Global Voices Online

Concoction on Humanities for African Leaders

the modern way of doing politics especially in Africa is so far away from doing “dialogue publicly” that we have had an ‘interesting' version of democracy…….Politics, which the ancient Greeks defined as public dialogue, is unfortunatelly measured by some sort of wierd election that an African state conducts. “At least there was an election” is what we are reduced to.

Rosemary Ekossi asks if paedophilia is a white man's disease

In Africa, we don’t keep statistics about these things. We don’t even want to acknowledge them. But paedophilia is with us, and has been for centuries. In a recent write-up in a forum of which I am a member, one Cameroonian woman said:

In my days, little girls used to walk around with just their panties, and nothing else and it was quite common to have a man grab your nipples, in kind of an “how are you doing” gesture. It wasn't a comfortable experience for us girls even though it was treated so casually but by instinct we knew it was wrong. On the other hand you had [identifying information deleted] who were pathological rapists. They would lure little girls selling bananas, g[round]nuts, etc. into thinking they wanted to buy these things, and them rape them.

Marian's blog goes in search of the invisible collateral damage of the attack on Lebanon.

You have to search hard and then read between the lines to find anything about the tens of thousands of African women - mostly Ethiopian - currently trapped in Lebanon in the midst of the humanitarian disaster caused by Israel's overwhelming and prolonged military assault.

Ayoola in Lagos on the latest fashion fabric in Nigeria - Ankara

It seems to have taken us all by surprise, after all by my recollection, this is the fabric that only ten years ago, no self-respecting city fashionista in her 20s and maybe her 30s, would have been caught dead wearing (at least, not when she was trying to be fashionable) unless she was at home or visiting her grandmother in the village ooor if she had settled into the role of wife and mother and so therefore decided to adopt a more traditional look to reflect her “respectable” status

Afrofeminizta writes on the perils of searching for a new job

Take for instance when you find out which other people are in the running for a job you are also interested in. . .the thought no. 1 in my case, ‘oh no, she's good…really good…what chance do i stand?' thought no. 2, ‘ai? isn't this way out of her league?'(uncharitable but true) and finally, the ‘forget that one, there's no way i'm getting in if so and so is applying' thought.

Girl in the Meadow on whats wrong with Kenyan financial analysists?

I went to sell some shares yesterday and this is what i was shocked to learn

I was told
“call after three days to see if your shares have been sold”
In these days of CDS
And then
“You will be given your cheque 7 days after your shares are sold”.
wtf!!!!
It takes bloody 7 days to draw a cheque??