Author: Ndesanjo Macha

How not to give money to charities in Africa: “Do not watch TV images of Africa and feel only pity: starvation, war, HIV-AIDS etc…, Do not give money to Africa in an attempt to make yourself feel good, Do not give money to Africa because you feel guilty about colonialism…”

Clement wonders whether Malawi needs four mobile phone operators as the government launches an international tender for a fourth mobile phone operator.

“We Want What’s Ours” is a documentary film in progress on the complications of land reform in South Africa.

Gregory Simpkins discusses conflicting views on Sudan policy from the Obama Administration.

Thomas Kwenaite reviews the 2010 Confederation of African Football Awards: “Last week, I watched in utter embarrassment as none of the finalists in the Caf awards turned up for the event.”

The Senegalese film director and one of the founders of the Pan-African Film festival [FESPACO], Mahaman Johnson Traor is no more.

Emma discusses the rights of drivers when stopped by traffic police in South Africa.

Vera and other Nigerian bloggers will discuss the State of the Nigerian Union on the Verastically Speakin' Talk Radio.

The controversial president of the ANC Youth League Julius Malema has been found guilty of hate speech by a South African judge because of comments he made about a woman who accused President Jacob Zuma for rape. The comments Malema made were: “Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money. In the morning, that lady requested breakfast and taxi money.”

Malema is known for constantly making controversial statements. Last week our author Muhammad Karim wrote a post about Malema singing an old anti-Apartheid song Kill the Boer.

South African bloggers and legal experts have reacted quickly to the judgement. Opinions about the judgement and the future of freedom of speech in South Africa are deeply divided.

Leading constitutional law expert and Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance at the University of Cape Town Professor Pierre de Vos has questioned the guilt verdict. He argues that the judgement is wrong:

The judgment of magistrate CJ Collis in which she found Julius Malema guilty of hate speech and harassment will probably be cheered on by many South Africans who are sick and tired of the hateful and idiotic utterances of the leader of the ANC Youth League. “Finally old Julius got his come-uppance,” many of us might say. “Finally our legal system has shown Julius a big fat middle finger!”

The problem is, from a legal perspective it is difficult not to conclude that the judgment is wrong. In my opinion it may very well be overturned on appeal.

Robert Brand agrees:

You make a persuasive argument that the magistrate erred and that an appeal may succeed. However, I would go further and argue that an appeal against the hate speech provisions in the Equality Act on Constitutional grounds would also succeed. The act goes much further in defining hate speech than the constitution, and in effect creates a faultless crime: intention to incite harm is not required, just that the words may be construed to have such an intention. It also widens the scope of hate speech to comments that “hurt” or propagate hatred, whereas the constituton refers to “harm” only.

Pierre observes that many South Africans fail to understand hate speech as defined by the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA):

Yet the court seemed to attach little significance to the notion of freedom of speech, and elevated his comments to “hateful” even when Malema was transparently motivated not by hate but by disbelief — a disbelief actually endorsed by the court’s finding. In a sense, this finding is in the same category as the charge against University of Cape Town student Chumani Maxwele, who “waved” at President Jacob Zuma ’s blaring cavalcade. Police ministry spokesman Zweli Mnisi reportedly said that “no person is permitted to use foul language, swear at another individual, as such conduct may lead to promoting hate”.

It is clear from the relevant provisions of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) that Cohen’s fears are misguided. Hate speech is defined in the Act as words based on one or more of the prohibited grounds, (in other words, words based on race, sex, gender or sexual orientation, say) against any person that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be hurtful; be harmful or to incite harm; or promote or propagate hatred. Showing the middle finger to the President could never be construed as words based on any of the prohibited grounds such as race, sex, gender and sexual orientation, so it could never be construed as hate speech.

Many people fail to understand that hate speech as defined in PEPUDA requires more than making hurtful or harmful statements about someone. If I say the President is a sex obsessed idiot, or that Helen Zille is a racist madam, it might be rude and it might even be defamatory but it would not constitute hate speech as I would not be saying anything based on Zuma or Zille’s race, sex or sexual orientation.

One of his readers, Dumisani Mkhize, disagrees with him because “Malema’s words and message at that rally are clearly meant to paint this woman as a bad person who deserves what she got and more”:

Prof,

Without taking anything away from your legal argument, I wish to present a view from a non legal perspective.

