MINNEAPOLIS – A group aspiring to take up the leadership of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) in the forthcoming elections has called for the immediate amendment of the association’s constitution to allow it operate as a non-profit body.
Speaking during the launch of its campaign, the Dwanyeh-Tehmeh Team promised to change the present constitution and stop the elections of future presidents. Instead they proposed a system that will allow presidential nominations by the board of directors. Furthermore they announced their desire to expand the board from the current five to twelve members of which nine will be Liberians and three representatives from Professional Associations and the Business Community.
The team has Kerper Dwanyen vying for Presidency and Andrew Tehmeh as his running mate. In a colorful ceremony attended by a handful of supporters the two tore into the present OLM administration calling it “a disgrace’’ to the Liberian community in Minnesota.
“Many of us invested our hopes and aspirations in this current leadership, expecting reform, services and accountability but today we see ourselves no further ahead in these quests, our hopes have been dashed as financial scandal after scandal and unabated conflict have rocked our faith in this OLM administration,” Dwanyen said.
He said the community stood at the crossroads and its choice in the Dec. 2 election will decide whether Liberians opt to vote for change or remain stagnant in the cycle of underperformance. If elected Dwanyen promised to bring reform and ensure the community reclaimed its seat at what he termed as “the vibrant immigrant communities in the great state of Minnesota.”
Dwanyen pointed out despite ready support available for immigrant communities at both federal and state level the current leadership was incompetent to effectively lobby for funds thereby denying the community a chance to benefit from millions of dollars disbursed for social needs.
“Social service entities with no connection to our community and very little knowledge of our problems obtain funds for the purpose of serving us and since they don’t really know us they can’t really serve us,” he said. “The manner in which this administration has handled its promise of financial accountability is a disgrace and people will not trust us with money if we are not serious about integrity. That’s why OLM is broke today.”
Touching on the issue of uncertainty hanging on the heads of many Liberians, Dwanyen wondered why anyone would need to repatriate people who have managed to rebuild their lives from scratch for nearly two decades in the state and vowed to fight to the end to ensure Liberians under temporary status get permanent residence. He also challenged the community to get engaged in active politics by promoting Liberian born candidates for public office. And as a starting point he announced his administration would draft candidates for office in the elections for Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Centre City positions. He also assured supporters that his group would work closely with other agencies to formulate projects to provide services such as youth mentoring, job searches, HIV/AIDS awareness, adult literacy and sports. Other than Dwanyen and Tehmeh the team has former U.S. Army lieutenant Kulah Parker running as treasurer and Thalia Cooper as secretary general.
Note from the editor: As many of us immigrants devote large amounts of time toward understanding and surviving the maze that is the U.S. system, we might not have time to devote to our health. Breaking down, simplifying and summarizing that information is important. Every month Mshale will team up with Sara Chute of Minnesota Department of Health to provide educational health information to immigrant and refugee communities in the state.
Cervical cancer is cancer in the cervix. Each year an estimated 11,150 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 3,670 of the patients will die from it. Cervical cancer used to be one of the most common cancers, however in 1955, the number of deaths resulting from cervical cancer declined. This was due to a new procedure called the Pap test, which detects early cervical cancer cells. Statistics from the Minnesota Department of Health indicate that 168 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in 2004 in the state, with 52 deaths that year.
Cervical cancer is caused by a virus called the Human Papillomas Virus (HPV). HPV is a very common virus and in fact, many women are infected with this virus. However, not all infected cases will turn into cervical cancer.
Cancer of the cervix occurs in the lower, narrow part of the uterus (womb) of a woman. The uterus is the organ where a baby grows during a woman’s pregnancy. The cervix forms a canal (opening) into the vagina (birth canal) leading to the outside of the body. The Human Papillomas Virus causes cells in the cervix to change, which sometimes can turn into cancer. A Pap test and/or pelvic exam are tools that may help diagnose possible problems in the cervix and enable doctors to order additional tests, if needed.
“It is important that all women get screened regularly for cervical cancer.”
A Pap test is a procedure where a doctor scrapes the inside of the cervix and collects cells for testing. The cells are then analyzed for abnormalities and pre-cancerous characteristics. If the Pap test comes back abnormal, the doctor will recommend further test. Some of these tests include a culposcopy – a procedure where the doctors looks at the cervix through a binocular-like instrument – and biopsy, which is where the doctor takes a sample of the tissues in the cervix.
Every woman should begin having a Pap test when she becomes sexually active or if not, when the turns 21 years old. According to MDH, in 2004, more than 87% of women age 18 and older reported having a pap smear in the last 3 years. If cancerous cells are found in the cervix, your doctor can offer you several treatment options. The earlier the cancer cells are detected, the more successful the treatment. Because of this, it is important that all women get screened regularly for cervical cancer.
