Ever wondered what it would be like to try to sell baby strollers in Africa? The Washington Post has a full report:

Irene Wambui can't imagine why anyone would buy a baby stroller. She says she sees it as a cold cage filled with useless rattles, cup holders and mirrored headlights. Imagine children being stuffed into such a contraption and pushed around town like some kind of pet.

Yet here she is in the middle-class Westlands shopping district, trying to sell her store's newest merchandise, the four-wheeled plastic and metal tool of modern motherhood. But so far, strollers have been a flop in Nairobi, an affront to a time-honored tradition.

My observation in Ghana was that even the most urban, Westernized Ghanaians chose to carry their babies on their backs (not to mention carrying a bunch of other things on their heads). I'm sure that the poor quality of roads and often non-existent sidewalks has something to do with it, but I don't think it's the whole story.

I'd say carrying babies piggy-back is probably a reflection of African ideas about proper childrearing. When a mother carries her baby, she is always available to feed, burp, change, or comfort whenever the baby gets whiny. You'd think that all this attention would lead to spoiled children, but everything seems to work out somehow.

Anyway, until there's a major change in African ideas about childrearing, I wouldn't be investing in any African stroller retailers.
posted by Noah at 8:46 PM

Finally -- The UN appears to be taking the situation in Sudan seriously.
posted by Noah at 8:43 PM

I've tried to post fairly regularly on the situation in the Sudan. People always ask if the Rwanda genocide could happen again. Of course it can. In fact, in the Sudan, genocide isn't an event, it's a pattern of behavior for the government.

Well, Ethiopia is one country that I haven't kept up with, but there are increasing indications of genocide in that country as well. Luckily, there's a blog following the story. Read and learn.
posted by Noah at 7:49 PM

Sudan

Here's a great example of African solidarity in action:

African nations have ensured that Sudan will keep its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a decision that angered the United States and human rights advocates who cited reports of widespread rights abuses by the Khartoum government.

A coalition of 10 organizations concerned with human rights issues went further Monday, complaining that too few democracies are being nominated for seats on the commission.

In elections Tuesday for 14 seats on the main U.N. human rights watchdog, the coalition said three out of four African seats will be filled by non-democratic regimes -- Sudan, Guinea and Togo.

Oh, I'm so thankful that the honorable gentlemen from Khartoum have been spared the ignominy of being kicked off the human rights commission. And it's heartwarming how well African nations stick together.

I really wonder though.... where are the African democracies in all of this? If I'm not mistaken, each nation votes on which countries to nominate for the commission. I wonder what South Africa was doing when all of this was under discussion. Ghana? Senegal? Mali? Benin?

I'd like to think that they fought Sudan's nomination tooth and nail. Sadly, my guess is that African solidarity trumps all.
posted by Noah at 7:22 PM

Libyan Outrageousness

Is Qaddafi once again thumbing his nose at the West? Looks like it to me:

A Libyan court has sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in an attempt to find a cure for the disease.

Bulgaria condemned the "unfair and absurd" verdicts delivered on Thursday and called for a strong reaction from its Western partners -- the European Union, NATO and the United States.

I last blogged about this case way back here. It's yet more evidence that Qaddafi, even if disarmed of his weapons, is still not an ally.

posted by Noah at 7:12 PM

Nigerian Sharia

If there's anything to this story it's a confirmation of a lot of people's worst fears over the meaning of sharia in northern Nigeria:

Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State, has ordered the demolition of all churches in the state, as he launched the second phase of his Sharia project yesterday.

Speaking at the launch in Gusau, the state capital, Governor Sani disclosed that time was ripe for full implementation of the programme as enshrined in the Holy Quran.

Adding to the trouble was this attack by Christians against Muslims in Plateau state, apparently killing 300. Now there's no indication that this attack had anything to do with the new sharia laws in Zamfara, nor was it necessarily motivated solely by religious differences. Still, I think there's little doubt that religious strife in Nigeria is getting more serious, not less.

If you need convincing, look no further than this article where a Christian leader in Lagos notes that a "state of war" effectively exists between Nigerian Christians and Muslims.

At some point, the national government will have to put a stop to this. I only hope they do something before a full-blown civil war begins.

posted by Noah at 6:51 PM

New Blogger...

is nice, I think. This will take some getting used to, though.
posted by Noah at 6:50 PM

Another link from a Reader--it's an email concerning recent "elections" in Equatorial Guinea.
posted by Noah at 10:06 PM

A Reader noted this item about new Sharia laws in Nigeria's Zamfara state:

The northern Nigerian state of Zamfara has introduced a new package of Islamic, or Sharia, laws. All businesses in the state will have to shut down during the five daily Muslim prayers.