I believe Malema’s words to constitute hate speech. Here’s why:

This woman, called Khwezi, was vilified by Zuma supporters during the rape trial. Some women even called for her blood. This woman is now living in exile for fear of her life.

Malema’s words and message at that rally are clearly meant to paint this woman as a bad person who deserves what she got and more. These words add to the suffering and danger that Khwezi is subjected to on a daily basis and they make it even more dangerous for her to come back to the land she considers her home.

Can you imagine what would have happened to her, had Khwezi shown her face at that particular rally at that time?

I don’t have to remind you about what happened to that American exchange student who showed her face at the wrong place and the wrong time. Amy Biehl was killed by a group of people who were not inherently evil or bad, but they happened to be singing and chanting inciting “one settler, one bullet” slogans at that very moment.

Malema is an influential leader to his impressionable followers and a strong message needs to be sent to curb further and unnecessary acts of violence that could result from his careless rant.

If overturned on appeal, it would be unfortunate and would further put vulnerable women in general and Khwezi in particular in further jeopardy.

Robert Brand writes a post in defence of Julius Malema's right to free speech. He makes it clear that he is not defending Malema but only hist right to freedom of expression:

I believe in freedom of expression. Our Constitution protects the right to freedom of expression. That is why I cannot welcome the Equality Court’s ruling that Malema was guilty of hate speech when he commented on the young woman who had accused President Jacob Zuma of rape.

Please understand that I am not defending Malema. I am defending his right to freedom of expression, which is also mine and yours and which means nothing if it does not include the right to say things that offend other people.

Robert asks, “But do his words constitute hate speech?”:

Hate speech is defined in the Constitution as “advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm” (my italics). Malema’s words were undoubteldy hurtful to many people. They may, at a stretch, be construed as “advocacy of hatred” based on gender. But did they constitute incitement to cause harm? I think not. And so, offensive though the words were to our sensibilities, they should be protected by the the Bill of Rights.

The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, under which Malema was charged and convicted, has, however, complicated issues by adopting a far wider definition of hate speech than the Constitution. The Equality Act (for short) defines hate speech as words ”that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be hurtful, cause harm or promote hatred on the basis of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language or birth”.

A reader at Robert's blog, Evan argues that hate speech should be narrowly defined:

You’re absolutely correct. Hate speech should be extremely narrowly defined and the law should be applied with absolute vigilance and circumspection.

Malema is a useless tool who should have his nuts kicked five times day, but this hate speech thing is going to do far more harm in general than any good it might do in this particular case.

Anothe reader asks the following questions:

“The ANC defended youth leader Julius Malema on Thursday for singing, “shoot the boers, they are rapists”, saying the lyrics of the song had been quoted out of context.”

Does this slogan not constitute hate speech?
Is this permissible within a “freedom of speech” remit?
Who’s responsibility is it to prosecute someone who breaks the law in a case like this?
Will the Government do it, or does a private citizen have to lay a charge?

Robert responds:

That may be hate speech in terms of the Equality Act. A private citizen can lay a charge. The government – more specifically the National Prosecuting Authority – would then prosecute.

After the verdit, Sino Majangaza from DispatchOnline went out with a video camera asking South Africans what you thought of Julius Malema. Here is a video of what they had to say.

Classic Malema blog has an interview Julius Malema had with Times LIVE after the judgement. And Zapiro Malema goodness! Jonathan Shapiro is the leading South African cartoonist, popularly known as Zapiro.

Emmanuel notes that free visa to South Africa for the World Cup are not really free: “Despite rather good relations between South Africa and Ghana, it is never going to be so good that they decide to waive visas for us. There are, ofcourse, conditions, and here are the five-fold ones…”

Loomnie announces a creative writing workshop organized by award-winning writer and creative director of Farafina Trust, Chimamanda Adichie, from May 20 to May 29 2010.

Chidi Opara reports that retired General Olusegun Obasanjo, Theophilus Danjuma and Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria have buried their political differences.

Manchester Queer Reading Group has organised an event called “A Matter of Life and Death: LGBTI Rights in Uganda.”