There are important factors for reducing your risk and ensuring early diagnosis. Risk factors that increase one’s likelihood of cervical cancer include smoking, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, multiple pregnancies, and family history of cancer. Some of these risks you can control, others you can’t. For instance, we can reduce our chances by adopting healthy habits like quitting smoking, having fewer sexual partners, and eating a balanced diet. But we cannot change our family history or genetics. That is why getting a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer is so important – because you don’t know for sure if you’re at risk until you get tested.
If you would like to schedule your yearly physical or an appointment for your Pap test, call your clinic to set up an appointment. If you do not have health insurance, there are programs that will help you cover the cost for this very important appointment. If you would like information about these free programs or have questions about breast and cervical cancer screening, you can call the Minnesota Department of Health Sage Program at 651-556-0687, or visit http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/ to learn more.
Special thanks to Lillian Hang from the Department of Health in the Cancer Control Section for help with the writing this article.
The Nairobi International Book Fair has come a long way covering various milestones in the ten years of its existence.
As the book fair celebrated its tenth anniversary in September, Nancy Karimi, the current Chairperson of Kenya Publishers Association, said that the event had increasingly grown in stature.
Last year the fair attracted over 8,000 visitors. At the closing of this year’s event, it was estimated that the previous years’ count had been surpassed.
A record one hundred stands had been booked by both foreign and local publishers. Clearly the Sarit Centre’s management where the fair is held annually will need to expand in the future to accommodate the growing numbers of fans.
The fair is a forum for publishers to market their firms and for upcoming authors to shop for publishers. It has also become a meeting point for stakeholders in the industry.
Various events were held to make the fair a resounding success.
Kwani Trust, a Kenyan literary organization, lined up captivating book readings, signings by authors and forums on writing. These included, a poetry forum, a debate on writing books in Swahili: “Uandishi wa Vitabu Katika Lugha ya Kiswahili”, “Telling Kenyan History” and “Kenyans Writing, Kenyans Reading.”
There was also a book signing by Gambian-born Kenyan-based author Dayo Forster, who recently launched her debut novel in Kenya, “Reading The Ceiling” based on the story of a teenage girl Ayodele who goes about planning how to lose her virginity and has three men to choose from.
Another anti-climax of the prestigious fair was the launch held by Kenway Publications a subsidiary of East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) of veteran cartoonist’s Frank Odoi’s comic book “Akokhan” (It is certainly more than comic!)
The Ghanaian-born veteran cartoonist calls himself a Ghanaian citizen adopted by Kenyans as he has been in Kenya for 25 years. He said he was overwhelmed by the support of Kenyans who had recognized his talent years back and that the peaceful and conducive atmosphere had helped him to sit down and write. His fellow cartoonists Maddo (Paul Kelemba), Gado (Khamawira) and several others graced the occasion in a show of solidarity.
UCHUUZI.BIZ, an online store that sells books among other things was launched.
Clearly the eagerly awaited climax of the fair was the awarding of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature (JKPL). The bi-annual award was dogged by controversy in 2005 when the judging panel led by Professor Emilia Illieva of Egerton University ruled that no entry merited first position. They thus awarded second position to Muroki Ndung’u for “A friend of the Court” published by Focus Publishers.
In 1999 it had also indeed proved (to parphrase Taban Lo Liyong) a literary desert, when the judging panel led by Dr. Egara Kabaji declared that the entries lacked creativity and thus the JKPL was not awarded!
Last Saturday, it was with bated breath we awaited the chairperson of the judging panel to stand up and address us. The auditorium was packed to capacity on the evening of Sep. 29.
We were in for a surprise! Women blazed the trail with veteran author and grandmother (who was present) popularly known as MOM, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, bagging the first prize in the Adult English Fiction Category with her latest offering to the Literati “A Farm called Kishinev” published by EAEP, it is a sensitive tale on the Jewish experience which has clearly put Kenyan literature once more on the world map of writing.
Though having penned groundbreaking texts like “Chira,” “Homing in,” and “Coming to Birth” this is the first major literary prize Oludhe Macgoye has won in Kenya.
Macgoye’s book beat Dr. Margaret Ogola’s “Place of Destiny” published by Pauline Publications-Africa to second position. Ogola is best known for her book, “The River and the Source,” by Focus Publishers, once a set book for secondary schools and which won both the JPKL and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Africa in 1995.
Business Daily writer, Wanjiru Waithaka, took third position with her book “The Unbroken Spirit” by EAEP.
Also touted as well-written by pundits was Valerie Cuthbert’s “Wings of Winds” also by EAEP actually a tour dè force in the writing of faction is a historical novel based on the East African Coast.
Clearly women were on the rampage this year round!
Writers from EAEP took home five of the prizes up for grabs.
