Is London really closer than Bujumbura or Nairobi?

This being a new year, I will start by wishing all my readers and everyone else a prosperous New Year full of blessings. The beginning of the year is often characterised by many people setting various goals and targets with a whole 12 months as the time for them to achieve the set ideals. Unfortunately many forget about these plans sooner than they made them. I therefore hope those with resolutions will have the resolve not to abandon the journey mid way. The ushering in of the New Year followed the same choreography we have become accustomed to. People seem to divide themselves into those who go for night prayers and those who go out for some merry making. This moment is not complete without the spectacle of fireworks. In fact due to the fireworks display, I can safely say that many people enter the New Year with their necks craned and staring at the sky. While watching BBC I was a bit disturbed by a report that showed the fireworks displays from around the world but yet all they showed was Sidney, London, Dubai, New York and Shanghai where a stampede led to the death of close to 30 people. In other words according to BBC, around the world does not mean anywhere in Africa? Such scenarios should not be surprising that much since ours has for long been christened the Dark Continent by the same people. However I had an even bigger bone to pick with local media. I cannot count how many times I have decried the habit of local media organisations in East Africa ignoring news in other East African countries. I took time to sample news TV bulletins in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. Each respective president had a New Year message to citizens. Then there was the usual footage of people welcoming the New Year either in prayer or at various entertainment spots. They even showed us footage of the fireworks that never cease to excite revellers. Soon after we were taken miles away to the fireworks displays at the Sidney harbour in Australia, the London Eye and of course the Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest building) in Dubai. The fatal stampede in Shanghai was not forgotten too, all courtesy of the global TV channels like BBC. That is when it hit me. When watching a local channel, you only get to see the New Year celebrations in your town and then miles away nothing from the neighbouring countries. Rwandan stations will not show you how Kenyan or Burundians ushered in the year the same way Kenyan stations will not bother with what is happening in Kampala, Dar es Salaam or Kigali. Not a single year passes by without the East African Community Secretary General Dr. Richard Sezibera urging the media to promote regional integration. I guess this would be achieved when and if it sinks in the minds of the news gatekeepers that things that happen within the region matter even when they are not major political or natural disasters or EAC summits. I have always held the view that the more we know more about each other the better. And in 2015 it is even much easier for media houses to get some of this work done thanks to the technological advancements available today. If indeed we are in a community then Bujumbura should not be made to appear further than London. Away from the whining, I was really impressed by the story of the Ugandan businessman who was robbed at gun point in Kabale, Uganda but was lucky to get back some of his money thanks to the cooperation of the Rwanda National Police and Uganda Police Force. Augustine Tibemanya was robbed on December 22 but was lucky that police in Kabale got hold of one suspect who said he had sent the stolen money to Rwanda. By December 24 Rwanda National Police had managed to track down the two girls who had received the money and handed it back to Tibemanya. Such cooperation on security matters among regional security bodies is nothing but commendable. And for Rwanda National Police such commendable work is becoming a habit that I pity criminals who fall for thought of doing their bad manners here. Now can we also see tangible efforts to end the FDLR in DRC issue once and for all?

Opinions

Is London really closer than Bujumbura or Nairobi?