In an interview with the BBC, former United Nations Secretary Boutros Boutros Ghali predicted that conflicts would soon arise between countries in the Nile basin over rights to water that flows through the Nile.
Egypt has long been the largest user of water from the Nile, but countries upstream are coming closer to more intensively using […]
A treaty between East African nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda went into effect in January creating a trade bloc that over the next few years will create a free trade zone.
A similar East African free-trade zone was set up in 1967, but collapsed in 1977 as wars devastated the region.
Under the terms of the agreement […]
To mark UN Anti-Corruption Day in December, Transparency International released the results of its 2004 Global Corruption Barometer highlighting ongoing corruption, especially in the developing world. The survey found that worldwide, 1 in 10 people said they or a member of their household had paid a bribe in the previous year.
The survey polled more […]
In January, Kenya announced that its HIV rate had fell almost in half overnight. But this was not due to any new program adopted by Kenya. Rather the government released a more accurate estimate that only 6.7 percent of people in Kenya suffer from AIDS compared to the older estimate of 15 percent.
The 6.7 percent […]
Population Action International released a report in September charging that the U.S.’s global gag rule on abortion is undermining health care efforts in a number of countries. The gag rule bars any monies being given to family planning agencies that performs abortions or offers abortion counseling.
According to a press release from Population Action International announcing […]
Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation published in October a price list for what it costs to bribe judges in that country and claimed that as many as half of the judges in the country were corrupt and could be bought.
According to the report an appeals judge would want US $19,800 for a bribe, whereas a […]
In March the new government of Kenya reported that its treasury had all but been drained by the former government of Daniel Arap Moi and that the country would need $800 million in aid from the international community.
The incoming National Rainbow Coalition thought the government deficit would be in the neighborhood of $400 million, but […]
Local Government Minister Karissa Maitha, has been tackling corruption and fraud in the headcounts of Nairobi City Council workers — thousands of people draw salaries as government workers even though they don’t actually perform any work for the city.
Recently, Maitha ordered every council worker to show up at Nairobi City Stadium with a copy of […]
In December, Forbes ran an interesting look at efforts in Africa to genetically modify basic food crops to increase yields. The article focused on Kenya’s Florence Wambugu who has been working for years to increase yields of the sweet potato.
African sweet potato yields are about half the level as other parts of the world. With […]
British researchers are helping Kenya and Uganda put together an early warning system that should allow medical authorities in those countries to react quicker and head off possible malaria outbreaks.
Over a million people die every year from malaria related complications, and one reason so many people die is that few people have immunity to malaria. […]