The state government also says that all "unauthorised" places of worship will be shut down under "Sharia phase two".

I don't know that a Sharia legal system is necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. Part of democracy is allowing people to choose the kind of laws that suit them best, so it's natural for people to adopt laws that conform to local tradition, custom, and religion. Democracies, and federalist democracies especially, work best when there's plenty of room for local variation.

Unfortunately, the introduction of Sharia in northern Nigeria doesn't look much like the free expression of democracy to me -- mostly because I don't see that there's been much provision for the protection of minorities. I don't imagine that these new laws will have any effect except to legalize the persecution of Christians and any Muslims that don't happen to agree with the more fundamentalist interpretations. And how are women to be treated under Sharia? Will their testimony be accepted in court and will they be able to vote?

Not a hopeful turn of events.

posted by Noah at 9:55 PM

The WSJ covers Thomas Mapfumo:

Mr. Mapfumo's concerts drew thousands of Zimbabweans who opposed the government's mounting repression, and he has met with opposition leaders and even mused about a role in a post-Mugabe government. The title of his new album, "Toi Toi," refers to a protest dance. "I am like a messenger of the people whenever I sing a song against my government," he rumbles in a bass register a couple of octaves below his singing range. "I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm just saying, 'Let's be united, try to rebuild the economy of the country so the people can survive and prosper.'"

He paid a price for his protest: Some of his recent songs were banned from the radio, and other intimidation ensued; some former band members have lost family members to prisons and bullets. In 2000, when Mr. Mapfumo visited the head of his American record label, who was then living in Eugene, he realized the city would make an ideal home base away from the escalating threats and chaos of his homeland. "I'm here for my children," he explains. "I like America--it is a good place to live for a while."

I'm still wondering what happened to all of those people who protested against apartheid during the 80's. Zimbabwe doesn't seem to be getting nearly the same kind of attention.

posted by Noah at 9:08 PM

Sorry for the non-blogging lately. My advisor is going to speak at this conference in Berlin next week, so I've had plenty of things to keep me busy.

Next week should be back to normal.
posted by Noah at 8:53 PM

A radical Muslim "cleric" has been arrested in connection with several bombings in Zanzibar:

The cleric, Sheikh Khalid Azan, was found late Saturday after a three-week manhunt, regional police commander George Kizuguto said.

"Khalid Azan was arrested in connection to different acts of violence, sabotage and vandalism, including the spate of bombings. He will appear in court soon," Kizuguto said.

Khalid is one of the top leaders of a radical Islamic group known as Islamic Propagation and Awareness, known by its Swahili acronym UAMSHO. The group is suspected of involvement in the firebombing of a church, a moderate Muslim leaders and government offices.

What's not clear from the article is whether Khalid is also being accused of involvement in bombings last month which were apparently intended to disrupt the visit of German president Johannes Rau.

posted by Noah at 9:48 PM

Abiola is blogging about DDT--one of my favorite themes:

I have news for those who'd put the welfare of wild animals ahead of that of their fellow human beings - Africa isn't just a gigantic game reserve, to be pristinely maintained for the benefit of filming documentaries to keep you suitably entertained. If "nature" means so much to you, concentrate your efforts on your own backyards, rather than trying to further your crusade on the shoulders of those who are too poor to have their voices heard on CNN and in international fora. Millions shouldn't have to die for the sake of an environmentalism that has become an ersatz religion for many comfortable westerners.

I've actually been reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring over the past few weeks. It's rather well written, so I can see how it became such a popular and influential book. Unfortunately, the book in many cases relies on sensationalism and hyperbole where fact and reason should suffice. In the end, the reader is left with a strong emotional response to the idea of "toxic chemicals" that may or (more often) may not be rooted in reality. Based on these attitudes, the environmental movement has successfully pushed the myth that "polluters" (i.e. chemical companies) are filling the environment with unseen and silent killers.

Sadly, the chemical industry hasn't done much to counter these myths. The response has been two-fold: 1) Denial. (Note the romoval of the word "chemistry" from the DuPont company's slogan.) 2) Dishonesty. This accounts for a lot of the talk about "clean fuels." A more accurate label might be "cleaner fuels," but that would require admitting some amount of pollution and that's bad because, as we all know, pollution kills birds and causes cancer.

