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March 2010
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Nairobi Traffic Sucks

I was talking with someone the other day about Kampala vs Nairobi traffic.  I’ve only had a little exposure to Kampala traffic.  I thought it was horrible.  I somehow thought Nairobi traffic was better.

I am wrong.
Nairobi traffic sucks.  Nairobi drivers suck.  People driving cars in Nairobi are stupid.  Matatu drivers, lorry drivers, GoK drivers, taxi drivers, vitz drivers and everyone else in between, the whole of the country should have their licenses revoked and sent back to driving school.
Two lane roads are not four lane roads.  Just because the oncoming traffic lane is empty does not mean it should be used to pass all the other stopped vehicles.  That large lorry in the road is blocking traffic from both sides and if you squeeze in trying to get pass while everyone else is waiting for things to clear, then all you are going to do is jam up everything else.   Pulling out in front of me after watching me approach you for the last five seconds at top speed and counting on my brakes to work is stupid on your part.  A weak smile and an “oops I’m sorry” wave doesn’t calm my anger.  Be happy I don’t own a firearm.
There I have ranted a little.
Oh yeah the other point:  Why is Kenya still poor?  Cause people don’t know how to drive and waste every one else’s time.  Time that could have been spent earning something instead of burning petrol and polluting the air.
to prove my point, here is an article from Kenya’s Daily Nation last august which estimates approximately $350,000,000 lost yearly due to traffic jams:
Update:
google map of my monday driveThis is a map of my trip today.  Something like 16.2 miles or approximately 22 kilometers.  Total driving time: 3.5 hrs.

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Gigglingbob’s Weekly Twits

  • Wasting a Sunday http://post.ly/RLWi #
  • 150 live bullets in bibles destined for Juba Sudan http://bit.ly/az5Ab6 #
  • American evangelist sought after trying to smuggle bullets to Sudan http://bit.ly/az5Ab6 #
  • Sudan Vote Monitor http://post.ly/RHRu #
  • Sudan Vote Monitor http://post.ly/RHRv #
  • Making Sense of Sudan » Blog Archive » Campaign Diary http://post.ly/R7XE #
  • anyone out there want to give me a crash course in joomla? thought was supposed to be easy or I am way too dense #
  • ihub launch – i was there too! http://post.ly/QmVd #
  • enjoyed iHub although probably drank too much, head was feeling fuzzy towards the end and I left before the cake…stupid me #
  • looking forward to #ihub launch this evening… will be the first evening in long while to get out of house and interact with people over 12 #
  • Mary Boyoi Online! http://post.ly/QR6d #
  • monkey on my back… looks like a little boy, but I know better… #
  • son bites brother on cheek, hard. both cry loudly. "daddy!!!" the biter screams "he hurt my tooth!" #not #my #fault #

Wasting a Sunday

Guess I could have wasted my Sunday in other ways.  Worked on updating bits of my website.  And now am posting it here.

This is the front page.  I added some “social” media icons and got rid of those funny photos.  And actually added links that take you somewhere.
This is my “projects” page.  Kinda “portfolio/links/See I am actually doing stuff here and there” sort of page.  It only took me the whole of today to figure out the CSS and I still am not getting half of what I wanted to do with it.  Oh well.

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Sudan Vote Monitor

I am very happy and excited to see that the Sudan Vote Monitor has gone online.  http://sudanvotemonitor.com/main.  Glad to see the Ushahidi application being utilized in Sudan.  

From the website:

“Sudan Vote Monitor is a collaboration of several international non-profits and Sudan Civil Society Organizations (CSO) led by the Sudan Institute for Research and Policy (SIRP), and supported by eMoksha.org (technical partner).

The purpose of this initiative is to utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to support the independent monitoring and reporting of the election process and results. Over the last three years, civil society organizations (CSOs) in several countries (for example, Lebanon, India, Afghanistan) have succeeded in using ICT tools to support the conduct of fair and credible elections.

 

This is possible through the utilization of open source software and support of volunteers from ushahidi.com, a platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline.

 

This technology could be particularly useful in Sudan where long distances and inadequate infrastructure pose a significant challenge. The spread of mobile communications throughout Sudan in recent years offers a unique and feasible opportunity to overcome this challenge. The proposed technology is the closest thing to a real-time observation of what is happening in an election center in a remote part of Sudan.”

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Making Sense of Sudan » Blog Archive » Campaign Diary

Sudan’s election campaign is in full swing, and it is fascinating to watch. Perhaps the most interesting element is that the Sudanese parties are engaging one another head on, and the externals are largely spectators. That’s a welcome change, and Sudanese politics is healthier as a result.

The NCP looks like the dominant party in a dominant party system in northern Sudan. It has more resources, better organization, and better disciplined than the competition. NCP campaign managers are expecting to lose a number of constituencies in their heartland and even some governorships, but their plurality, at least, in the next national assembly seems assured.