Several political parties and politicians in Africa understand the importance of using social media tools to engage with citizens and party members. Today we are looking at the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's Official Opposition and its leader, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.

The Democratic Alliance officially launched its social media strategy in February 2009, which includes two interactive websites, online advertising and marketing, SMS communication, mobile web access and engagement with voters via social networking and in the blogosphere.

The DA has a social media campaign site, official site and a mobile site.

The party has a Twitter page with latest news feed posted on its website. The party has 1,370 followers.

DA's latest tweets:

Department's R126-million debt threatens to halt printing of all passports http://bit.ly/c8V4Qy 18 minutes ago via twitterfeed 


Limpopo premier agrees that teaching should be declared an essential service. Does the national minister agree? http://bit.ly/by1m7L 18 minutes ago via twitterfeed 


Corruption thrives in tenders under R200 000 http://bit.ly/bkkOcT 19 minutes ago via twitterfeed 


Transport Department's R76-million conference splurge – enormous wasteful expenditure includes R12-million on VIP … http://bit.ly/bkeid8 about 4 hours ago via twitterfeed 


Eskom refuses to explain preferential tariff rates – is this Chancellor House all over again? http://bit.ly/9HiiKo about 4 hours ago via twitterfeed 


SAA fails to appear before Parliament, after Operations Manager is thrown off SAA flight http://bit.ly/bAqhob about 5 hours ago via twitterfeed 


DA welcomes Mtimkulu's suspension http://bit.ly/9WxKv5 about 5 hours ago via twitterfeed 


DCS: satellite tracking devices only way to reliable alternative sentencing http://bit.ly/aEyERf about 5 hours ago via twitterfeed

Its leader Helen Zille has a Twitter page and a Facebook account.

Below is one of latest messages from Zille's Facebook page:

As the elected President of our Republic, Jacob Zuma needs to accept that his behaviour will be held up for public scrutiny. If he doesn’t like this, he is free to resign. Elected leaders must be held to account. If their actions contradict their stated public positions (not to mention their government’s policies) they must answer for that.

And comments from South African citizens:

Anna Van Vuuren What sort of an example is Mr Z displaying to our youth? It will just lead them all to hospital with HIV and AIDS!!!!!!
February 9 at 1:22am

Mike Immelman He might be doing us a favour. We'll just have to bring our own children up the right way.
February 9 at 2:58am

Tom Parkin Jacob Zuma needs to step down.
February 9 at 12:08pm

Linda van der Westhuizen With a colourful nation like this who can go wrong with a Zuma on the ladder…….
February 9 at 10:50pm

Ruth Heynsthomas Coley AMEN! He has become an embarresment to our people!
February 10 at 12:43am

Amy Glynn Bailey I couldnt agree more after all if our president cant set an example how can we xpect the youth to know the difference between right and wrong!!!!!!!
February 10 at 2:21am

Yoemna Fakier HI HELEN ZUMA NEEDS TO STEP DOWN & YOU NEED TO STEP IN ,,,LOVE U GIRL.
February 10 at 2:44am

In 207 Helen joined Zoopy in order to connect with voters using photo and video clips covering current issues. The last time she posted content on the site is one year ago.

Zoopy is South Africa's “YouTube”, which allows anyone to sign up and create their own video and photo webpage.

What do South African bloggers think of the DA's use of social media tools?

Mathew Buckland reviewed DA's social media strategy in a post titled, “SA Political Party Launches Impressive, Obamaesque Campaign Site”:

So back to the DA site. The DA’s site has the same silky, blue tones as Obama. The navigation and look and feel is professional and clear. The “Contribute to Change” not only sounds like Obama, but looks like it was almost taken from his site (similar design, font). (I know he’s an inspirational character, but do we have to rip off his site? What about some Africa theming — why are we even using the same US presidential font?)
Packed with social media functionality
The functionality is innovative and clever, and it’s a good job. The DA site allows you to do a couple of things:
▪ Donate: Supporters can donate online in much the same way they could on Obama’s site. Pity they never advertised a premium SMS shortcode number with the credit card payment option that they have. Micropayments via SMS are key revenue spinners on the web because they’re so easy to do. Credit cards are a pain, but most importantly for these elections — not everyone has got ‘em.
▪ Blogs: Users can sign up for a DA blog, and begin writing and campaigning.
▪ Social network: There’s functionality allowing users to build a social network and recruit friends, although the main option encourages users to enter their friend email addresses manually. The second option allows users to upload their contact lists, although I can see many users getting stuck as it really does not have enough explanation or is clear about the format. The site, critically, does not allow contact or social network mining — which allows you to add your contacts and build a social network effortlessly and dynamically. In this busy information-laden world, users don’t use functionality that takes a great deal of effort or too many steps.

