Afro Articles - Article Marketing Directory | FREE Content

Search:

John Mulaa's Articles

Display Category|Title|Newest|Oldest

Limits of America's Power
Two recent interrelated events, the Russia-Georgia spat and the seemingly inability of hard breathing West, especially America, to forcefully react, mock the idea of the destiny controlling superpower that America is supposed to be. It is not something that the American punditocracy is used to. To hear them rave and rage over Russia's actions in Georgia, and then to watch them cool down to a state of incoherence forged by the realisation that they have no control of some .....
Gross leadership failure Africa's cause of misery
African leaders have faced unprecedented scrutiny triggered by events in Zimbabwe and the coincidental African Union annual get together in Egypt. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, fresh from trashing the electoral process, bludgeoning his opponents and cuffing the voters, declared victory and headed for Egypt.
Obama's ego and his cultural ties
A little unsavoury bit of the otherwise fetching Senator Barrack Obama's narrative is gaining traction among segments of the commentariat. Those predisposed to find fault and are unlikely to vote for the senator anyway.
Tiny islands have big lessons for Africa
I bet not many Kenyans can point St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica, or Grenada on a map, and the few that can are likely to dismiss these majority black little island states as inconsequential vestiges of massive slave trade and, later, colonialism. It would be an understandable but wrong conclusion.
American ambassador's remark on education erroneous
The comment by American ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, that Kenya has the "highest level of education" in Africa has elicited comments mostly laced with skepticism, in some circles. The doubt arises from lack of evidence adduced by the good ambassador to back his assertion.
Despite the rough tide, Obama still grows strong
Obama sought out his Kenyan roots to complete the circle of who he was. His mother, who died in 1995, provided him with the ability to do so. Knowing oneself is a feat few manage. Obama did. Now he is ready to take America along the path of self-discovery through honesty and building bridges across all divides. Behind the successful Obama there was Stanley.
Sobering Conclusions From European Ethno-Nationalism
An article, in the current issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine, by Jerry Muller, professor of History at Catholic University of America here in Washington DC, takes this kind of approach. Its conclusions are sobering. The article focuses mainly on Europe and delves into the question of the enduring power of ethnic nationalism and its continued effects on modern times.
Kenya - Election polarisation has not spared the Diaspora
In America -- ODM supporters out here are in the Obama camp. Those among them who have the vote, and some who don’t, have contributed to the Obama campaign repeatedly. They are all very proud of their effort. Whenever they get an opportunity, they nettle PNU supporters, who are less inclined to support Obama. According to a source, a similar situation obtains back in Kenya.
False Comparison: 2000 US Presidential Election Debacle and 2007 Kenya Election Foul-Up
There is a myth abroad in Kenya that the 2000 US presidential election debacle remotely resembles the 2007 Kenya presidential election in essentials and outcome. The grinders of this myth readily point to the disputed US election and its eventual determination through the courts as the course of action ODM in Kenya should opt for. Al Gore, they are quick to reiterate, did not threaten mass action, rather he meekly walked away when the system decided for his opponent, George Bush.
Sovereignty Fig Leaf
Sovereignty has replaced patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels. In Kenya, some politicians are loudly strumming several chords and beating many drums to the sovereignty rap hoping that like some magical incarnations it will ward off trouble. Balderdash it would were it not that some politicians appear to believe it and they may actually go to battle with the international community over it.
The Historian's Craft
Flash forward. When historians finally get to research and write about the extreme disturbances that rocked the First Republic in Kenya, December 2007 and immediately thereafter, it is likely they will work the inevitability route. They will posit as self-evident that the First Kenyan Republic was brought to knees by a number of internal and external factors, some of them beyond its control.
Kenya - The Perils of Short Term Thinking
Since the country descended into hell, analyses and prognostications of all kinds have been undertaken and publicized. However, a great majority of them have tended to skirt unsparing examination of the drivers of the nation's calamity opting instead for the lazy option strewn with pseudo -sophisticated assessments that betray a more of the same kind of thinking that is partly responsible for the present mess. Few have ventured radical ideas because our whole ethos is infused with hypocrisy....
Different readings of the same script
