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AfricanLoft

May 09, 2008
10:59
Sleepless and Wireless in Accra (UNCTAD XII)
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

I had the privilege of being a participant at the just-ended UNCTAD XII conference. In my view, it brought into very sharp relief not just how sophisticated international conferences have become, but how far the information society has come of age.

When I first started writing about the information society, I could almost imagine how high eyebrows might be raised at the prospect of such a society, where everyone is connected 24/7. Glitches notwithstanding, throughout the UNCTAD conference proper, that is exactly *how* connected we were. This is not some kind of digital exuberance; this is the reality of the twenty-first century, where ubiquitous internet connectivity is instrumental in our homes, work and private lives.

Take the case of a colleague from a sister organisation in Geneva. Throughout the gathering, he was behind his laptop—either at the makeshift secretariat that had been set up for NGOs at the NGO centre – or in the official plenaries and roundtables making notes that he needed to collate and send back to Switzerland for publication. He was far from the only one. Back in the eighties when I would hit my pubescent period – before wireless and when I was even too young to know what international conferences were about – I re-call seeing on television people carrying huge notebooks and pens all over the place.

Today, the laptop is *de rigueur*. In other words, it has become a necessity not just by dint of its portability, but its utility, for if a laptop were useful only for playing DVDs and games, they would find precious space in people’s luggage for meetings and conferences. That these portable devices have come to represent the (portable) version of what you would get on a desktop – in the manner in which it offers word processing and picture-upload capability and transfer (multimedia) among many other things – is one of main reasons why they have been recognised as important communication tools.

Battery woes
This is not to say that the pen and paper are dead—far from it—for one challenge about laptops is their battery. Very few are able to offer more than two hours battery life; when they do, it means you are paying rather steeply for a second battery. At UNCTAD XII, the pen and paper were great complements, for they enabled one to jot down ideas and prepare questions in a way that the laptop would not.

Then there is, of course, the A/C cord; the colleague in question had an issue of his cord being broken. It necessitated a change to a two-pin one for his trip back to Geneva. For the two days that that cord was not fixed, he could only use his laptop for some twenty-odd minutes, ensuring that he save every vestige of power he could. At the very worst, he worked on the desktop computers that the UNCTAD secretariat had provided the centre, so that the laptop could be spared. He did say one interesting thing that precipitated a lot of food for thought. When it was suggested him that he use my chord to beef up the power in his laptop, he decried how “that would force me to work even more.” At one point he even lamented having broken from his work for dinner, when his laptop was waiting for him (to do some work)!

Creating 24/7 work?
While these may serve as funny anecdotes, in my view, it is also symptomatic of what I consider to be a worrying trend on how laptops and portable devices have legitimised the need to work *anytime*, which is not such a bad thing if you are a workaholic. For those of us that are not, that time for a break is critical for the soul in more ways than you can imagine, plus the fact that you get to take a break from staring or blinking incessantly at a screen that is bound to cause headache-inducing issues for the UN itself. I am not quite sure that the UN’s International Labour Organisation would be very happy to see conference delegates working into the night to deliver reports on a conference of a sister organisation!

In all seriousness, at UNCTAD XII, the information society was well and truly alive—and very palpable. At the meetings, the laptops came in all shapes and sizes, and were, shall-we-say, well-ensconced on thighs (of all shapes and sizes) probably burning them against the very cold air conditioning flowing from the gargantuan systems that had been set up. Some of those who had their laptops on them were producing semi-transcriptions; others were writing draft reports; many others were simply writing notes from the meeting by capturing the essence of the discussions, with a view to sending them off to their organisations.

Some of these reports would turn into news items—and even blog posts—as exemplified by the Minneapolis-based Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) that produced no less than three rather detailed posts of the Civil society output as blog posts from 17-19 April and the main conference. The posts were produced by two of the staff that were here in Accra from Geneva and the US.

Africa (Bloggers) Disunited?
The blogging that was done by a few Western NGOs that were present at UNCTAD XII were so good that they put into shame the quasi non-existent blog entries by African civil society. Regrettably, parts of the African contingent spent quite a bit of time complaining *not* about the wireless so much as the mostly -English output of the civil society aspect of the conference. This was expressed in list-serves that were purposefully set up to facilitate communication among us, and face-to-face encounters. It was clearly a challenge that needs to be confronted.