Female author and recently new-comer, Kingwa Kamencu’s “To Grasp at a Star” published by EAEP was voted the best in the English Youth Category. Second was former NTV newscaster Ken Walibora’s book, “Innocence Long Lost” published by Sasa Sema Publications. The third position went to seasoned writer Meja Mwangi’s book “The Boy Gift” by EAEP. In the Children’s English Category, “The Wonderful Boat” by Kabaru Ndegwa, won the overall prize, while Wamitila won another prize when his book “The Mysterious Box in the Magic Spoon” by Vide-Muwa took the second position. Nyambura Mpesha’s (who with Ezekiel Alembi is turning out to be one of the more consistent writers for children apart from) took third prize with “Far, Far Away” by Phoenix Publishers.
Nyambura Mpesha again won in the Kiswahili Children’s Category with “Hanna na Wanyama,” also published by Phoenix Publishers.
In the Kiswahili Youth Category, the ghosts of the JKPL of 1999 and 2005 reared its ugly head for the Kiswahili youth category as the judges could not find a winner. Second position was thus awarded to Mwenda Mbatia’s novel, “Migogoro.” Wamitila, the renowned Kiswahili scholar at the University of Nairobi, won the top prize in the Kiswahili Adult Fiction Category for his novel, “Musimu wa Vipepeo,” published by Vide-Muwa Publishers which he owns. He is no novice to the JKPL as he won in 2003 for “Nguvu ya Sala” and in 1999 for “Musaleo.”
The Kwani Trust once again proved that it was no passing cloud to the chagrin of some skeptics as “Kizuizini,” written by 79-year-old Joseph Muthee took the second prize in the Kiswahili Adult Category. “Sudana,” penned by veteran professors, Kimani Njogu and Ali Mazrui, was third.
The Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, awarded every two years, is the biggest and most prestigious literary award in the country.
During the event, the main sponsor of the award, Text Book Centre, donated KSh100, 000 to boost the award kitty. Speaking on behalf of the judges panel, Illieva said the quality of writing was very high this year compared to previous years and an example was the Adult English Fiction Category, where she said the judges had a difficult time choosing the winner and they could still have gotten numbers one, two and three from the entries submitted which did not win.
It was a surprising mix of the veterans and newcomers this time round.
The bone of contention though over the years still remains that some quarters disagree with the judges when there is a number two and no number one! It discourages writers they state. Some observers argue that even in a mediocre race or class, there will always be the best and so number one should always be awarded in all categories. The judges on the other hand, stand firm that they set their standards and if they feel that they have not been met then they don’t award prizes for mediocrity.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently issued a final rule, effective Sep. 14, 2007, amending the regulation relating to the unlawful hiring or continued employment of unauthorized aliens. This amended regulation is part of the administration’s stepped-up enforcement effort to crack down on illegal immigration. It describes the employer’s legal obligations when the employer receives a no-match letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or receives a letter regarding employment verification forms from the DHS.
The final rule provides that when an employer receives written notice from the SSA (such as an “Employer Correction Request’” commonly known as an employer “no-match letter”) stating that the combination of an employee’s name and Social Security number does not match SSA records, or the employer receives written notice from DHS that the immigration status or employment-authorization documentation presented or referenced by the employee in completing the Form I-9 was not assigned to the employee according to DHS records, the employer must follow “safe-harbor” procedures to avoid being found to have “constructive knowledge” that undocumented workers are employed. (Form I-9 is filled out by employee and employer upon hire, retained by the employer, and is made available to DHS investigators on request, such as during an audit). This includes attempting to resolve the no-match and, if it cannot be resolved within a certain period of time, verifying again the employee’s identity and employment authorization through a specified process. (Checking the employer’s records to see if the discrepancy results from a clerical error in the employer’s records and if so, inform DHS and the SSA, make the necessary corrections, and keep a record of the manner, date and time of the verification).
DHS would consider such steps taken by the employer as reasonable if done within 30 days of receipt of the no-match letter. If the employer follows the “safe harbor procedures,” DHS would not use the no-match letter to support any charge that the employer had constructive knowledge of the employee’s lack of work authorization. If the employer, after taking reasonable steps to respond to the no-match letter, finds that the employee’s records are unverifiable, the employer must terminate the employee within ninety days of the receipt of the letter or risk prosecution for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The rule also states that DHS will continue to review the totality of relevant circumstances in determining if an employer had constructive knowledge that an employee was an unauthorized alien.
On Aug. 29, 2007 several labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, filed suit to prevent the implementation of this final rule. A couple of days later, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted an injunction enjoining defendants from “giving any effect or otherwise taking any action to implement” the new rule. Several chambers of commerce and other business groups moved to join the suit as plaintiffs in this case. The court granted their unopposed motion on Sep. 11. Then on Oct.10, the court granted an injunction enjoining the government from enforcing the new Social Security no-match rule.