Walter Pike's critique of the DA social media strategy, “Does the DA get Social Media?”:

Are the Democratic Alliance doing a copy paste of the Obama campaign and using it as their election strategy? Well I don’t know yet, it just seems to me that they may be. If this is what it is about then I think they may have missed the boat. Social media and social media tools are not ends in themselves. They are tools that can be used in marketing and building a brand and propagating an idea.
The biggest misconception that the casual observer may have of the Obama campaign was that it was merely the digital approach that did it.

Another South African blogger Justin Hartman who was invited to the launching of DA social media strategy wrote:

Both the new DA and Contribute to Change websites are built off open source technology, specifically WordPress, BBPress and BuddyPress, and it's great to see the use of open source to drive the DA's campaign.

I have to commend the DA, its web development team and the guys running the social media strategy behind the scenes on a job well done. I'm only worried that the Contribute to Change website is a little too advanced for a South African audience but only time will tell.

Nic Haralambous noted that democracy in South Africa “is more important than proper use of Facebook, social tools and multimedia”:

Many people have covered, blogged and written about the DA and what they are doing online. It’s quite interesting to me that there isn’t much hype, noise or talk around the other political parties. Yet the DA is getting it in the neck. It’s like we, the online community, are berating one of the few political parties who bothered to actually make an effort. Why are we not giving the other parties hell as openly as the DA? Why does it matter? Surely our countries democracy is more important than proper use of Facebook, social tools and multimedia?
I am interested to know how much money has been put in to the DA’s social media campaign and what sort of return of investment they have and will receive? I wonder if in our country that money could not be better used somewhere else? Marketing the DA differently to a wider audience? Because let me tell you, if we all praise and hail the DA as the online guru’s in politics but they get trumped in the election then I will feel betrayed by social media and so will they.

Moral Fiber wondered whether the DA is utilizing social media “merely as an advertising channel through which they can disseminate party information.”

In the same post Moral Fiber complained about Helen Zille ignoring her Twitter followers, “Shouting down from your ivory tower at us lesser beings merely makes us more likely to keep you locked up in there and never let you out. Ever. Never ever.”:

For instance online @helenzille is challenged often on twitter, “she” hardly ever responds to critique.  Helen you simply cannot expect your listeners online to respond to your tweets which read more like the misfiring of Zuma’s iconic machine gun than they do an open dialogue. I, the representative of all things social media (a guru if you will), implore you to utilize a different tone to that which you utilize when giving a speech before your obviously inept parliamentarians. Social media snaps that vertical pillar upon which political hierarchies are built, you are meant to sound like the everyman and everywoman: utilize colloquialisms, throw in a witty anecdote, respond to critique, open up your party policies to debate and source wisdom from the crowd following you. Shouting down from your ivory tower at us lesser beings merely makes us more likely to keep you locked up in there and never let you out. Ever. Never ever.

We hope that social media tools will ultimately enrich democracy and political processes on the continent.

Images of children killed after violence erupted in Jos, Nigeria.

Violence erupted in the towns of Voinjama and Zorzor in Liberia last week. There are conflicting reports about the cause of the conflict in which four people died. While the mainstream media reports seem to attribute the violence to religious tensions, blogger Johnny Dwyer argues that “Liberia is not a place fuming with religious tension. At least based on my experiences there.” The head of The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Ellen Loj says that the clashes had ethnic undertones.

Shelby Grossman says that the confusion in the media reports about the cause of the conflict seems to be “more about journalists trying to frame the story in a way that fits into people’s ideas about fighting in Africa.”

What was really the cause of the conflict that resulted in deaths and destruction of property?

Violence rages in Lofa County:

The cities of Voinjama and Zorzor in Lofa County have been engulfed with violence resulting in the deaths of four people and the destruction of property, including the burning of churches, schools and a mosque.