Even more challenging however, was the extent of blogging by Africans. After the end of the conference, I surfed the blogosphere for inputs by Africans on UNCTAD XII. The owner of AfricaNext.net emailed me to say that he was there at UNCTAD XII, and hinted that he would write a more comprehensive post after the conference. I only got his mail when I sent him two posts for upload, while simultaneously decrying the state of non-blogging by those who wrote about the African Union summit in June last year – also right here in Accra. Why were these same bloggers—even if they were unable to make it to Accra—not blogging about the issues discussed? Or was it a case of conference-fatigue by African bloggers?

I daresay my European and Western counterparts might have also suffered from conference-fatigue, hence their departure even before the closing of the conference—but still they stayed to write reports, send emails, and blog.

It seems to me that there remains a lot of work that needs to be done insofar as blogging about conferences are concerned. In 2001, when I also had the privilege of attending the UN Conference on Least Developed Countries in Brussels, Belgium, I knew nothing about blogging—even if it was not so hot in Europe at the time – but I regret not having captured much of the conference electronically. In 2005 at the World Summit on Information Society, I produced almost a tome of sometimes-useless banter about Tunis and its people, as well as on the conference itself on my blog about Ghana.

It has almost been three years, and the information society has progressed and advanced to degrees we never thought possible. With wireless, people can even send emails and write quick reports from the washroom! That is how ridiculously advantageous the society has become.

All that said, there remain serious challenges, which include the extent to which apathy of bloggers contribute—or not—to the development of a more pluralistic information society. The West can afford to be apathetic, because of the many advances they have undergone; we in the developing world have less to be complacent about. To date, blogging remains one of the most democratising practices around for the Global South. If we as developing countries fail to maximise how it can help us foster a better society, then we might have gone wireless alright, but forever-sleepless in the search to make not just the information society, but society in general better for us all.

twelvedaysintunis.blogspot.com / ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com | ekbensah AT gmail.com

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10:49
NYU Medical Student Helps Create Africa’s first Medical Network in Ghana
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

Linking physicians to a single network has profound implications for a country’s health care system. With that in mind, Brian Levine, a fourth year medical student at the New York University school of medicine, decided to set up an online social networking site so doctors all over Ghana could collaborate with each other.

The network would also be available to physicians in New York who were treating West African patients. But when Levine arrived in Ghana, he found that the necessary technological infrastructure did not exist and he could not set up such a site. He says the biggest problem was a lack of access “to computers and the Internet…..” During his initial visits to local clinics, Levine realized that most doctors did not have a computer.

He set out to seek a more widely used technology and his next option made more sense — cell phones. He says statistics show that more than 80 million Africans use cell phones and their proliferation even in rural areas makes them the most accessible technology available. So he sought out a cell phone provider in Ghana to create a cell phone network. ”I realized that for it to be successful, it had to be either cheap or free,” he says.

He approached the management of Ghana Telecom, which owns One-Touch Mobile. “We [agreed] that the only way to achieve this was to remove the barrier of cost,” Levine says. All registered doctors would be given access to the new network, known as “Medicare Line,” on which they would make free phone calls to each other.

He also worked with the Ghana Medical Association to coordinate with the more than 2000 doctors who are members. They all received the “one touch chip,” which they can use in their cell phone handsets each time they call another doctor.

Levine says the project has been very successful, with over a million phone calls made on the free network so far. Doctors are using it for referrals and consultations among themselves. Also, doctors in working in rural areas are able to keep up with their colleagues in cities. Levine says if there is a level of satisfaction among medical practitioners, fewer doctors will leave their profession “and there will be less brain drain in Africa.”

The network also supports text messaging, and the Ghana medical association can send out announcements to its members. “If a disaster like an epidemic strikes, the association can communicate for a quick response,” Levine says – and adds that this feature is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

He says the idea can be replicated in other parts of Africa where there is a cell phone company “that has a social agenda as part of its corporate goals.”

Levine hopes to expand the project to include neighboring countries. He says it will lead to an improved health care system in a country with only 2000 doctors for a population of 22 million.