The court held that relief was appropriate because plaintiffs raised serious questions about whether (1) the rule is arbitrary and capricious because DHS failed to supply a reasoned analysis for the agency’s new position that a no-match letter is sufficient, by itself, to put an employer on notice of an employee’s unauthorized status; (2) DHS exceeded its authority by interpreting Immigration Reform and Control Act’s provisions; and (3) DHS violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act by not conducting a final flexibility analysis.
Although the injunction came as sweet news to all immigrants and employers who might be affected by the rule, now is not the time for employers or individuals who are working without employment authorization to rest on their laurels. Instead, they should use this temporary reprieve to seek the advice of a qualified immigration attorney to bring themselves into compliance with the I-9 regulations because the government is still motivated to crackdown on illegal immigration by conducting criminal and civil investigations. In response to the judge’s ruling, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, noted, “ …[W]e will continue to aggressively enforce our immigration laws while reviewing the decision with Justice Department and will examine all of our legal options including appeal…”
Chertoff’s sentiments rang true when, on Oct. 18, the president of RCI. Inc. was ordered to pay a fine of $16 million after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by hiring and harboring illegal aliens. The U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case stated, “This case is an outstanding example of the cooperative efforts of federal law enforcement agencies. The prosecutors assigned to this case inform me that the success of this investigation is due, not just to the exceptional professionalism and diligence of the individual case agents, but also to the remarkable working relationship between ICE and the Internal Revenue Service.”
Nothing in this article should be taken as legal advice for an individual case or situation. The information is intended to be general and should not be relied upon for any specific situation. For legal advice, consult an attorney experienced in immigration law.
If you are getting rid of your old computer and you still have your personal information saved on it, never forget to format your hard drive. The importance of purging your entire hard drive before giving it away is to reduce the possibility of it being placed in the wrong hands. This could lead to your personal or any other sensitive information being exposed.
When a file is deleted on your computer, it still remains on the computer and the old data can be recovered by an expert. Purging your hard drive comes into play especially if you are thinking of giving away your PC to a stranger, but if you’re giving it to a family member or a trusted colleague, then this is not necessary and a simple deletion of unnecessary files is adequate. But there are still chances of a trusted person unknowingly disposing of the computer without reformatting the drive.
Reformatting the hard drive One of the simplest ways to reformat your hard drive is to reinstall a new operating system. If you already have a copy of Windows XP or Vista, you can simply pop the disk in the CD/DVD ROM after turning off the PC and letting it boot from the disk. You are then given an option to format the disk as it installs the new operating system.
Another method is to create a boot disk by going online to www.bootdisk.com, downloading the DOS file that is compatible with your Operating System, saving it to a floppy and then booting your PC from the floppy.
If this is too complicated for you or if you are not tech savvy, you can merely remove the hard drive from the PC (make sure that you touch the PC’s metal case before doing so or you might damage the motherboard as a result of the circuits getting damaged from static caused) and then shuttering the hard rive until it is completely ruined.
On the other hand, if you do not intend on giving away your PC and simply want to free up some space on your hard drive, here’s how to remove unnecessary files and documents.
Steps: Click on accessories, system tools then disk clean up. Delete documents and files that you no longer need and empty the recycle bin after wards. You can also uninstall unwanted applications that are taking up too much space by going into the control panel, clicking on add/remove software and then select the software you want to uninstall. Delete temporary internet files first by going to tools, clicking on options and click on the “Delete cookies” and “Delete Files” buttons and then on “Clear History”. This does not remove all the temporary internet files. In order to do this you need to go to C:Users<username>AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet Files if you have Windows Vista and C:Documents and Settings<username>Local SettingsTemporary Internet Files if you have Windows XP and 2000.
It all started when the oil producing nations decided to hike oil prices in the late 1970’s. Just like that, these mostly Middle Eastern countries had vast sums of money. And they needed a secure place to keep it, so they put it in Western Banks. Now, suddenly, banks had more money than they knew what to do with it. So, they loaned it out. They loaned it out to developing nations at absurdly low interest rates.
Much of this money went to fund pork-barrel projects, which gave business to Western development corporations. Some loans were used to purchase hard-line laissez faire policies and allegiances during the Cold War. But many of the projects failed. And so did many of the economic policies that were part-and-parcel of the loans.
Much of the money was borrowed by dictators who spent it on military and weaponry, which was used to oppress their own people. In South Africa, for instance, international lending institutions and creditors loaned the apartheid government more than $20 billion, which they put directly to use in bolstering the racist system. When Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after being awarded the Nobel Peace prize, he was forced to make payments on money that had been used to pay for his 27-year imprisonment!
