Power to People + Information Revolution = better future for all ?

     can more information and people to access it change the way we live our lives today, if government are held accountable for every penny they spend, and where they spend it, would that lead to a better for all. i guess so. so far i can see many government through the middle east that if they wore to be questioned to where the budget spending is spend at, they would have trouble answering.so far the internet is giving power to citizen journalist around the world to voice there opinion on many topics including those topic that are viewed controversial or tabooed in there own country.  David Cameron point out that behavioral economics can help us recycle martial and save electricity through comparing our consumption of electricity with our neighbors consumption and the overall average consumption. Transparency, Choice, Accountability are three methods he mentions to increase the wellbeing of a country citizen and to empower them to change there environment for the betterment of all citizen.

 

 

     in this ever changing world of IT and interconnect information technology devices we as citizen are becoming expose to information that none of our grandparent or even parent did. we are empower with tools that enable us to voice our opinions on the net for the whole world to hear, we are empower to voice our opinion and to debate them in a way that has never been given to any of our pervious generation. the question is can we act on these information and point out the wrongdoer or do we keep silent and live another day with the torment of not being the whistle blower who we could have been. at the end it is those who speak out that are remembers not those who keep silent in the midst of oppression, ternary and coercion. feel free to comment and tell me what you think

My First Post in Global voices online, a start for many to come

yesterday i was able to post my first post in Global voices online website, it is by far the best site to read from about deferent people opinion and perspective and i am very honored to be part of the citizen journalism revolution that GV is leading. here is the link to the post “First GV post my Mahid (Sudanese Guardian)” i would like to thanks all the Sudanese blogger for blogging about the election and letting us read there thought and comments. thank you a lot.  thank you blackkush and Sudanese thinkers for your post and for shearing it on the net.

Iran 2009 He is twittering !?

     twitter and it effect on the current crisis in Iran is huge, after all a huge percentage of Iran population is under 25 and are well aware of the effect of technology on the netcitizen of the web. in China Tiananmen Square uprising, he was alone,now he has the whole world watching and reading what he wants to say. truly we in a bounder-less world. please feel free to comment and tell me what he is twittering about

Sudan presses new Press Law, What dose it means for journalist

         Finally the Sudanese national Assembly passed Sudan new press law on Monday June 8. but the question is what is the deference between the first draft and the final draft of this press law. is there still remain some restriction to the right of journalist or not in this new press law.I have posted a blog post about this law when it was in the bill stage (proposed Law stage)  in a blog post titled STOP Censorship: Sudan Government tries to issue law on journalism. the bill has finally became a law and it has been passed.  nonetheless as i asked previously what is the deference from the first draft and the final draft of this law. to answer this question lets just go back in time and see what had happened inside Sudan National Assembly Parliament that led to this law bill to change for lesser restriction against journalist. when the bill was suggested in the National Assembly many members of the parliament have abandoned there seat to exit the building in a strong retributive reaction toward the bill. in this post i would like to state what was the restriction that the bill imposed and what wore the reaction of some parliament members toward this law.

for example a spoke personal from the national alliance stated

Parliamentary member Farouk Abu-Issa, head of the National Democratic Alliance,
who calls the bill “unjust, repressive and vague”, says that he and other independent deputies presented a “good democratic draft of [a] press law”, but this was ignored by parliament.

and also for example an editor-in chief of a news paper

Murtada al-Ghali, editor-in chief of the Freedom Bells newspaper, described the draft law as the most “restrictive” media legislation to emerge in Sudan.

“The law insists… on punishment,” he said, “[and] it is aggressive punishment.”

Some of the most controversial issues that circled around this bill was the finical punishment  and banning/suspension punishment toward the newspaper or the Author. The financial punishment  toward the newspaper or the author could reach up to 50,000 Sudanese Pounds or 21,000 US dollar which is a huge sum of money in a developing country such as Sudan for a journalist. in case of the banning/suspension  of the newspaper of the journalist articles the duration is to be decided by the court. the new change in the bill from it first draft is that the payment of 21,000 US has been removed but the court can assign a payment penalty to a journalist or the newspaper. in the banning/suspension case it is still under the court jurisdiction to decide the time and the duration of the suspension. of course what i have just discussed in this post is just the tip of the iceberg in the criteria and requirement that comes with the passing of this law on journalist and newspaper. Nevertheless the good news is that the change toward more freedom of expression and less restriction and punishment has been felt in the final draft of this article more this it first draft. as one of the newpaper editor in chief state that the change to the final version from the first version is almost 80%. this of course after many protest toward the law from outside(by journalist) and and inside the parliament(by parliament Members).

As for my reaction lets just say no comment!!!!!!!. but here is what i can say there still hopes in changing this law and i hope for those parliament members to push more for lesser restriction before the upcoming election in 2010. as for you dear reader i know i cant request you to shear your thought in this case(sorry for the no comment statement) , but wishes that if you have any comment or an issues you wish to state please feel free to do so.