Lofa County is located in the north-western tip of Liberia and has several tribes and religions. It was also one of the hardest hit areas during the country’s 14 years of civil war.

The incidence which occured Friday was sparked by the discovery of the body of an eleventh-grade female student named Korpu Kamara, who had gone missing for days and was found dead a few days later next to a mosque in Zorzor.

As a result, dozens of students staged a protest as they suspected that their colleague’s death may have been carried out by the Muslims, a situation that turned the protest into religious violence that left many churches and Christian schools burned.

The Superintendent of Lofa County, Galakpai Kortimai, told a local radio station Friday night that misinformation from Zorzor of a mosque being burnt down rapidly spread to Voinjama, which led angry Muslims to go on a rampage, reportedly burning down churches and Christian-run schools with the Catholic and Lutheran schools in the provincial capital being reportedly burnt down as well.

Shelby explores events that lead to deadly attacks on people and property:

On Friday a woman was killed in Konia, a town in Lofa. I don’t know why. The woman was either 14 or 21. I think she was Loma and Christian, and I think her body was found near a mosque. The killing sparked revenge attacks between two ethnic groups in the region: Mandingo and Loma (aka Lorma). Attackers targeted people (including local political elite), mosques, and churches. UNMIL restored order (or, perhaps more likely, they showed up after things had settled down). Some are accusing UNMIL of siding with Mandingos (who are usually Muslim), as the UN peacekeepers in Lofa are mostly Pakistani. 4 people were killed and probably more than 14 wounded as a result of the clashes, mostly in Voinjama, the capital of Lofa. Simultaneously, taking advantage of the tension, maybe 60 people escaped from the Voinjama prison. Hundreds of people fled from Konia and Voinjama. (As Johnny explains, both towns were hit hard by Liberia’s war.)

The confusion

First, I can’t figure out the exact name of the town. It is alternatively spelled Konia, Kornia, and Konica. (Sometimes different spellings within the same article.) Also, based on 15 minutes of Google-ing, I can’t find the town on any map. As best I can tell it is on the main road in Lofa, about 55 miles in some direction from Voinjama. [Update: It's between Zorzor and Voinjama. Thanks Viktor.]

These points of confusion are not insignificant, but more important is whether or not the fighting should be characterized as religious.

Is Liberia sitting on a time bomb and that the violence was premeditated?:

MONROVIA – A Lofa County Senator has proposed that the violence that took place in Lofa County over the weekend, leaving at least four persons dead and several others injured, was premeditated.
On Tuesday, March 2, Sen.Sumo Kupee told the Senate Plenary, the highest decision-making body of the Upper House, that the mêlée, in which hundreds of people, including women and children, were displaced, had been planned by some individuals.
The Lofa County Senator did not name the masterminds of the violence but called for an independent probe into the incident.
Professor Kupee, who is also former Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Liberia (UL), in his briefing to the Senate, said the hostility, which, he said, involved ‘Muslims and Christians’, clearly showed that Liberia is on a ‘time bomb’.
“The incident in my county, to me, clearly shows that Liberia is on time bomb – to discover someone dead and later see churches burnt and mosques attacked – I am confused [as to] how such a thing happened. But it tells us that an investigation needs to be conducted by this plenary,” Kupee suggested.
The Lofa County Senator told Plenary that a total of four persons, including a 13-year-old child, were killed in the mêlée, while 18 persons were wounded as a result of the violence.
So far, he said, about 30 persons have been rounded up in connection with the incident by the Liberian National Police (LNP).

Is Liberia enjoying “fragile” peace?:

The situation in Lofa County has caused more attention to be drawn to the fragility of not just the county, but of Liberia as a whole following the end of the disarmament and demobilization processes, which many doubted ever yielded the intended result.

A group called “Concerned Youth of Ganta for Reconstruction and Development” has condemned ‘hooligans' involved in the crisis:

A group calling itself the “Concerned Youth of Ganta for Reconstruction and Development” has condemned the recent destruction of life and property in Lofa County by those it calls hooligans.

The group in a release said, the destruction of religion edifices and symbols has the propensity to undermine national security and should be condemned by all peace loving Liberians.