After trolling many Internet sites and reading an astonishing variety of opinions in the media on the Kenyan situation, the seeming plethora of views fall neatly in two distinct categories.
Kenyans excelled despite nomination challenges
The recent party nominations in Kenya went as well as they could. As political parties are rightly castigated for sleeping on the job — whatever happened to all the nomination fees they raked in? — wananchi ought to receive several rounds applause for their courage and willingness to stand up for their rights. With such vigilance and willingness to go to the trenches, Kenya's democracy may be assured after all, because the ordinary people own it.
Is US in its sunset days of global leadership?
Is America falling off the pedestal it has occupied for so long? A spate of commentaries and analyses by Americans examining the issue from varying ideological positions and perspectives appear to concur that their homeland is losing its number one status. And, unfortunately, most Americans are blissfully unaware of it.
Kibaki's team focused on naive politics
President Kibaki's Government is on the ropes not because it has been an unmitigated disaster but because it is short through with an extremely naive view of politics. The Kibaki team may have belatedly recognised its political mistakes, but it appears too late to turn the negative experience into immediate political dividends.
Get Africa's history out of explorers' diaries
Perhaps Paul Theroux in his review of the title in the New York Times makes the more general summative point about visitors with attitude to Africa. "A common denominator in this assortment of foreign visitors is the wish to transform themselves while claiming they want to change Africa." This, Africa can do little about. What it its scholars and educators can and should do, is assiduously to revisit what is being passed as truth about the continent's past.
Africa buries her head in sand as looters drain coffers
Africa exports a far higher proportion of its capital than any other continent. The culprits are not who you think: foreign companies and the like. It is the African elite who by its investment decisions telegraph to all that they have no hope it the continent's future.
Stock of good ideas shown in World Bank event entries
Anyone doubting Kenya's reservoir of innovative ideas need only look at the list of finalists at the Global Development Marketplace for this year. Of the 104 finalist invited to Washington DC to attend the World Bank organised and supported yearly event, there were nine entries from Kenya, the second highest number after India, a sub-continent of a country with infinitely more people.
Salvaging Africa's university campuses
One of the most thrilling things about much of Africa is the insatiable thirst for education evident everywhere. Enrollment rolls have increased in leaps and bounds over the years in nearly all countries, helped by rather belated recognition by policy makers that access has something to do with cost to learners.
Poll violence is rare in the West
At any time of year, an election is held somewhere in the world. There is a clear pattern in the conduct of elections and how the outcomes are perceived. In young democracies or countries in transition, elections and their outcomes are often contested violently. In western democracies, this is rarely the case even when election results cause bitter disputes as it happened in 2000 US presidential election contest between the then Vice-President, Al Gore, and Governor George W Bush.
Power preservation and capture war marked 2006
Kenya - The major political question of the year that cast a shadow over much else was whether it was necessary to restructure the political system in order to level the playing field or to let stand the present arrangement.
Christmas spirit dying in USA
Civil libertarians will not sit quietly by when they encounter what they believe is an infringement of separation of Church and State as mandated by the constitution. By their lights calling the season Christmas and decorating trees with Christian figurines, symbols, and lights, and then hoisting them in public places is crossing an important line. The result is the annual holiday season has become marked with controversy.
Religion will play important role in forthcoming US polls
Religious sensitivity in America is sometimes at its rawest during elections, especially presidential. As the country gears for the end of George Bush’s tumultuous term, the focus is shifting to who will succeed him.
America these days - Immigrants celebrating unique differences as minority group
Immigrants tend to flock together for a whole host of reasons: the need to connect with those like them, to relive moments of things they experienced back home, and a natural desire to recreate, to some degree, the society they left behind.
Abstract patriotism as displayed in the Diaspora
In the 18th century English author Samuel Johnson asserted that patriotism is the refuge for scoundrels. Many have taken issue with that characterisation and some have added a play of words of their own. Scoundrels, they say, no longer need to seek refuge anywhere; they can be at home right where they are.

Site Home

Article Categories

More Search Options

Site Map

Submit Articles

Top Authors

Most Recent Articles