The Africana Media Blog

On that first day of celebrations, the band will accompany me to the Isi Ogwe (village square).  There, I will join with other of my age mates, men and women.  We will proudly be seated in our uniformed outfit, which I have already paid for.  After the gun salutes, the age group will be called upon to officially present whatever they have done for the village.  After the presentation, our names will be called individually to pay a certain amount of money to the village.  Individually, those who can afford it, it is at this juncture that you get up and offer a more substantial sum of money to the village, or agree to individually accomplish a task.

“Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance, on a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse,” Mr Annan, a 2001 UN Nobel Peace Prize winner, said.

But in all these do-good programs launched by the international community to move Africa to the present century, rather than being in the time-warp of the 19th century, nobody ever thinks of where or how these millions receiving aids are supposed to live a decent life, a decent life with roof over their heads.

What is going on?  Now, it is African women who seem to be making more progress than their male counter-parts.  Are African men being castrated or what?  All we hear are this woman or that woman being appointed to this post or that post on the international scene.  What happened to our males? 

News briefs for June 18, 2008, an Africanamedia way of providing you with short read on events of interest.