communication,

Alliance building, capacity building, networking and monitoring

Subsidies, resources, remittances, estimates and results

 

Engagement, assessment, empowerment and involvement

And finally conferences, workshops, seminars and forums

All for the sake of looking for change in mother Africa

The change that we all believe in and God help Africa

 

Almere, September 20, 2009

 

 

The Silicon Valley of Africa

                                                             Mr Emma Nsekanabo, PR, RDB - IT Kigali

Ali Balunywa in Kigali, Rwanda

Rwanda has been touted as a country whose government has deliberately invested resources in ICT. The government IT department is one of the directorates under the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).  Formerly it was called the Rwanda Information and Technology authority (RITA). Today it is called RDB – IT.

RDB is a government parastatal made up of 4 directorates; IT, Business operations, Tourism and conservation and Business operation services under whose portfolio lie investments, enterprises, company registrar, environmental impact assessment, entrepreneurship development, one stop centre, human capital and institution capacity development and privatization.

I got an opportunity to speak to Mr. Emma Nsekanabo, the RDB – IT Public Relations and Communication specialist. They are housed in a new building called RDB building in Nyarutarama, an up market suburb of Kigali just after the parliamentary buildings. 

Emma explained to me that RDB – IT is mandated to lead the government vision to transform the economy into a knowledge based and information rich society. The name changed from RITA to IDB – IT in late 2008 when about 8 government institutions were merged. 

Its agenda is to fulfill the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plan, which is aligned with vision 2020, which is now in its second phase, that is 2010 – 2015. The first phase 2005 – 2010 had many challenges and it involved creating public awareness. 

The second phase 2010 – 2015 is focused on laying infrastructure and laying out the various applications. It is fully funded by government. The government spent US $ 8 million to complete the Kigali Metropolitan Project. It involved laying optic fibre wires using the latest technology from Southern Korea in the whole of Kigali city and its surroundings. The government has now secured US $ 40 million to extend the fibre optic cables to the borders of the country to form the national backbone.

All civil works like digging the trenches, laying the cables is being done entirely by the government of Rwanda. The government hopes to use the private public model to manage the project for sustainability and usage. Operators will just lease the cables to ensure a low price for users. 

The Regional Communication Programme (RCP), which is funded by the World Bank to the tune on US $ 24 million, will oversee the laying of the cables from the sea to Kigali. Once ready, Rwanda will break off from the satellite service, which is very expensive.

Rwanda has an edge over the rest of the countries in the region. It is small and can easily achieve 100% coverage of cable. It can therefore realize its dream of being the regional hub.  All schools, government institutions, district headquarters and all the borders will be covered. The government will provide a telecentre for every district with an objective of popularizing ICT in the communities. It will also facilitate training in IT basics for the people. It will no longer be necessary to travel to Kigali for computer training. 

Rwanda has also embraced Negroponte’s One laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and has so far bought 100,000 laptops which have been distributed. It hopes to be able to buy many more until all pupils have one.

 

 

Freelancing for Monitor Upcountry

Ali Balunywa in Mbale, Uganda

Mbale city is in the Eastern part of Uganda bordering Kenya. It is the administrative headquarters of the Eastern region. In its glory days, it used to be the cleanest city in East Africa.

It is here that I found Mudangha Kolyangha freelancing for the Monitor newspaper. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second daily newspaper. It is an independent daily founded by a group of journalists. Currently, it is owned by East Africa’s biggest media house, The Nation Group of Companies that publishes the biggest circulating newspaper in East Africa. It also owns radios and televisions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Mudangha has a diploma in journalism and he joined the monitor in 2001. He freelances in the districts of Pallisa, Budaka and Butaleja. These districts neighbor Mbale district. They are under the jurisdiction of the Mbale bureau chief.

Freelancers have their areas gazetted to avoid clashing in their search for stories. Whenever there is an event in his area, the bureau chief calls him to assign him the duty to cover such an event.

However, he also follows up stories on his own initiative everyday. After getting his story/stories, he proceeds to the office to type them out after which he hands them to the bureau chief for editing. Sometimes he sends the stories direct to the Monitor in Kampala. Should the bureau chief or news editor in Kampala need some clarification, they call or send an email. 

Mudangha’s use of new ICT is limited to the computer, digital camera and mobile phone.  The computer is used for typing stories, emailing and cross checking facts using Google. The digital camera is used for taking photos which can be instantly sent to the newsroom. Lastly he uses the mobile phone for communicating, making appointments, interviews, receiving assignments and reporting.

Other new media were still new to him. He had no idea what social networking sites, blogs, Skype etc were. This was not strange as it is quite common with most upcountry reporters, correspondents and freelancers.

 

 

Corresponding for Monitor Digitally

Ali Balunywa, in Mbarara Uganda

Jossy Muhangi is a pioneer student of Mass Communication at Makerere University. He is currently a Monitor correspondent in Mbarara, in Western Uganda. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second English daily newspaper. (http://www.monitor.co.ug/) It is an independent daily founded by a group of journalists. Currently, it is owned by East Africa’s biggest media house, The Nation Group of Companies that publishes the biggest circulating newspaper in East Africa. It also owns radios and televisions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Jossy also freelances for the African Press Agency.

He recalls that while studying at the university, they were using typewriters during their studies. It was the same at the newspaper office where they did their internship. Only typesetters then had access to computers! Photography then was a reserve of professional photographers and the process of getting a photo usually took days.

However now it is different. Every morning Jossy attends the daily meeting at the bureau office. The meeting is purpose is to generate news tips after which the bureau chief assigns the reporters what to do for the day. The reporters and correspondents go out in the field to gather news by way of following tips, interviewing sources and observing what is happening. From time to time they return to the office to type and file their stories.

While going about their daily work they use the new media. For enriching their stories and beefing them up, search engines like Google are continuously used. The computer is also used for typing ion stories, retouching photos and exchanging and filing stories. The Monitor intranet system is extended to Mbarara, however, whenever the office system slows up a public Internet café is used.

Jossy has Microsoft Outlook instant alerts, which alerts him whenever an email comes in. At the office he now uses a digital camera. There is also a scanner, which is used to scan historical photos submitted by the public.

Jossy can never work without his mobile phone. He uses it for communication, photography, recording, SMS- and MMS-ing. Even though the photo quality is not very good, the mobile phone camera comes in handy when he is covering sensitive stories like the military adorning party colors or torturing civilians. Photos can also be easily taken from a bus or other vehicle.

Jossy is belongs to several Social Networking Sites like LinkedIn and Twitter which he uses for keeping in touch and networking. He is also a member of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, the International Federation of Journalists and the Science Global Network Communication initiative. His membership helps him to access other journalists internationally by email, provides training opportunities, awards and scholarships.

Jossy is an ardent blogger. His blog is: http://www.jossmuhangi.blogspot.com/. Here he posts all his stories especially those that are not run by the Monitor. He also uses the Yahoo messenger a lot. It is much safer since the law of intercepting telephone calls was instituted making it difficult for sources to hold telephone interviews.

He proposes that through the Monitor, an Internet connected laptop and digital camera should be provided to correspondents in the field to simplify news gathering and filing even from remote places. This would go along way in creating efficiency and news deliverey.