In a few months he begins his residency in the United States, where he will use the same network to monitor HIV compliance.

Written by Jackson Muneza Mvunganyi / VOA

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10:10
African Varsities and Venture Capitalists Need to Support Student Entrepreneurs
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

Mfonobong Nsehe highlights why African universities and venture capitalist need to encourage and support entrepreneurial students. Excerpt via African Executive:

Do any universities and colleges in Africa support student entrepreneurs, organize business plan competitions and fund student businesses which have mega potential? In the West, universities are eager to support student entrepreneurs and even go out of their way to look for students with exceptional business ideas. Due to this kind of support, many big time corporations have sprung up from dormitories in US campuses.

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May 08, 2008
11:34
The Politics of Rising Food Prices in Africa
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

African governments are under pressure from consumers – and in some cases protestors – to act now. Some, like Nigeria, are working to satisfy demand and lower prices by releasing emergency grain reserves. Others like Cameroon are giving pay raises to public servants, dropping tariffs on food imports, or enacting food subsidies. Ethiopia has banned the export of its cereals.

Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria have released emergency grain reserves onto the market to try to keep food prices low. Burkina, Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia have suspended or lowered taxes on grains and other basic goods. Nigeria recently announced it will buy 500,000 metric tons of rice from Thailand.

Ethiopia has added a 10 percent surtax on luxury imports to help fund wheat subsidies for the poor. It has also restricted the money supply to help prevent inflation.

Cameroon has increased wages for the civil service and military. Sudan has increased food subsidies for the poor. Egypt has suspended rice exports, while Ethiopia and Tanzania have banned the sale of their main cereals overseas. Zambia refuses to approve any new deals to export grains.

Many countries are working to improve domestic food production. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and others say they plan to grow more rice. Liberia, which imports 90 percent of its rice, will begin growing it in Lofa and Nimba counties. The opposition is asking the government to drop taxes on all rice purchases. Ghana hopes to join Uganda, Tanzania and other countries in increasing the use of high-yielding NERICA [New Rice for Africa], developed by the Africa Rice Center in Benin.

Senegal has created a new program, “The grand agricultural offensive for food security,” which is aimed at making the country self-sufficient in grains within seven years. It’s also working to boost rice production from 100,000 to 600,000 metric tons annually.

Nigeria, Kenya and Cameroon are releasing subsidized fertilizer to in an effort to increase food production.

Ghana is considering an idea that Nigeria has tried with mixed success, requiring flour mills to incorporate a percentage of inexpensive cassava flour into some of their wheat-based products, like bread.

Economists have varying opinions on some of these measures. Some support food subsidies for only a short period of time. They say unless subsidies are carefully targeted to the poor, the wealthy will also benefit.

Economists say subsidies are hard to dismantle, since some consumers come to depend on them. And, they are sometimes paid for by cutting funds from health and education programs in the national budget.

Raymond Gilpin is the director of the Center for Economies and Conflict at US Institute for Peace in Washington. He says subsidies distort the market.

“[Subsidies are a problem], he says, “when food price inflation is regional and borders are porous. If you subsidize grain in, say, Burkina Faso, but it is not subsidized in Mali, what is stopping business person “A” from buying subsidized grain in Burkina Faso and selling it for a killing in Mali, just across the border? Subsidies should be localized and temporary.”

Other possible solutions also have drawbacks: dropping tariffs on imports may lead to cheaper food for consumers but less revenue for the government.

Meanwhile, bans on food exports bring about only temporary relief – domestic traders are compelled to sell food within the country often at a lower local price. Yet, some economists say, it means lower prices for farmers, who do not have the incentive of higher profits to produce more food.

Most economists agree that in the short run, urban consumers and the rural poor must be protected. One program that is working well is the Productive Safety Nets Program in Ethiopia.

John Hoddinott is a senior research fellow in the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington. He describes the effort, which provides food and cash transfers in exchange for public works. It also provides rural farmers with other support for improving crop yields.

“We know in Ethiopia,” he explains, “the use of chemical fertilizers is woefully low – the program helps farmers access fertilizers by putting cash in their pockets and by facilitating access to production credit, where they can borrow additional funds to buy fertilizers.”

