Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

SELLING AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE: Developing the Market for African Intellectual Property

ByDayo Ogunyemi

"Africans must lose any naïveté about how IP rights are managed and exploited in developed economies. Historically, African content creators have had a lack of awareness about the international market value of their IP creations as well as the complexities of copyright and contract law that govern their trade."

In the wake of the copyright / Intellectual Property controversy over the 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, Scribbles from the Den republishes a very educaitonal article from 2003 in which Dayo Ogunyemi, who once ran an entertainment law practice in New York, argues that there is a dire need to raise awareness within Africa about the value of Intellectual Property (IP), and the remedies that are available when these rights have been violated. Read on...

Undermining African Intellectual and Artistic Rights: Shakira, Zangalewa & the World Cup Anthem

By Dibussi Tande

During a tour of Cameroon in 1975, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, met Tala Andre Marie, a budding Cameroonian blind singer and guitarist who had just released a funk number titled  Hot Koki. Tala gave him a copy of the record "to give him an insight into the kind of music being made in Cameroon". According to the Boston Globe, “Two years later, Brown dropped “Hustle!!!’’ –  with the same melody, beat, and arrangements, only with English lyrics.” Tala and his music label, Fiesta Records, gathered a team of lawyers who filed a law suit in the United States. After a drawn out battle that lasted four years, an American court concluded that James Brown had indeed used Tala’s song without authorization. Tala says there was very little financial fallout from the case, with the bulk of the money going to the lawyers. Tala nonetheless contends that it was a huge moral victory and good PR.

The Presentation - State of Social Justice & Digital Media in Africa

The State of Social Justice and Digital Media in Africa

View more presentations from dibussi.

The State of Social Justice and Digital Media in Africa

Summary of a Keynote address delivered by Dibussi Tande at the Highway Africa Conference's "Digital Citizen Indaba", Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Republic of South Africa - September 5, 2009 (Orginally published on the Highway Africa Blog)

We just heard the opening keynote talk by Cameroonian blogger Dibussi Tande (he blogs at Scribbles from the den), who talked about “The state of social justice and digital media in Africa”. Below is a summary of his talk from the Digital Citizen Indaba website:

Equatorial Guinea - "Once Upon a Coup" Airs on PBS Today (Preview)

A failed coup attempt…a British mercenary in a notorious African prison…a dictator suspicious of Western powers…and beneath it all, a spectacular underwater oil reserve that the world’s major powers would love to get their hands on.

It may sound like the latest John LeCarré bestseller, but in fact it’s the real-life intrigue of Once upon a Coup, WIDE ANGLE’s penetrating look at the mysterious goings-on in Equatorial Guinea, a tiny West African nation newly rich with oil and infamous for corruption. The story begins in 2004, when a group of mercenaries, including a British ex-special forces officer named Simon Mann, is arrested in Zimbabwe.

Mediating election-related conflicts in Africa

 By Christopher Fomunyoh. (Center for Humanitarian Dialogue Background Paper, July 2009)

Excerpt:

Beyond major conflicts in Africa over the territorial integrity of states such as Sudan and Somalia, many recent conflicts on the continent are ignited by grievances over bad governance and exclusionary political practices. In many cases, flawed or failed elections have either precipitated political disputes or aggravated simmering tensions into an outburst of conflict. For example, in the last five years, violent conflicts have ensued from the competition for political power in Africa as demonstrated by dramatic election-related crises in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.1 While the magnitude of hostilities in all cases may not rise to the level of armed conflict or civil war, invariably, many lives are lost, property destroyed, societies are further polarized and democratization efforts are either stalled or reversed. In some cases, intense and long drawn-out disputes over electoral processes and outcomes raise questions about the legitimacy of the winning party and candidate through the duration of that candidate’s term of office.

Barack Obama - Africa Has Not Yet Fulfilled its Potential

"But for all the progress that has been made, we must surely acknowledge that neither Kenya nor the African continent have yet fulfilled their potential - that the hopefulness of the post-colonial era has been replaced by cynicism and sometimes despair, and that true freedom has not yet been won for those struggling to live on less than a few shillings a day, for those who have fallen prey to HIV/AIDS or malaria, to those ordinary citizens who continue to find themselves trapped in the crossfire of war or ethnic conflict." President Obama

As Africa anxiously waits to see how/if US policy towards Africa will change under the Obama administration, the following speech delivered in 2006 by then Senator Barack obama at the University of Nairobi in Kenya gives us a rare insight into the President's views on corruption, ethnic politics and patronage in Africa.

