I was battling a tough fever over the past couple of weeks so blogging and tweeting had to take a back seat. I’m pretty much back now, and you can expect regular blogging to resume in the next day or two.

“We the undersigned wish to express our deep sadness at the murder of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato on 26th January 2011. David’s activism began in the 1980s as an Anti-Apartheid campaigner, where he first expressed a strong passion and conviction for freedom and justice, a passion which continued throughout his life. David was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda, where he first served as Board member, and until his death as Litigation and Advocacy Officer. He was also a member of Integrity Uganda, a faith-based advocacy organization.

David was a man of vision and courage. One of his major concerns was the growth of religious fundamentalism in Uganda and across the continent and how this would impact on the rights of ordinary citizens including lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered / Gender Non-Comforming and Intersex  [LGBTIQ] persons. Years later his concerns were justified when the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill backed by religious fundamentalists was outlined in 2009.  David was also an extremely brave man who had been imprisoned and beaten severely because of his sexual orientation and for speaking publicly against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Many African political and religious leaders in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia, Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi and Botswana, have publicly maligned LGBTIQ people and in some cases directly incited violence against them whilst labeling sexual minorities as “unAfrican”.

In October 2010, the Ugandan tabloid, Rolling Stone published the names and photographs of “100 Top homos” including David Kato.   David along with two other LGBTIQ activists successfully sued the magazine on the grounds of “invasion of privacy” and most importantly,  the  judge ruled that the publication would threaten and endanger the lives of LGBTIQ persons.

The court did not only rule that the publication would threaten and endanger the lives of LGBTIQ persons but it issued a permanent injunction against Rolling Stone newspaper never to publish photos of gays in Uganda, and also never to again publish their home addresses.

Justice Kibuuka Musoke ruled that,

“Gays are also entitled to their rights. This court has found that there was infringement of some people’s confidential rights. The court hereby issues an injunction restraining Rolling Stone newspaper from future publishing of identifications of homosexuals.”

Every human being is protected under the African Charter of Peoples and Human Rights and this includes the rights of LGBTIQ persons. We ask the governments of Uganda and other African countries to stop criminalizing people on the grounds of sexual orientation and afford LGBTIQ people the same protections, freedoms and dignity, as other citizens on the continent.”

Molisa Nyakale,                                        Molisa Nyakale

Anengiyefa Alagoa,                                     Things I Feel Strongly About

Anthony Hebblethwaite                             African Activist

Barbra Jolie,                                                 Me I Think

Ben Amunwa,                                               Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa

Bunmi Oloruntoba,                                     A Bombastic Element

Chris Ogunlowo,                                          Aloofaa

Eccentric Yoruba,                                        Eccentric Yoruba

Exiled Soul                                                    ExiledSoul

Francisca Bagulho and Marta Lança,      Buala

Funmilayo Akinosi,                                     Finding My Path

Funmi Feyide,                                              Nigerian Curiosity

Gay Uganda            ,                                     Gay Uganda

Glenna Gordon,                                           Scarlett Lion

Godwyns Onwuchekwa,                            My Person

Jeremy Weate,                                            Naija Blog

Kayode Ogundamisi                                  Canary Bird

Kadija Patel                                                 Thoughtleader

Keguro Macharia,                                      Gukira

Kenne Mwikya,                                           Kenne’s Blog

Kinsi Abdullah                                            Kudu Arts

Laura Seay,                                                  Texas in Africa

Llanor Alleyne                                             Llanor Alleyne

Mark Jordahl,                                             Wild Thoughts from Uganda

Matt Temple                                                Matsuli Music

Mia Nikasimo,                                             MiaScript

Minna Salami,                                             MsAfropolitan

Mshairi,                                                        Mshairi

Ndesanjo Macha                                        Global Voices

Nyokabi Musila,                                         Sci-Cultura

Nzesylva,                                                      Nzesylva’s Blog

Olumide Abimbola,                                   Loomnie

Ory Okolloh,                                               Kenyan Pundit

Pamela Braide,                                           pdbraide

Peter Alegi,                                                  Football is Coming Home