According to the group, which has a branch in Monrovia, the recent violence in Lofa County indicates that the peace in Liberia is still fragile and could easily be undermined.
They want the government to take drastic and appropriate actions both in the Lofa violence and the land conflicts in Nimba County.

There are rumours that UN solders who are predominantly Muslims from Pakistan protected only members of the muslim community. However, the The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has described the rumours as misleading:

UNMIL soldiers were accused of protecting the Muslim community during the crisis because the soldiers are predominantly Muslim, something the mission described as false.
According to UNMIL boss, Ellen Loj, the soldiers swiftly responded to the crisis and protected all parties regardless of religious affiliation.

Madam Loj also attributed the crisis in Lofa to what she described as unfunded rumors and noted that the violent situation, which started in Konia had ethnic undertones.
She described the situation as unfortunate and said an investigation into the crisis is ongoing.

Land is the source of power and bread in Liberia and Lofa is seen as the nation's breadbasket:

Liberia is not a place fuming with religious tension. At least based on my experiences there. The civil war split the country along tribal lines–in some cases, these splits corresponded to religious divisions. LURD and ULIMO-K were widely seen as Mandingo/Muslim forces, though whatever politics they espoused were distinctly secular.

Kornia, where this week’s violence began, was the site of fighting in 2001. Taylor’s Anti-Terrorist Unit retook the town from LURD and allegedly executed more than a dozen people.

All of this fighting displaced thousands of locals. They have returned slowly since Taylor left power. Many returnees have found their familial land occupied by someone else–often, from a different tribe. Land is not only power in Liberia, as Taylor noted before the Special Court, but it also bread. Lofa is seen as the nation’s breadbasket.

According to Shelby since the end of civil war, land disputes have characterized ethnic relations in the area:

Land disputes between Loma and Mandingos in Lofa have been a big issue since the war ended. Mandingo laid claim to land Loma had fled from during the war. When the war ended, and Loma returned, land disputes arose. (Similar dynamics have taken place across the country. Sometimes these disputes have become violent.) Mandingo tend to be Muslim, and Loma tend not to be Muslim. Does this make the conflict religious? Calling the revenge attacks religious, as VOA first did (h/t to Jina) seems akin to a guy who happens to work at a supermarket mugging a guy who happens to be a banker, and then saying that clashes have broken out between supermarket workers and bankers.

Why are media reports about the situation in Lofa County confusing and full of inaccuracies?:

This misrepresentation cannot just be attributed to VOA not understanding the historical context. I saw a wire report (not the one shown above) co-written by two people, including one Liberian, that also characterized the clashes as religious. The issue seems to be more about journalists trying to frame the story in a way that fits into people’s ideas about fighting in Africa.

Something happens in Liberia. Even days later, the international and local reports are confusing and riddled with inaccuracies. This story line is not new, nor, I would imagine, isolated to Liberia. But the consequences are always important. Inaccurate stereotypes–in this case religious antagonism–get reinforced.

As mediation efforts are taking, the government has refuted allegations of religious conflict:

In the meanwhile, a joint delegation from the Council of Churches and the National Muslim Council will proceed to the County to initiate a mediation effort.

The Government points out that there is no religious conflict and calls upon all citizens in Lofa County and beyond to remain calm as the matter is addressed.

Mac announces the first ever Twitter Festival dubbed: AccraTwestival2010: It is an event been co-organized by myself; MacJordaN & RodneyQuarcoo and a few volunteers based in Accra. It is scheduled to happen on Thursday March 25, 2010

Rebecca's notes on the first day of ICANN meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. ICANN is the body that governs the assignment of domain names and IP addresses worldwide: “But I must say am impressed with the people that turned up, actually I thought it would have been a nice time to pass some controversial stuff because you would have lesser people but alas….many of them came.”

A Nairobian's Perspective writes about the Kenyan Independent movie dubbed “Soul Boy”, which premiered on Saturday 6th of March 2010 in Kenya's sprawling slum ‘Kibera'.

Religious leaders and activists petition parliament in Uganda: “On Monday 01 March 2010 a delegation of activists AIDS service providers, Spiritual mentors and counsellors took centre stage in Kampala when they met the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda Rt. Hon. Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuka over the Anti-Homosexuality Bill…”