Obama and Africa: Change and Changelessness in US Foreign Policy

Dibussi Tande

"In spite of all the rhetoric about change, American foreign policy has been consistent over the years. It has been more of a gardening exercise than an act of bulldozing; a phenomenon described as the "change and changelessness" of US foreign policy."

President Obama's admonishment of those leaders "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent" during his inaugural address has been widely interpreted in Africa to mean that, unlike previous US administrations, the Obama administration will go after leaders who oppress their people, violate human rights and prevent the growth of genuine democracy. In fact, in the past week, African newspapers, blogs, and internet forums have been replete with gleeful commentary announcing the impending discomfiture of those African dictators who refuse to "unclench their fists".

How The Obama Campaign Harnessed the Power of the Internet

By Matthew Fraser & Soumitra Dutta (Originally published in The Guardian)

He may be older than most Facebook users, but Barack Obama understood the potential of social media to communicate and to raise funds - and left his 72-year-old opponent floundering

As the musician Brian Eno noted on the BBC's Question Time this week, Barack Obama's triumph was the first US presidential election that was won on the internet. While most pundits focused on the question of race, one largely overlooked factor was his powerful techno-demographic appeal.

Bref Sejour

Mimboland News Agency: President Longstay of the Republic of Mimboland returned to the country today after a 43-day visit to Europe which official media coyly described as a "bref sejour" - a brief visit. This was president Longstay's fifth bref sejour to Europe and America this year, and yet another demonstration of the Mimboland leader’s "governance by remote control" which he has perfected into a science.

Bref Sejour

It's been a lifetime since he left
for a bref sejour across the seas
In his absence the people grope for survival
like drunken sailors staggering in a dark alley
wishing they had a steady and trusted hand
to guide them through these turbulent times
But this matters little to the Prince
For he knows that upon his return
The docile and groveling masses
Shall welcome him with open hands
grateful that he deigned to return
once again to their cursed land
for yet another bref sejour

Mimboland is a (not so) fictional African country created by novelist Francis Nyamnjoh. The leader of the "land of Mimbo" is president Longstay who is clinging onto power against the wishes of Mimbolanders. Here are some of Nyamnjoh's books set in the land of Mimbo.

Reversing the Brain Drain – The Example from Nigeria

By Nick Tattersall (Originally published in The Washington Post)

LAGOS (Reuters) - From cocktails with hip-hop stars to sushi with smooth-suited bankers, it's no wonder Nigerians moving back after decades in New York or London feel right at home among the high-rolling elite of Lagos.

This urban sprawl of 14 million people, the chaotic hub of Africa's most populous nation, may epitomize what many foreigners fear most about megacities in the developing world: violent crime, corrupt police and crumbling infrastructure.

An Insider Account of the Failed Coup in Equatorial Guinea

Originally published in The Independent

He was recruited to film Simon Mann's private army as it seized power in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, documentary-maker James Brabazon found himself embroiled in the most notorious failed coup of modern times. Here, he tells his story.

A man is hanging naked from the ceiling by a meat hook. His feet are bound, but his mouth is open – screaming a confession. He is surrounded by half a dozen soldiers in ragged uniforms whose fists are caked in his blood. Unsatisfied, they taunt him in a language he doesn't understand, as a rifle butt is thrust into his groin. His name is Nick du Toit. He is a South African mercenary, and one of my best friends.

In his final bout of punishment, the air fills with the bitter-sweet tang of roasting meat. It's his own flesh that's burning. Under the flames that spring from the soldiers' cigarette lighters, the fat on the soles of his feet spits and crackles. Opened wide by pain, his eyes gulp in the horror of the concrete cell he's strung up in.

Letter from Zimbabwe: "We have the right to choose our own leaders"

"...we have the right to choose our own leaders; we have the right to a bright and positive future; and we have the right to insist on our rights. We are not criminals and we are not bad people. We do not deserve the life Mugabe and his regime impose on us"

It’s hard to believe that the night before last the news was buzzing insanely with stories that Mugabe was on the brink of stepping down and going.

Tonight the news has swung like a pendulum with talk of a Mugabe crackdown against the opposition beginning. We saw him on TV seeing off the AU observers and almost immediately afterwards (like two fingers thrown up to the world) the news switched to the MDC MT officies being raided and riot police at the Meikles Hotel: apparently Tendai Biti, the MDC MT Secretary General was staying there.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT: The Angry and Desperate Generation

By Binyavanga Wainaina (Originally published in Mail & Guardian Online) 

If you walk through the streets of Dakar or Nairobi or Douala, there they are. Well dressed, in well-selected second-hand clothes... They own nothing and have no prospects. Most have only high-school education or less. They cannot afford to marry or to live in any meaningful way on their own... [Their] life is focused around dealing with all [their] pent-up anger.

