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- 17 November 2006, by Arjen Westra in Nairobi. The past week, I visited the Nairobi informal settlement Mathare where thousands of people had to flee their homes. I am just back from refugee camp Dadaab in North Eastern part of Kenya where at least tens of thousands of Somali refugees were chased from their homes, due to heavy rains and floods. Some of them were new arrivals fleeing from Somalia because they fear insecurity: some of them have to wait six months until they are recognised as a refugee. The only shelter people had was a small blanket, and small construction made out of branches from shrubs. 'No big news", international media houses would say, because this is how it w…

- 16 November 2006, by Arjen Westra in Nairobi. Just picked up this story from the BBC World site: comments, ideas and opinions get a warm welcome!Kenya could halt BBC broadcastsForeign radio stations in Kenya may be prevented from broadcasting if reciprocal licences are not granted, a government minister has warned. The UK, US and China had all been put on notice, Assistant Information Minister Koigi wa Wamwere said. "If we are allowing BBC to broadcast in Kenya, KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) should also be in London," Mr Wamwere said at a state function. He said a refusal to reciprocate would be treating Kenyans "like idiots". The BBC has some 12 million listeners in Kenya - with ab…

- 28 October 2006, by Arjen Westra. Green, green, green banana"s everywhere. The sweet smell of matoke mixes with the smell of sweating locals coming aboard. I took the night boat from Bukoba in Tanzania to Mwanza. It"s a ten hour journey. The boat leaves Bukoba, one of the major economic cities in Tanzania around 21.30 at night and arrives in Mwanza at around seven in the morning. The boat has three classes and a fourth class: for matoke and (like last night) a coffin. Matoke or green bananas are the staple food for a lot of people around the lake. On the way the boat stops once in Kemondo Bay where more matoke comes aboard. The big bunches of matoke have marks so people can easily recogniz…