Rethabile Masilo,                                       Poefrika

Saratu Abiola,                                             Method to Madness

Sean Jacobs,                                                Africa is a Country

Sokari Ekine,                                               Black Looks

Sonja Uwimana,                                         Africa is a Country

Spectra Speaks,                                           Spectra Speaks

TMS Ruge,                                                   Project Diaspora

Toyin Ajao                                                    StandTall

Tosin Otitoju,                                              Lifelib

Val Kalende,                                                Val Kalende

Zackie Achmat,                                           Writing Rights

Zion Moyo,                                                  Sky, Soil and Everything in Between

Money transfer infrastructures have come to play a prominent role in the Somali regions, connecting war-torn cities, refugee camps, and remote rural areas with the rest of the world. Drawing on primary research, this article provides the first detailed history of the development of Somali money transfer infrastructure since the civil war, including its response to international intervention. The account raises issues of wider significance relating to recent debates on migrants’ remittances, informal economies and conflict. In particular, the money transfer story demonstrates how crisis can become an opportunity for adaptive commercial actors using social ties to navigate the dangers of civil war. Meanwhile, the international community’s attempts to define Somali money transfers as either dirty money or development capital demonstrate a more general ambivalence towards ‘actually existing developments’ in conflict-affected Africa.

That is the abstract of a 2009 paper by Anna Lindley of the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. The ungated version is here [pdf].

HT to Russ Roberts

Check out this series of cartoons accompanying a Human Rights Watch report on police corruption in Nigeria.

You know what’s most sad about it? Everyone is in on the game.

H/T Elizabeth Dickinson, who writes:

Like all corruption, there is an element of victimization on both sides of the equation, unfortunately. The people who are extorted from are, obviously, suffering. But so too are the low level policemen in many cases. How can I best illustrate this? Perhaps the fact that the officers were forced to buy their own bullets, uniforms, and pay for their own transportation because the upper ranks had taken the bulk of the funding for themselves or other pet projects. The majority of the officers also likely believed in being policemen, and wanted to be a positive force for their countries. They were proud of their roles and sought to do the best job they could. But they were also pretty hungry sometimes. And as I was once wisely told, a hungry man will do anything you ask.

is the title of a paper by LSE‘s Development Studies Institute’s Kate Meagher. The abstract:

Analyses of the rise of violent vigilantism in Africa have focused increasingly on the ‘uncivil ’ character of African society. This article challenges the recourse to cultural or instrumentalist explanations, in which vigilantism is portrayed as a reversion to violent indigenous institutions of law and order based on secret societies and occultist practices, or is viewed as a product of the contemporary institutional environment of clientelism and corruption in which youth struggle for their share of patronage resources. The social and political complexities of contemporary African vigilantism are revealed through an account of the rise and derailment of the infamous Bakassi Boys vigilante group of south-eastern Nigeria. Based on extensive fieldwork among the shoe producers of Aba who originally formed the Bakassi Boys in 1998, this article traces the process through which popular security arrangements were developed and subsequently hijacked by opportunistic political officials engaged in power struggles between the state and federal governments. Detailing the strategies and struggles involved in the process of political hijack, this inside account of the Bakassi Boys reveals the underlying resilience of civil notions of justice and public accountability in contemporary Africa.

If you can get the article [gated] do. It provides some context for this BusinessDay piece on the current state of Aba, a hub of Igbo trade and manufacturing that is currently facing high crime rates.

… one third of Germany’s children come from migrant backgrounds – making migrant children the only growing faction in Germany’s aging population.

From an article that discusses the German government’s integration commissioner’s push for measures that encourage more integration.

A critique of what they understand as integration is a topic for another day.

1. Tyler Cowen discusses Germany’s fiscal discipline – MR

2. Another report on Nigeria’s oil spills – NYTimes

3. Nigeria’s finance minister repeats the same old line about diversifying the economy – BBC

4. David Adjaye has exhibits pictures of Africa’s urban architecture - CNN

5. Nigeria’s food blogs – TC

By Aljazeera

Wondering why I like Lady Gaga? Read this NYMag article.