He says the program has been running for two years. “What we do know,” he says, “is that in parts of the country where people have access to the (money) transfers and the packages of agricultural technologies, their food security is improved.”

Economists say higher food prices often do not benefit small farmers, who do not have storage facilities and must sell their produce right away – even at lower prices.

But a program in Kenya called the “warehouse receipt system” may reverse that.

Bridgett Okumu is a market manager for the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network in Nairobi. She says the system allows farmers to store their grains in a silo made available to them. They then receive a “receipt,” which allows them to borrow from the bank up to 80% of the value of their crop for fertilizers or for personal needs like medical care.

“They will hold on to the receipt,” says Okumu,”and when prices rise, they sell off the maize to the miller, trader or food agency. So they benefit from the high price and they pay back the loan from the bank, pay off the storage charges for the warehouse, and they retain their margin.”

Economists say Africa’s small farmers would benefit by engaging in regional and international markets. For example, China is seeking palm oil from Africa for use as a biofuel, and India would be a prime market for Tanzanian chickpeas or navy beans from Ethiopia. The Kenyan daily paper The Nation says farmers in the North Rift Valley are growing passion fruit, which is much cheaper to grow than maize. Juice from the fruit is in demand in hotels and supermarkets locally and abroad.

Josh Ruxin is an assistant clinical professor of public health at Columbia University and the director of The Millennium Village Project. One of the project’s goals is to curb poverty and improve health standards in the developing world by 2015.

Ruxin is currently working with 50,000 small farmers in Rwanda’s Bugesera District on an organic pomegranate cooperative.

“We are working with farmers on higher value crops like pomegranates, dried mango and other dried fruits with great demand globally,” says Ruxin. “This poses a real challenge for Rwanda because the high cost of the fuel and transport — by air or by ship — has made it difficult for them to export competitively. The challenge is trying to figure out how to overcome the transport costs. Nonetheless, there are niche markets for exports like coffee and other things are in demand, and Rwanda is taking advantage of the situation.”

“Rwanda recognizes the transport issue is working against it,” he says, “and it has done a really amazing job in last several years building roads [towards Kenya], and [also] into [the DRC], Burundi, [Uganda] and Tanzania to start to provide some economic lubricant for lowering that cost.”

Ruxin says the higher food prices have put pressure on governments to lower their tariffs and strengthen regional markets. Rising commodity prices, which he says have historically trended downward, may also offer farmers a chance to improve their operations. The cost of inputs such as fertilizer and improved seeds is far less than the market price for the final product, which allows farmers to see higher profits.

He says Rwanda’s leaders want the country to make the transition to a “knowledge-based” economy, based on improved technologies. Ruxin says that with appropriate access to capital and inputs the Rwanda can build on the price spikes to help reach that goal.

Written by William Eagle / VOA
Image: Betumi.com

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May 07, 2008
7:00
West Africa Becomes Dump for Electronics Waste Disposal
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries agreed to a law that aims to stop the flow of electronic waste from being dumped in Africa and Asia. But Consumer International’s Luke Upchurch says this has not stopped the dumping of end-of-life electronics in what he described as large swathes of the developing world.

Consumers International carried out investigations in Nigeria and Ghana.

“We could have looked at other areas of the world but I think for us West Africa is an area which often falls foul of such unscrupulous behavior and its something which we wanted to highlight,” Upchurch said.

The report says of the hundreds of tons of obsolete computers, televisions and other household consumer electronics that arrive at ports in Ghana and Nigeria every month, as few as one in four of the imports are working. The rest, it says, are electronic waste, also known as e-waste, which often ends up on dumpsites.

Upchurch says the appliances are sent legally as working second-hand-use units even when the exporters are aware they are not working.

The arrival of flat-screen televisions and Thin Film Transistor monitors on consumer markets in the America and in Europe has set off a flood of old cathode-ray tube television sets spilling into Africa. In Accra and in Lagos, the report says, the change in European consumer habits is clearly visible as old-fashioned CRT television sets are lined up along the streets by their thousands.

In West Africa, refuse is often disposed of in fires. Waste collectors, mostly children, destroy the cathode ray tubes, and burn the wires and circuit boards inside, to get to metals such as copper, zinc, gold and other toxic materials, which they then sell.