But when South Africa and other nations tried to pay down their debts, they found that the low interest rates that they had been paying were all of a sudden double or triple what they had been! Interest rates went, often as high as 47%, according to an independent congressional investigation (the Meltzer Commission). Faced with failed projects and economic policies, many countries could not make the loan payments as they were scheduled. So, the IMF and World Bank happily loaned them more money to cover their payments – with certain conditions. The trap was set.
The economic conditions that the IMF and the World Bank demanded fell into three basic categories: privatization, government spending cuts, or the use of Western corporations for development projects. Many development projects are controversial, like water privatization – providing extremely clean water to the wealthy, and leaving the poor majority with less access to clean water than before. When foreign, Western corporations are contracted for these jobs, it makes one suspicious that these economic conditions set up by the IMF and World Bank are designed to help corporations rather than the improvised countries they should represent.
But government spending cuts are the most devastating of these. Many countries have been forced to cut government spending in the areas of health care and education, which destroys their capacity to combat rapidly expanding HIV/AIDS rates or to provide primary education to children. More than 27 million people in Africa are currently infected with the HIV virus. Debt repayment to wealthy creditor institutions like the IMF and World Bank should not take precedence over AIDS prevention or the education of children. After all, how can sick or uneducated people construct an economy that will provide a living wage to all?
Foreign aid to debt-ridden countries often goes towards debt servicing. Aid without debt cancellation, then, is like pouring water into a sink with an open drain. Debt cancellation, therefore, is an important prerequisite to effective foreign aid. This is why debt cancellation is so necessary.
By 1996, even international lending institutions had realized that debt relief was necessary, and formed the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC) order to assess the need for and provide debt relief. But little debt relief was actually realized by this bureaucratic process that forced countries to adopt more of the same old harmful economic policies before even being eligible to recieve relief.
In 2000, under pressure from a worldwide Jubilee movement under leadership of important moral voices like Pope John Paul II, the U.S. Congress authorized the cancellation of part of the debt owed directly to the United States. But there are still 67 counties that need 100 percent debt cancellation in order come out of extreme poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals. That’s why Jubilee USA is working on a Bill, HR 2634, that will ask Congress to pressure international institutions to cancel the debt and reform lending practices. The United States has the power to cancel the debt.
US Congress people make decisions as a result of phone calls and letters they receive from ordinary people. That’s why we are asking people who care about debt cancellation to call their representatives and ask them to cancel the debt. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are even able to vote, you can still call 1-800-839-5276, ask for your Senator or Representative, and tell them to support HR 2634. You can visit www.jubileeusa.org or email [email protected] for more information or to get involved in Chicago.
The three-day Pan African Trade and Investment Summit (PATIS) that took place in Minneapolis last month, the first of its kind, has come and gone! The energetic organizers of this momentous event, mainly African-born immigrants in Minnesota, gave their time and leadership skills for free to ensure its success.
On the one hand, they brought on the table the importance of Africa, a vast continent of almost a billion people with tremendous resources virtually crying out that “Africa is open for business.” It is not stretching its hands for handouts, it is not “a beggar-continent” – no, it is stretching an olive branch to the outside world, and more specifically to America, literally saying, “Come and invest in Africa, be our development partners.”
This kind of message being directed to America is both timely and imperative since Africa is the future of global trade and investment. The Chinese are aware of it as they are making in-roads in pouring vast investment dollars into Africa. The Americans have been late comers in this race, mainly because of the negative images that mainstream media houses in America project about African being land of the hungry, the begging, the sick and war-mongering Tarzans.
This distorted view of Africa in the eyes of many Americans will require the likes of many PATIS conventions to awaken the mindset of our American friends to the realization that there is much that Africa can offer to the rest of the world. Both in terms of global investment opportunities and trade “outside the box” of abject poverty and underdevelopment!
When America lately introduced the now famous African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) during the last term of the Clinton administration, now extended under the Bush administration, it was out of pity that sub-Sahara Africa’s share of global trade (by WTO statistics) in the world market was less than 2 percent! So miniscule that under AGOA, the region was granted access to the over 3 trillion dollar American market – “duty free / quota free” for a long list of its exports.
America is a consumerist society. But walk into a number of U.S. supermarkets like Target, Wal Mart, Rainbow and Walgreens, you can hardly come across any products with the label “Made In Africa”. I know there can never be any such thing since Africa is a continent of 53 sovereign nations. I used the expression deliberately to convey the American silly question of “how can the U.S. export to Africa?” – as if Africa was one country!
On a more serious note, I can challenge anyone to walk into those supermarkets and bring out a comfortable list of 53 items that come from the African continent. I am making the assumption that each African country is (at least) exporting one item to the U.S. market! There is no such list! This scenario is not good for Africa, and PATIS was all out to correct it.