I was in Senegal for a few weeks, and was assisted by an able and creative young man. For a while, I wondered why he did not react to my text messages. His French was good. He dressed well, if rather flashily in my Anglophone view. We had a fight when I asked him for receipts and I realised he could not read.

Respecting Presidential Term Limits: The Example of President Festus Mogae of Botswana

"Mr Speaker, in accordance with the Constitution, I will leave the leadership of our country to His Honour the Vice President– a patriot, who I am sure will carry the mantle of leadership with distinction, as he has previously done.” President Festus Mogae.

Festus Gontabanye Mogae, the president of Botswana, will retire from office on March 31, 2008. In doing so, Mogae will not be stepping down voluntarily. He will not be doing so as a favour to his people. He will not be yielding to public pressure. It will not be because he has found a suitable successor or because he has completed all the important work that he started. It certainly will have nothing to do with his age. He is only 68. President Mogae will step down from the presidency because of a very simple reason, one which he stated towards the end of his State of the Nation Address before the Botswana Parliament last Monday. Mogae said: “Mr Speaker, in accordance with the Constitution, I will leave the leadership of our country to His Honour the Vice President– a patriot, who I am sure will carry the mantle of leadership with distinction, as he has previously done.”

South African Reggae Legend, Lucky Dube, Gunned Down

The South African music industry is in shock after the murder of top reggae artist Lucky Dube. The 43-year-old award-winning artist was gunned down during an attempted hijacking in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg on October 18. One of South Africa's most popular artists, Lucky Dube toured the world singing about social problems.

"There lies a man who fought for equality
There lies a boy who died in his struggle
Can all these heroes die in vain
While we slash and kill our own brothers
Knowing that already they are the
Victims of the situation"
Lucky Dube in "Victims"

An African Hero: Biko - The Forgotten Martyr

By Raymond Whitaker (Originally published in The Independent)

Thirty years after he was murdered in police custody, the African trade unionist remains a thorn in the side of the ANC and a stark reminder of a more radical approach to dealing with apartheid and its aftermath.

"History called upon Steve Biko at a time when the political pulse of our people had been rendered faint by banning, imprisonment, exile, murder and banishment... It is the dictate of history to bring to the fore the kind of leaders who seize the moment, who cohere the wishes and aspirations of the oppressed. Such was Steve Biko, a fitting product of his time; a proud representative of the re-awakening of a people." Nelson Mandela

I met Steve Biko once. His miserable death on the floor of a South African prison cell, 30 years ago today, still lay a few years in the future. So did his friendship with the white newspaper editor, Donald Woods, resulting in the book and film, Cry Freedom!, which made him an icon. But if the name of Biko became a thorn in the side of the white regime, today's commemorations will be equally uncomfortable for South Africa's black majority government.

50 Factoids about Sub-Saharan Africa

1. The country with the highest GNI per capita for 2004 is Seychelles (US$8,190). It is followed by Mauritius (US$4,640), Botswana (US$4,360), Gabon (US$4,080), and South Africa (US$3,630).
2. The biggest economy is South Africa, with a real GDP of US$152.3 billion (2004). The second largest economy, Nigeria, has a GDP of US$51.7 billion.
3. The smallest economy reported on in the ADI is Sao Tome and Principe, with a real GDP of US$54 million (2004).
4. The country with the largest Agriculture value added is Central African Republic (57.0 percent of GDP) while the least is Botswana at 2.3 percent of GDP (2004).
5. The country with the largest population is Nige ria , with 128.7 million people. It is followed by Ethiopia, with 70.0 million people, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 55.9 million people.

George Ayittey: Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa's Future

"This grab-you-by-the-throat speech by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders and the complacency that allows them to thrive. These "Hippos" (lazy, slow, ornery) have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile "Cheetah Generation," a "new breed of Africans" taking their futures into their own hands."

Europe's Shame

By Peter Popham in Rome (Originally published in the Belfast Telegraph)

But as long as poverty and conflict continues to blight the African continent people will continue to find a way out. And as long as Europe needs unskilled labour this will continue to be their destination.

For three days and three nights, these African migrants clung desperately to life. Their means of survival is a tuna net, being towed across the Mediterranean by a Maltese tug that refused to take them on board after their frail boat sank.

The 27 African migrants cling on to a tuna net platform as the tug boat's captain refuses to let them come aboard.