Upchurch says this practice has a negative impact on the health of the waste collectors. He says respiratory illnesses are common in the areas and the toxins also find their way into water supplies.

“There are a lot of poisonous heavy toxic metals within the componentries of computers,” he said. “The health repercussions of burning the plastics and the toxics are having quite an effect on the health of the children in the area.”

The report urges tougher monitoring in exporting countries to ensure donated electronic goods are in working order when sent to developing countries.

Consumers International says obsolete electrical equipment should be disposed of or recycled in the country of origin, using environmentally sustainable methods as laid down by laws the countries have agreed to. Upchurch says 6.6 million tons of e-waste disappear to developing countries each year.

Written by Tendai Maphosa / VOA.
Image: Basel Action Network.

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May 06, 2008
9:22
Africa-USA Business Forum Planned for Atlanta in October
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

Hundreds of political and business leaders from Africa and the United States are scheduled to attend a three-day business and investment forum in October the southeastern U.S. city of Atlanta, the conference is intended to showcase Africa’s potential and business capacity.

Organizers say the U.S. - Africa Business Summit 2008 will provide a platform for American investors and their African counterparts to forge partnerships.

Some say Africa is rapidly becoming the investment destination of the world.

Tunde Adetunji, the Nigerian-born American head of the African Heritage Foundation, the main event sponsor, says the conference will expose American entrepreneurs to Africa and the inherent opportunities that abound.

“Africa is the cradle of civilization, but little or nothing is known about the potential of Africa,” said Adetunji. “But with this particular conference and expo, it will now let more people know what areas they need to participate in the African economy. I am talking about what is needed in Africa now, in the area of transportation, the health care industry, power generation, the petroleum industry, clothing and apparel, food and beverages. We believe that this particular project will bridge the gap and build that bridge.”

The three-day ‘Bridging the Gap and Building the Bridge’ forum will include industry-specific sessions, networking opportunities, and panels. The 2008 summit will also feature a major trade exposition, where both African and U.S. participants will showcase their products, services and opportunities. Atlanta will also see the opening of its first African village.

The African Union is a co-sponsor and Tunde sees the initiative as one of the best opportunities to promote business and trade links between Africa and the United States.

“Since this is a conference and a project that is endorsed by the African Union, we envisage the participation of all the 54 African countries. We envisage private investors, entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce, export promotion councils, manufacturers; people that want to discover new grounds in the area of technology, manufacturing; decision-makers in the agro-allied to be present,” aded Adetunji. “I believe that with the exchange of views, exchange of ideas it would benefit both parties.”

With the passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA, the opportunities for American agribusinesses looking to enter or expand their presence in Africa are increasing.

AGOA has helped to boost two-way trade between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa by 17 percent from 2005 to 2006, reaching more than $70 billion, with growth both in U.S. exports and imports from the region. Total U.S. imports from Africa increased to $60 billion with U.S. exports to Africa increasing to $12 billion.

Written by Gilbert da Costa / VOA

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May 05, 2008
9:56
“Kenyan Stories” - Film Documentary Captures Entrepreneurial Pursuits of Kenyan Youths
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

Carol Pineau is woman of huge passion… for Africa. She is a journalist who has specialized in Africa for more than 10 years, and many will remember “Africa Open for Business“, the award winning documentary showcasing entrepreneurs across Africa. I stumbled upon another Carol’s documentary recently - Kenya Stories showcases the drive and passion of some Kenyan entrepreneurial youths whose ambitions were caught up in a national political power play of very dire consequences.

Pineau explains further:

This film was supposed to be an inspiring, yet simple story. Kenya’s Youth Ministry was holding a national business plan competition for which 5000 aspiring entrepreneurs applied. The top 100 were to be invited to a compound near Nairobi for a week of training and pitching to a panel of judges. Bill Stevenson, Manager of Social Corporate Investments at the computer giant, Lenovo, got in touch with me. Lenovo was one of the main sponsors of the competition. Bill thought it had the makings of a great film. Imagine a business version of Spellbound set in Kenya or Apprentice meets Big Brother…

When violence erupted in Kenya following the elections, it’s impact on those young Kenyans can best be imagined…

What were once big ideas and lofty dreams became thwarted as Kenya descended into a bloody conflict orchestrated by personal motives of political party elders, and fueled by selfish ethnic sentiments.