The inaugural PATIS concluded last month was a young baby learning how to walk. At the end of the day, the participants agreed that they should make it an annual event, certainly more elaborate and more inclusive. The first attempt was virtually dominated by Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya, making small nations like Rwanda and Burkina Faso virtually non-existent.
The MC of the event had to run up and down the Conference hall to seek compromises and rearrangement of a confusing schedule. Plenary sessions virtually fell apart and when they were to report back to the conference participants, there was a void. Some small countries when making their presentations were unable to attract any of the American firms that attended the conference.
Yet, we are proud to say that the good-intentioned organizers were able to bring to us heavyweights like Holly Vineyard, Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Africa, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, the current African Union Permanent Representative to the U.S. Also a couple of senior African diplomats showed up. Networking was good, the fraternity dinner was a success and the Mall of America Africa Day was a brilliant showcase of African culture, merchandise and the ever-growing human capital from that region.
Regrettably, one of the organizers complained to our African American brothers in the U.S saying, “We do not feel you.” Like much of underdeveloped Africa, our black brothers in America are still struggling to be part of the American dream and – “we don’t feel you” was a wake up call for them to step up and find their rightful position in this U.S.-Africa emerging partnership.
The Kenyan diplomat who spoke at the closing ceremony, Ambassador Oginga Ogego, challenged his country men who have spent many years in the US “without valid papers and with nothing to show” to come out of the closet and be a part of the American dream. He may have been very blunt at best, but he was only expressing a desire to see such immigrants rise up to the challenge of being a part of this emerging partnership for progress between the United States and Africa.
PATIS has basically been a pacesetter. We look forward to an even more inclusive event next year and the years to come. Who knows, it could be a vital building bloc of the much talked about United States of Africa! PATIS is certainly on track. Good job organizers
Africa Ready for Information Technology Investment, UN Summit Told
As a two-day summit on improving Africa’s information technology infrastructure wrapped up today in Rwanda, the head of the United Nations telecommunications agency reminded investors that Africa is “open for business and looking for partnerships.”
The Connect Africa Summit, held in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, brought together some 1,000 participants, including political leaders, executives of information and communication technology (ICT) companies and heads of development banks.
Hamadoun Touré, the Secretary General of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said that African leaders had committed themselves to creating the right regulatory environment, and private sector leaders had pledged to invest in the continent’s ICT sector. “Companies are ready to invest and they know they can make money here.”
Highlighting the impact of technology such as mobile phones, Mr. Touré said telecom companies were making profits, farmers were getting the information they need, and teachers were receiving educational aid. “Mobile phones even have an impact on democracy. During elections, people have used mobile phones to get election results fast and in a transparent manner.”
The technologies to connect the whole of Africa are available, said Craig Barrett, the Chair of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development and the Chairman of Intel Corporation. “What we are dealing with here is not a technology problem. The technology is ready to be delivered. It is a question of policies, of creating the right environment.”
“This is not a technology issue but an implementation issue,” Mr. Barrett said. “It is a question of taking existing technologies, existing models, and implementing them in Africa, as they have been implemented in other parts of the world.”
“Africa needs cost-effective connectivity,” he said, as it was currently saddled with the highest connectivity costs in the world. “All the universities of sub-Saharan Africa taken together pay $3 million per month in connectivity. This money could be used more effectively elsewhere.”
Providing technology, connectivity and content was not a problem one company or one government alone could solve, Mr. Barrett said. “We need to work together governments and the private sector,” capitalizing on the fact that the cost of access and hardware continued to decrease.
“The technology is there, even the financial resources are there,” said Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, who hosted the meeting. “We have to be decisive and make a political choice about how to tap into these possibilities. The right policies and choices have to be made…. for these technologies to become a part of the solution.”
“The challenges are still significant, but let’s not underestimate what has been accomplished, especially by the telecom industry,” said Mohsen Khalil of the World Bank Group. Africa had jumped from 1 per cent to 20 per cent of telephone density within a few years. “We must now take this to the next level, and replicate the model of mobile telephony.”
The challenges ahead included extending ICT access to the poor, assisting governments in utilizing ICT for services to the public and to business, and harmonizing the legal and regulatory environment in the continent, Mr. Khalil said.
Among the partnerships announced today at the Summit, the ITU and the African Development Bank (ADB) agreed to work together on interconnecting all African capitals and major cities with ICT broadband infrastructure and on strengthening connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012.
ADB President Donald Kaberuka announced that the Bank had approved a $150 million loan for a pan-African cable, the East African Submarine Cable System, which would bring speedy and cheap bandwidth to at least 23 African countries. The system would run between South Africa and Sudan, with six landing points along the way, he said.
The Connect Africa Summit was attended by the Presidents of Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Malawi and Senegal, together with 53 ICT ministers and 19 ICT companies, including Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and Ericsson.
The event was organized by ITU, the African Union, the World Bank Group and the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, in partnership with the ADB, the African Telecommunication Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Global Digital Solidarity Fund.
