Burj El Fateh

It's a good imitation of Dubai's Burj Al Arab.

We, the Sudanese are excited about Burj El Fateh, the new egg-shapped hotel/mall in K-town.

I'm talking about a country at war and under severe American/ European and UN sanctions. I can't help but think about a Sudan at peace. It could easily become a regional powerhouse!

Sudan, the pride of Africa ( in the near future, say ameeen!)

Breakfast in Khartoum by Rob Crilly

Interesting article by Rob Crilly, a freelance journalist writing about Africa for The Times, The Irish Times, The Daily Mail, The Scotsman and The Christian Science Monitor from his base in Nairobi.

Breakfast in Khartoum

The coffee tastes like coffee, the croissants are flaky on the outside and soft on the inside, and the wifi is running at the speed of light. But this isn’t breakfast in Kenya - where the coffee was probably grown and which is setting itself up to be an internet hub for East Africa. This is Sudan, which is still recovering from decades of civil war in the south and where sanctions are supposed to be bringing the economy to its knees.
But since arriving in Khartoum I’ve updated my iTunes and downloaded new software for my phone. Doing that back home in Nairobi would have meant leaving my computer on overnight.
Khartoum has some of the most sophisticated coffeeshops in Africa. Wifi at Solitaire is some of the fastest I’ve found and I won’t bore you again by talking about Ozone’s fantastic carrot cake. (Danish pastries appear not to have been banned, incidentally.)
It’s all a long way from the Khartoum of the imagination - crowded souks, fiery imams and grilled goatmeat.
But there is one problem. I’ve been invited to a friend’s house for dinner tonight with a cheery reminder to bring a bottle. I’m not sure a bottle of Coke is going to hit the mark but - for the time being at least - the city remains dry.

Sometimes when I look at different parts of Sudan, I can't believe it's one country.

At War

Dear government of Sudan and SPLM,

If you are planning to start another bloody civil war, evacuate a few villages and kill each other there.
There is no need to kill innocent civilians, focus on the real "enemy".

Revolutionary Sudan

الحكومة دي كاتمة على نفسنا ليها 19 سنة انا خلاص زهجت

Dear Mr. President.

I really can't tolerate your government any longer. It's a criminal regime in every single way.
For the last 19 years, you've tortured, killed, looted, traumatized and you've failed to stabilize the country.

Two decades ago, Sudanese marched in every single city and they've succeeded in overthrowing the Nimeri dictatorial regime.

We are going to do it again.

All you care about nowadays is peace talks to solve the Darfur conflict. you know something, you are our biggest problem.

You can't solve the Darfur problem. You don't belong in the presidential palace, you should be in Kobar ( a jail in Khartoum North).

If we want to solve the Darfur problem, we need a comprehensive peace agreement. We need justice, we need equality, we need peace-makers, we need democracy.

We need another president.

We don't trust you Mr. President. You've failed us too many times. You've dishonored too many "peace" agreements.

I don't feel safe in my own country anymore.

Millions are living like refugees in their own country.

If we complain, you prosecute us.

We've been silent for 19 years.

Now, it is time to speak. It's time for you and the world to hear our voices.

We need a revolution.

We need to fix our crippled civil society and fight back.

But we are not going to be like you, we are going to protest peacefully.

We don't like your violent ways. Remember what you did in Nuba mountains, remember the Jihad in the South, remember Darfur, remember the ghost houses in Khartoum, remember the soldiers buried alive in 1990- no, they were not planning a coup, remember the mothers complaining about their 15 year old sons being forced to fight a war they don't believe in.

A war we never understood.

You've had your cake, you've licked the plate and you've broke the plate...now keep your shattered plate, we are buying a new one.

Ya Ma ' Afrika

You might call it an African version of "Girlfriends" or "Sex and the city", but Ya Ma'afrika is different in many ways.

It's a fictional drama about four African women living in the big apple. It explores the challenges and experiences of Africans living in the west specifically African women immigrants.

In the show, Yetunde, Kui, Chipo and Welisane are housemates from all corners of Africa with different backgrounds. The show captures the cosmopolitan side of Africans, rarely shown on TV in the West. "Ya Ma'Afrika" celebrates the diversity of talented actors from all over Africa and the Diaspora. The show's dynamic cast includes Zimbabwean poet U-Meleni Mhlaba, as Kui; A talented Noro Ejaita from Nigeria, as Yetunde; A celebrated Zimbabwean actor Nomsa Mlambo (Everyone's Child) as Chipo and Cameroonian actor/model Yana Bille, as Welisane.

Happy Birthday Sudan

1/1/2008- Sudan turns 52.

We should also celebrate the fact that since 1956, Sudan was at peace for about 11 years!