Carol Pineau explains via CNN how she captures the dreams and motivation of those ambitious young Kenyans in tricolor - pre, and post, the election violence:

They are young, ambitious and want to win. 100 potential businesses. 100 great ideas. Imagine what these Kenyan youth could do for a nation plagued by unemployment. But sadly, this is the story of thwarted dreams. Six weeks after Kenya’s national business plan competition, a disputed election set off the worst violence Kenya has seen since independence in 1963.

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9:44
The Quest For God
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

Nowadays finding God is probably a very complicated task for an unbeliever looking for salvation - simply because there are so many Christian interpretations of who God is, and so many doctrines on how to attain deliverance. The article highlights some of the doctrines about God and analyzes the different views.

Oprah’s church - the largest church in the world which was started March 3, 2008 preaches that:

Who you are requires no belief. Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. The man on the cross is an Archetypal image. He is every man and every woman. My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy. My holiness is my salvation. My salvation comes from me. Let me remember there is no sin. Jesus is not the only way to live.

Let’s dissect this doctrine. According to this school of thought we, you and I, are God. This principle totally eliminates God, the Divine Being, from the picture and replaces Him with mere man. Uh? A very simplistic explanation indeed but is finding God really that basic? If this is true, how do we explain the events in the bible, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Next is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (one of the sects is facing charges for sexual abuse), their philosophy is:

We believe that the principle of plural marriage, which was practiced by the ancient patriarchs such as Abraham or Jacob, was restored to this earth sometime in the 1830s through a new prophet named Joseph Smith. Through angelic ministrations, he was given authority to authorize such marriages. That authority has been passed down to each Church president, allowing strict order to govern all such marriage ceremonies. Polygamous marriages contracted without his permission were not recognized. All members of the church are required to abide by a strict dress code. And the church also prevents its members from owning real estate and other property.

When asked ‘How can individuals who strive to follow Christ and biblical teachings believe in or practice polygamy’ the interesting justification for this practice was:

Mormonism claims to be a restoration of God’s work in all previous dispensations. The Old Testament teaches that the patriarchs—those men favored of God in ancient times—had more than one wife under divine sanction. In the course of the development of the Church in the nineteenth century, it was revealed to the leader of the Church that such a practice of marriage again should be entered into.

Although the bible does not directly rebuke polygamy but isn’t Matthew 19:5-6 a clear indication that marriage is between one man and one woman? The passage says “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefor God joined together let no man separate.” There seems to be a contradiction here?

Another interesting church is the Synagogue. The Synagogue is in Lagos, Nigeria and the head is Pastor T. B. Joshua. His preaching was definitely unconventional and it involved performance of numerous miracles, from curing cancer to AIDS. However, besides video testimonials of those healings, there are no concrete proofs of the miracles. Many Nigerians believe that his powers are not attributable to God but those allegations cannot be verified either. A Pastor once described the scenes at the Synagogue:

There is also a very undignified and even degrading aspect to these healings. When Christ healed it was all so dignified. True man is below, God is above, but man is not “Nothing”, He is made “In the Image of God”. In the Pastor Joshua’s videotape, released by the Synagogue, men with rectal cancer are asked to take down their pants, before others, both before and after the healing. A Woman bares her breasts, one showing cancer, and stands before a mixed assembly in the agony of her pain. As the healing progresses, her breast is seen oozing puss and yellow bile into a pool on her dress and flowing into a puddle on the floor. People are seen “Vomiting their troubles away” on the floor, some vomiting blood, some rocks, shells, large worms, live insects, Where did Jesus or His apostles ever do any such things? Yes these stains can be seen on the floor, the very spots where people vomited blood, and where women are seen on camera passing bloody “fibroids” from between their legs! On this same floor, people are put into trances, laid out on that same floor, (One can see the spots) and in those trances many are seen rolling about among those spots.