Media reports from South Africa indicate that reggae icon, Lucky Dube, who less than two months ago performed at Afrifest in Minneapolis, was gunned down in a carjacking in Johannesburg. He was 43.
The reports say Dube was killed immediately after dropping off his son in Rosettenville, a suburb of Johannesburg. His daughter was also present at the time of the attack.
Police Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht told journalists the incident took place at around 8:20p.m local time.
“His son was already out of the car. When he saw what was happening, he ran to ask for help,” Engelbrecht said.
Born Philip Dube on August 3, 1964 on a small farm outside Ermelo, nearly 100 miles west of Johannesburg, his mother later named him Lucky for surviving poor health during his early childhood.
In 1982, Dube traveled to Johannesburg to begin working on his first album called “Lucky Dube and the Supersoul,” a blend of traditional Zulu rhythms with social commentary.
He did not record his first reggae album, “Rasta Never Die,” until1984, after five albums. The apartheid government banned “Rasta Never Die” the following year. By then the album had sold 4,000 copies, exceptional for a black artist in apartheid South Africa. His previous non-reggae records had sold around 30,000 copies.
By the time of his death, Dube had recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans. His most successful album by far was “Victims,” which sold more than a million copies in 1993.
His latest album was “Respect”. Speaking about the challenge of making a living during the Internet piracy era, Dube told a standing-room-only crowd in Minneapolis on Aug. 20, “One does the work, the other reaps the profits.”
His killers did worse than prey on the fruits of his sweat; they took the life of a musical genius revered by millions around the globe.
To have your tribute to Lucky Dube published below please click here.
R.I.P LUCKY DUBE
I got the worst news on the site I always visit to just read about my best musician, Lucky Dube. His songs rock in Southern Sudan in mornings and evenings, simply because they give hope to the people of Southern Sudan. Now our hope is gone.
I love raggae because of two people i.e Bob Marley and Lucky Dube. They are all gone the same way. I am with all the African community who are mourning him. May his soul rest in peace. God bless his Family, relatives and friends. Edna, Southern Sudan. ———————————————————————————————————————– It is really shocking to hear of the tragic death of the reggae star. Here is in the Solomon Islands, Lucky Dube is very famous and there are heaps of his fans here. I am also a big fan of Lucky Dube and I’m very sorry to hear of his death. Fred, Honiara, Solomon Islands. ———————————————————————————————————————– What is South Africa turning into? killing our own? IT’S SO SAD LUCKY DUBE IS GONE. WHAT A SAD ENDING! LUCKY DUBE, MAY YOUR SOUL REST PEACE. I WILL NEVER STOP LISTNEING TO HIS MUSIC. Melinda.
Muslims Celebrate End of Ramadhan With Prayers and Sharing
MINNEAPOLIS – Muslims in the Twin Cities joined their 1.5 billion brethren across the globe Saturday to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadhan with congregational prayers and gift exchanging.
Addressing a multitude of Muslim believers at the Masjid An-Nur mosque located along Lyndale Avenue in North Minneapolis during the Eid-el-Fitr prayers, Imam Makram El-Amin told his congregation that Muslims had emerged from the month of fasting with “renewed hope and expectations for great rewards from God.”
“You have every reason to smile, celebrate, exchange gifts, give to charity in the belief that Allah will return to us our good deeds in manifold measure,” the Imam told worshippers dressed in colorful attire.
The Imam said fasting was a period of exercising self-restraint, learning self-discipline, reconnecting with the Creator, building strong bonds in communities, and “a time of substituting the wrong with the good.”
He said that through fasting Muslims “restrained themselves from their strongest human urges because of Allah, and have repossessed the Garden (of Eden).”
“We have positioned ourselves in a point of strength and Allah has given us peace of mind and heart as ours is a religion of love, mercy and good neighborliness,” he said.
The Imam urged Muslims to spend time with their family members and friends, and to socialize with neighbors, for Eid-el-Fitr was a day of festivities. But he advised them not to make wasteful spending. He asked those with the means to give generously to the less privileged in society, and those who did not have material goods to give love.
“A smile, kind words and a hug is an act of charity,” he said.
The Muslim community venerates the Holy month of Ramadhan because it was during this month on the Night of Power that God revealed the Qur’an, the Islamic Book of guidance to Prophet Muhammad to deliver humanity from darkness into light.
Muslims take great delight in inviting friends and neighbors for tasty meals and soft drinks to mark the end of Ramadhan.
“My doors are open for great kuskus (spiced rice),” remarked Mahmoud, a businessman of Moroccan origin, as he hugged fellow worshippers outside the mosque.
Abdul Nasir, a taxi driver from Somalia, was overhead telling a couple who hired his cab to drop by at his Lake Street residence for special roast goat meat.