Anyway, both of these responses to the environmentalists' challenge have essentially been surrender and have removed the possibility of having a rational public debate about how to deal with pollution.

posted by Noah at 8:35 PM

There is a lot about the Rwandan genocide at the Black Star Journal. You can start here and just keep scrolling down.
posted by Noah at 8:34 PM

AfricaBlog wonders how much worse the Zimbabwean economy can get.
posted by Noah at 8:18 PM

Here's a new theory on the Equatorial Guinea "coup": The real target was Charles Taylor.
posted by Noah at 8:10 PM

On the last Winds of Change Africa Regional Briefing, I noted that there had been yet another attack against foreign aid workers in Somaliland. In the past, such attacks were thought to be the work of Somali militia, attempting to destabilize the government of their northern neighbor. But at least some suspects are claiming to be members of al Qaeda:

In an interview with Reuters, Somaliland.org reported that Interior Minister Osman narrated that the captured killers confessed to have taken part in planning the murder of Richard and Enid Eyeington, a British couple running the SOS secondary school in Sheikh, Somaliland. They were assasinated in their living room in October, 2003. He explained that the captured suspects have told interrogators that they are members of Al-Queda.

The government of Somaliland arrested more than 14 people last October in connection to the assasination of Annalena Tonneli and the British couple. The arrested suspects have never been brought to court, the case remains unresolved.

Hard to know what to make of this, but I'll be interested to see if it pans out.
posted by Noah at 8:00 PM

Claudia Rosett asks the question that I've been asking for quite some time:

Gadhafi is about to find out whether his new friends, the U.S. and Britain, care only about disarmament, or if we also stand behind the eloquent speeches of recent times about the deep need for liberty and justice in the Islamic world. Gadhafi is right now running a reality check on just how serious President Bush might be about pinpointing tyranny as the root of terror (which it is). Gadhafi is, as you read this, checking whether his arms deal has bought him license to carry on with complete impunity as a tyrant and trouble-maker in his own nation, and neighborhood--as long as he ships his WMD collection off for study and disposal in Tennessee.

Read the whole thing. And after you do that, write your Congressman and Senators to make sure that they keep the heat on Libya. It's good for the U.S. that Libya is disarming, but it would be good for Libyans if they were free.

Then there was this from a speech by Qaddafi's son:

"Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people,'' said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. ``The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from outside.''

It's hard to tell if he's serious, but if so, he needs to go back to Libya and have a long talk with his father.
posted by Noah at 7:26 PM

As if to refute my earlier criticism, Kofi Annan is now talking tough on Sudan...

"It is vital that international humanitarian workers and human rights experts be given full access to the region [Darfur], and to the victims, without further delay," Mr Annan said.

"If that is denied, the international community must be prepared to take swift and appropriate action. By action in such situations, I mean a continuum of steps which may include military action."

...and so is President Bush:

"New fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan has opened a new chapter of tragedy in Sudan's troubled history. The Sudanese government must immediately stop local militias from committing atrocities against the local population and must provide unrestricted access to humanitarian aid agencies," Bush said. "I condemn these atrocities, which are displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, and I have expressed my views directly to President [Omar] Bashir of Sudan."

A few points...

First, I'm glad that some people are at least talking about this situation. This puts the nasty behavior of the Sudanese government in the spotlight of international attention. That doesn't mean that their behavior will improve, but it's a start.

While Bush doesn't mention the possibility of military action, the chances are good that Sudan will take him seriously. Whether or not you like Bush's policies, he's shown (Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, Haiti) that he backs up his words with deeds. Surely that fact isn't completely lost on Bashir.

It can't be a coincidence that these statments come on the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Of course, much of the media coverage of that anniversary has concerned the question, "Would the international community let it happen again?" (E.g. here.) The answer is most emphatically "Yes."

Granted the rate of killing in Darfur isn't nearly what occurred in Rwanda; nevertheless, this is a case of "ethnic cleansing." Furthermore, this isn't the first time that the Sudanese government has orchestrated this type of thing. It's a pattern of behavior that the international community (so far) has largely ignored.

Here's a thought: If the UN becomes bogged down (as it almost certainly will) and is unable to come to any agreement on how to deal with Sudan, who will be the first to suggest that the U.S. act unilaterally on humanitarian grounds?
posted by Noah at 7:08 PM