Remote control- T.B. Joshua uses a technique called “remote control”, in which by hand motions, standing ten feet or so away from “patients” he manipulates their motions. By scooting his hands to the left, the patient seems irresistibly drawn to the left, and to the right, the patient goes to the right, by circling his hands, Joshua send the patient into a circle, often until they spiral out of control, falling into a dazed heap! This method once again is more akin to occult healing practices, than it is to the Majestic healing gifts of Jesus Christ. Another similar technique is called “point of contact”. For example, the bare breasted woman suffering in agony before the congregation, of a cancer, for her Joshua stands about 15 feet away, and rubs his chin vigorously, this is evidentially affecting her cancerous breast, by remote control. (See the healing of the woman with a blood problem for years, she only touched Jesus and was healed.)

This is one of the many allegations raised against T.B. Joshua and the Synagogue.

Now back to the first paragraph and put yourself in the place of the ’spiritually unknowledgeable’ person seeking God. In light of the aforementioned doctrines and many others, how do you decide which teaching to follow? Or is it easier for such person to desist from the quest and maintain the status quo of unbelief?

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May 02, 2008
12:08
Nigeria: The Freedom of Information Bill Dies Again
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

The House of Representatives has again failed to pass the Freedom of Information Bill into law:

The failure on Tuesday, the fifth since the debate on the bill started, heightened anxiety on the floor of the House with a member, Mrs. Abike Dabiri (sponsor), warning that corruption could not be successfully checked without the the FOI bill.

The bill had suffered a similar fate on four previous occasions. It was learnt that some lawmakers, particularly those who had held political appointments in the past, were not comfortable with the bill. Investigations showed that the legislators were afraid that when passed into law, the FOI bill would give the media a license to dig into their past dealings.

What the Federal Representatives did was stepping from the smoke screen to reveal their true colors. Paraphrasing Maxwell Kadiri via Vanguard (FOI bill: House of Reps sounds death knell for accountable government in Nigeria):

Last Tuesday represents one of the darkest days of legislative proceedings in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and the Honourable Dimeji Bankole-led House of Representative lost a unique opportunity to build on the moral high ground that it gained with its recent actions post the Etteh-gate saga and by so doing failed Nigerians when it mattered most.

If there is one thing Nigeria needs more than ever - that will be creating a high fidelity system of checks and balances, what the FOI Act would have help initiate or strengthened. The passage of FOI bill would have made governance more transparent and relevant - and its workings more visible - to the ordinary citizen, since the FOI Act would have mandated the ‘government’ to disclose records requested in writing by any person.

As it is operationalized in the United States, the FOI Act “allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States Government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures and grants nine exemptions to the statute.”

The FOI Act is a must-have addition to the Nigerian constitution, without which the country will ever remain at the mercy of the marauding political appointees and self-serving bureaucrats.

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8:03
DRC - Warrant For Arrest Against Bosco Ntaganda
» ‎ Read entry @ AfricanLoft

The International Criminal Court has unsealed a warrant for arrest against Bosco Ntaganda also known as the “Terminator” this past Tuesday. This 35 year Congolese is accused to have committed war crimes of enlisting children as young as 15 between July 2002 and December 2003.

This warrant for arrest issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber I in 2006, remained under seal for many reasons. ICC claimed that Bosco Ntaganda would have fled, and or obstructed if not endangered the investigation or the proceedings of the Courts once he had knowledge of this warrant.

Since the circumstances which triggered the sealing in the warrant in the first place have changed, the Prosecution and the Registry agreed that ‘the unsealing of the warrant of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda will not endanger the witnesses of the DRC cases’ and that this was the ‘right moment’ to make it public.

According to the ICC, Bosco Ntaganda, a former Deputy Chief of General Staff for Military Operations of the Forces Patriotiques Pour la Liberation du Congo (FPLC) or the Patriotic Front for the Liberation of the Congo, had full knowledge and authority of many FPLC training camps where these children received the training and then forced to participate in the warfare.

The FPLC fought against other militia groups in the Ituri region of the Democratic republic of Congo for a period of four years, from 1999 to 2003 over control of natural resources which had claimed for than 50,000 lives and many other displaced.

Former FPLC Commander-in-Chief and UPC founder and leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is in custody in the Hague where his trial is scheduled to start on 23 June 2008 along with Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ndgudjolo. More warrant for arrest against Congolese who has committed war crimes are likely to be issued.

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