“We Somalis love a taste of tender goat meat during Eid, so please come join my family. On a day like this, we love to entertain guests,” he joyfully chuckled.
Enough About Homosexuality, African Anglican Clergymen Say
QUATRE-BORNES, Mauritius –The president of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, said at a convention in Mauritius that the Anglican Church in Africa had more serious problems to address than its stance on homosexuality.
The Anglican primate was speaking to journalists after the two-day closed-door CAPA meeting that began in the Indian Ocean island on Oct. 3. While responding to a question from the press, Archbishop Akinola said the church would focus on problems like the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the crises in Darfur and Zimbabwe, which he said threatened the wellbeing of Africa.
“Homosexuality is not our headache,” Archbishop Akinola said. “Everything that has to be said has been said. We are not going back to it.”
Affirming that unity in the communion was of course crucial, Archbishop Akinola pointed out that every organization has got its own problems.
“When we resolve our problem, we’ll let the world know through the media,” he said. Homosexuality has been a contentious and divisive issue among Anglican believers. The crisis reached a climax in 2003 when the U.S. Diocese of New Hampshire elected V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as bishop. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church confirmed him and its presiding bishop participated at Robinson’s consecration. In February 2004, 13 Global South Primates, including eight from Africa, denounced the actions of the Episcopal Church as a “direct repudiation of the clear teaching of the Holy Scriptures, historic faith and order of the church.” In April 2004, CAPA pledged to reject donations from the American dioceses that supported Robinson.
At the conference, Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana read CAPA’s statement that in part addressed the division in the church. The report acknowledged that the church had been unable to ignore the current crisis in its communion, but denied that CAPA was to blame.
“The current situation is a twofold crisis for the Anglican Communion: A crisis of doctrine and a crisis of leadership, in which the failure of the instruments of the Communion to exercise discipline had called into question the viability of the Anglican Communion as a united Christian body under a common foundation of faith, as is supposed by the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral,” Bishop Mwamba read from the report.
“Due to this breakdown of discipline, we are not sure that we can in good conscience continue to spend our time, our money and our prayers on behalf of a body that proclaims two Gospels: the Gospel of Christ and the Gospel of Sexuality,” he added.
Further in the statement Bishop Mwamba expressed CAPA’s distress concerning the oppression of Buddhist monks by Myanmar’s military junta, and the suffering and devastation that occurred in East, Central and West Africa as a result of recent drought and floods.
“We are also disturbed by accounts of military oppression in Myanmar, political oppression in Zimbabwe and by the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Darfur, Sudan,” Bishop Mwamba said.
The Council commended local churches and the wider world community for their response to the disaster.
“We are praying that all those affected will quickly receive the practical aid that is so sorely needed and the abiding comfort of God’s Holy Spirit,” Bishop Mwamba said.
In the statement CAPA said the church was trying to see how the Zimbabwean issue could be resolved in peace.
Archbishop Akinola added that the problem was of concern to the Southern African Development Community and was no longer confined to Zimbabwe.
CAPA commended Mauritius for its multi-ethnic society, a stable democracy, regular free elections, and a positive human rights record – qualities that the clergymen said not all African nations were blessed with.
However, CAPA acknowledged that there were encouraging signs in Africa.
“After years of devastating war, there are glimmers of hope in Democratic Republic of Congo,” the report said. “And the now vibrant economies of Kenya and Ghana have recently drawn plaudits from the World Bank.”
This year the theme of the Council’s meeting was “Called to a Life of Faithfulness.” In the statement CAPA said obedience and faithful living was important to make progress in the work toward the eradication of HIV/AIDS.
“The disturbing growth in the numbers of new infections reminds us that the battle is far from over. This is especially true for many women in Africa who find themselves increasingly vulnerable to sexual oppression and abuse,” the report said.
CAPA also called upon the United Nations and the governments of the G8 nations “to fulfill their commitments so that the suffering of our most vulnerable sisters and brothers can be alleviated.”
When asked about the role of women in the communion in fighting back the problem of HIV/AIDS, the program coordinator of the council, Emmanuel Olatunji, said CAPA had a plan.
“The church in Africa has already developed a strategy which includes the involvement of women,” Olatunji said.
Concerning the financial support of CAPA, there had been unanimous conviction that all provinces presently in arrears will fulfill their commitments by the end of 2007, according to the report.
“We were also reminded that the number of people living in abject poverty within our provinces continues to grow and is a devastating indictment of poor governance in a continent that has been blessed by God with remarkable resources,” Bishop Mwamba said.
CAPA also urged churches to reach out to the youth of the provinces so that “they are empowered to stand against the false promises of materialism that bombard their minds.”
Provinces represented in the meeting included Burundi, Central Africa, Congo, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and West Africa.
