Ghana: Historic turnout for general polls
Ameyaw Debrah, Accra, Ghana - The Sunday general elections in Ghana have registered huge turnouts in various centres across the country. Anxious voters started queuing up early in the morning so that they could vote early enough and head back home. Some Ghanaians decided to vote before going to church while others decided otherwise. Some churches also held services on Saturday to allow members to have the full day for voting. View the video

Dar es Salaam: Hard Christmas shopping
Deo Simba, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania -Small traders are not happy with sales in this festive season. At this time of the year, they would be expected to see their pockets getting filled with money from their sales. The reasons they give include hard economic situations facing the majority of people in the country; increasing needs and decreasing incomes; the evaluation of the shilling; inflation - which recently hit 12.3%; and high prices of various commodities. View the video

Also view: Arusha fully in the Christmas mood

VoicesofAfrica: 2008 round-up

Olivier Nyirubugara -The year 2008 has been a successful year for the VoicesofAfrica mobile reporting project. The year started with chaotic polls in Kenya, and ended with a successful election in Ghana. This contrast summarizes the two facets of Africa, and our mobile reporters managed to capture both facets. Apart from covering those major events, mobile reporters made hundreds of videos about daily life struggles, issues, and hopes. Special mention should be made of the nature preservation campaign conducted in Cameroon in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund. The opening of the project in Arusha and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nariobi, Meru, and Nakuru, Kenya gave a new dimension to the project, namely the coverage from both the urban and rural perspectives. HAPPY NEW YEAR!. Watch the editorial video

Meru turns to modern fish farming
Peris Wairimu, Meru, Kenya - Fish is a rare currency in the Meru region but people are learning a new method of constructing fish ponds around their homes not only to have a better balanced recipe but also to generate some income. Institutions like churches, health centres and the like have also engaged themselves in fish farming, targeting especially tilapia and mud fish.View the video

Olivier Nyirubugara
Project Coordinator

Kenya: Matuu challenges climate change
Neville Omondi, Nairobi, Kenya- The small eastern Kenya town of Matuu surprises many observers for its fight struggle to overcome climate change damages and to reach food insecuriy. That region is almost unproductive during the dry season. Matuu is now changing the trend. The town is now independent from the relief food during dry seasons. View the video

Kilimanjaro guides want fairer pay
Abisae Maeda, Arusha, Tanzania - Kilimanjaro is the most important attraction in Tanzania with thousands of tourist flocking to northern Tanzania every year. Despite the foreign currency it generates and the healthy business behind it, the men who make it possible complain about their pay. The guides get an average of $5 a day and want it to be commensurate with the effort they make. View the video

Kenya: Chinese brings clean transport
Irene Wamaru, Nakuru, Kenya - Lee Donlin came to Kenya 14 months ago and the first thing he noticed was the need to make transport available and affordable to every home. As a Chinese investor, he chose to import a new range of motorcycles and three wheel carriers going by a popular local name of “Tuktuk”. However, he has introduced a new model of a saloon three wheel car that has caught the Attention of locals. View the video

Deo Simba,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Human rights high on Kilimanjaro top
Abisae Maeda, Arusha, Tanzania - Activists have celebrated their 60th anniversary of the proclamation of human rights on the highest mount in Africa -Kilimanjaro. Their aim was to invite every body to put human rights on top of every thing. The climbers included lawyers and activists members of the Legal and Human Right Centre, an organization that promote human rights and good governance in Tanzania and around the world. View the video

Kibera youths engage in performing arts
Agnes Wambui, Nairobi, Kenya- Youths in the almost 1million-inhabitant slum of Kibera have turned to performing arts, including dance, drumming and so on to earn a living. The 20-people group currently being trained in Kibera also does community work such as cleaning the slum, especially its drainages, collecting garbage etc. They perform in schools and cover educative subjects such as HIV/AIDS prevention, abortion, rape and others.View the video