Mali finds itself in a political paralysis. A rebellion, an islamist uprising, a coup-d'etat: within mere months a seemingly stable country collapses under unresolved issues. A way out can't yet be seen. But Mali can't survive for long without peace. Singer Oumou Sangare: "We need peace to sing and dance."
Times on Kenyan TV have surely changed: Soap Opera shocks in a country where just 25 years ago a President banned American TV programmes for showing bikini-clad ladies performing some mildly sensual dances. A new century, a new president. A new TV.
âI have been telling all of you in my team not to listen to these recruiters for al-Shabaab here in Majengo. They are cheating you, they are brainstorming you, and they donât take care of youâ.
"I don't want to start writing this story. I've been stuck in a rebel area in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, surrounded by hostile government soldiers, without any way to reach the safety of the outside world for several weeks now. I feel smothered by lethargy."
Garba Tulla lies on the vast and mainly dry savannaâs of Northern Kenya. The wounds of a vicious war nearly fifty years ago are still open. âThousands of civilians were killed, we were imprisoned in this area and our cattle was driven away to the highlandsâ, laments Halake. âThat is the way the authorities deal with us nomads in the Northâ.