Partly this is because of the disarray of the opposition parties. The National Consensus Alliance (“Juba Alliance”) is still debating whether it should be participating in this election at all. These parties’ recurrent threat of a boycott has helped keep the spotlight on the government’s use of the media and (especially) the security laws. The opposition parties have some valid complaints, for example the recent National Election Commission circular that establishes restrictive guidelines on public meetings. (The Electoral Code of Conduct, signed by the parties contesting in southern Sudan, and open for signature by those contesting in the north as well, is much more liberal).

But the opposition’s main impediment is their lack of funds and organization. The premise of a boycott is that it would delegitimize the government internationally. But the Juba Alliance parties would be advised to listen carefully to the international community present in Sudan before making that call.

Omar al Bashir looks comfortable campaigning—perhaps more so than when he is in the palace. Bashir’s campaign launch in southern Sudan was an interesting example of bravura and frankness. His campaign posters showed him twinned with Salva Kiir, with a ribbon linking the two. His message: his party had signed the CPA and intended to honour its commitment. Bashir told rallies that he was a unionist and had fought for unity, but if the south voted for secession, he would be the first to recognize it. I would be unsurprised if Bashir gains a reasonable vote in the south.

The SPLM is facing the travails of a former liberation movement now in power. It hasn’t properly separated political and military functions and personnel and hasn’t internalized the principle of multi-party competition. But, despite some well-publicized differences of opinion among its leaders, the SPLM is making an honest effort at democratization. It allowed Lam Akol to come to Juba for the political parties’ summit last week, and immediately after signing up to the Electoral Code of Conduct, Salva Kiir made his government into a caretaker government, replacing governors who are contesting the elections, at a stroke meeting one of the main points raised by the non-SPLM parties in the south. (A state governor is responsible for security in his/her state, and if he/she is contesting the gubernatorial elections, the temptation for abuse of power is obvious.)

I had expected that political competition would mean that the governments in Khartoum and Juba would pour more and more resources into their “political budgets,” generating tensions, and unsustainable levels of loyalty payments. That may still happen, but at present it is not so evident. Instead, the governing parties’ internal focus is leading to consensus building.

In the south, the SPLM is clearly signaling that electoral competition should not be at the cost of internal divisions that would leave southern Sudan vulnerable ahead of the referendum. And the other parties and independents are heeding the call.

Across Sudan, the NCP is running on the basis of pragmatism, nationalism and economic growth, with a little note of apology tacked on for the war and repression.

More unexpectedly, the SPLM and NCP have been negotiating hard on a host of bilateral issues. The imminence of the election has concentrated their minds, and a number of deals have been struck in quick succession. The negotiations, between Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Vice President Riek Machar, have been direct, without international mediation. The agreements include extra National Assembly seats for the south and South Kordofan, and an arrangement for the representation of Abyei. The SPLM has played its hand well, grown in stature and won some major concessions. More significantly, this shows that when necessary, the SPLM and NCP can do business. We can be much more confident that the two parties will be able to negotiate the arrangements for the referendum and what follows, without a catastrophic breakdown.

The Sudanese political classes, north and south, are skilled politicians, and their skills are on display right now.

My personal prediction is that the election will go ahead in April. It might be delayed a few days, but purely for technical reasons such as late delivery of voting slips. The three continuous voting days might also have to be extended, if there are still lines of would-be voters waiting outside polling stations on the evening of day three.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 10:44 am and is filed under Elections, Making Sense of Sudan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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ihub launch – i was there too!

I think I need to shave. yeah i’m the awkward one in the middle. had a great time at the iHub launch in Nairobi. Enjoyed chatting with Mr. Battenburg, Maina and meeting quite a few others.

check out more information about iHub here: www.ihub.co.ke

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“Elections Season” in Juba from Enough Project

“We want to campaign, but it is a problem of funds.” – Member of a small opposition party, lamenting his party’s inability to hold campaign events throughout southern Sudan due to substantial costs for organizing such efforts. ”

I know the feeling!

Posted via web from Mary Boyoi

Mary Boyoi Online!

I spent the day working on a website for Mary today.  Still needs a bit of work, but am happy I was finally able to figure out some of the CSS that was giving me a headache these past few weeks.  I’m no good when it comes to code.

I havn’t quite figured out how to link images with the new blogging format i am using.  Hopefully soon. 

Mary is keeping busy in Juba at the moment.  She is working hard to organize herself so she can go to Pibor county Jonglei state and start campaigning for the election.  Her biggest problem is finances.  They don’t seem to be easy to come by.  

Other than the money, things seem to be going well for her.  She has had to put a bit of her music on hold while she is campaigning.  Before she started the campaign effort though she was able to complete several new songs for her next album, release her second videon ( and its at 1400 views so far) and participate in a music project that is featuring 10 of Sudan’s popular artists singing about the upcoming elections.  This album is set to be realeased in the next week or so and we are really looking forward to how that will come out.  

Here is the proposed cover for the upcoming album.  They are planning to release on cassette, cd & have a free digital download on their site. (what year is this? I know, I know…. but a large majority of Sudanese don’t have CD players or the internet and they do have a cassette player.
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Find out more about this recording and what is going with the Sudan election here:  http://www.sudanvotes.com

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