 

article related to this law

Reuters: Sudan gets new press law but restrictions remain

All Africa: Sudan: Press Law Storm

Sudan Tribune: Sudanese parliament pass new press law

Technorati Tags: Africa, Sudan, Press, Mass Media, Newspaper

STOP Censorship: Sudan Government tries to issue law on journalism

The Sudanese Government started a move last week to issue a law on journalist to require them to register themselves with the government media regulator so that the government would monitor them if they misuse there power as journalist. if this law was to be passed it would grant the government the power to deny licenses and invoke strong regulation as to what journalist can write.this news was broadcasted last week on Sudan national tv after the law was being discussed in the national congress hall in Sudan.

Article on the Law from All Africa

The Sudanese press has been subject to restrictions since the National Islamic Front gained power in 1989, with officials arguing that censorship was necessary for national security.

However, controls were tightened after February 2008, when some journalists accused Khartoum of supporting Chadian rebels that attacked the Chad capital, Ndjamena.

a government that dose not accepts criticism from it own citizen is a government that should not exist.

one of the news commentator on Sudan tv stated that a journalist time shouldn't be commuting from court to court but to write news that interest the people. this gives you a inside view as to what happens to some journalist who step on the red line.

In November, more than 70 Sudanese journalists protested against these curbs imposed by the country’s security service. Police detained 63 protesters, releasing them the same day. In response, 11 Khartoum newspapers suspended publication for 24 hours.

There is still people inside of sudan fighting this new law but they also have limits to what they can do

Parliamentary member Farouk Abu-Issa, head of the National Democratic Alliance,
who calls the bill “unjust, repressive and vague”, says that he and other independent deputies presented a “good democratic draft of [a] press law”, but this was ignored by parliament.

After all this new law should be rethought about and reconsider because of it power to Censorship journalist and there right to state there opinion and thought. this law is coming in a time which Sudan need journalist who speak the truth and state what is right without any strict regulation. Sudan is entering a new phase in the peace process and that phase is the election phase and the need for journalist stating news without restriction is crucial.please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue. if you have any suggestion as to what we can do to protect there right and our right feel free to comment

STOP Censorship: Iran blocks facebook site.

    

 Iran blocks face book site preparing for election!!!!. facebook official reply by stating

"We are disappointed to learn of reports that users in Iran may not have access to Facebook," the company said in a statement.

     As a person from Sudan i was really outrages at the blocking of YouTube site in Sudan before, and i am really angry at the prospect of them blocking facebook in Sudan.i was outrage when i hear a Sudanese comment on facebook stating to not to put any content or comments against the government of Sudan on facebook because he is afraid that facebook would be blocked by the Sudanese government in Sudan. Government should be afraid of it citizen not the other way around. on this i say one thing when a government block sites that are like YouTube or facebook it send a signal that they are a weak government that is afraid of it people opinion and the prospects that they might have.

     but why am i saying this here where the title is Iran blocking facebook in iran. well the story goes back to over 10 years ago when the current Sudanese government start pointing out at people to wear the hijab even thought the Sudanese national dress would cover a woman who wish to cover herself to the fullest. because of this move lots of Sudanese ladies start to stop wearing Sudan national dress and wear the hijab even thought the Sudanese national dress cover a lady from head to toe and it is beautiful . so BYE BYE Sudanese culture, have you hear of a government that destroy the interest in it people to wear there own national dress.

(Image Source)

please do note that Iran also has the same concepts that is used in Sudan, the way they wore the hijab is similar of that to Sudan, i don't disagree on wearing the hijab, i only wish to point out that the tob is also a mean to cover a woman body and it is our national dress. after all it is part of the culture.the so called current government pointed out Iran way of wearing the hijab as an example, now they might even point out Iran blocking of facebook and fallow the same processes in blocking site and the communities in these sites.even one of my friend told me that she was denied entering her university campus because she wasn't wearing the hijab. i wonder if a Sudanese lady who was wearing the tob (Sudanese national dress would be allowed  to enter her university campus by any chance. The concepts that many of these government have is that when they block a specific site such as youtube or facebook it would not let people inside there state to know about what going on outside in the world, what a preposterous way of looking at things. many of these government think that we still live in an age where they can lie to the public and the public doesn't have any source of information but them and there media stations. with all of this globalization of information,transportation and finance the prospect of blocking everything from outside will not bear fruitful result but even fire back.  in today's world a person who lives in a country such as Sudan could be wearing a shirt from Egypt, using a cell phone from Finland, riding a car from the Japan and wearing a jeans from the state. i wish that these government start to think of the similarities that we have with other countries accept the deference's that we have. the world is one we all live in it.please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue.

Sudan Population census decided but dose everyone agree!!!!

Here we go again with the debates!!!!!

(Source)

Recently Sudan population census has been decided to be around 39,154,490 but it seems that there is a lot of controversial issues arising from this census.

a very informative Article From Sudan Tribune states

The total of Sudan’s population is 39,154,490, with 8,260,490 living in the south, 21 percent of the national population, Central Bureau of Statistics head Yassin Al-Haj Abdin announced today in a press conference.

Khartoum’s population is estimated at 5,074,321 followed by South Darfur state at 4,039,594; Al Jazeera state is in the third place with 3,575,280 followed by North Kordofan with 2,920,992.

According to the announced census result, some 520,000 southern Sudanese are living in the north.

     It was said that alot of sudanese political activist are rejecting this census and pointed out that it is not reliable. Sudan First Vice President Salva Kiir stated that he was “unhappy and unsatisfied with the census results”.

The National Congress Party (NCP) official Ibrahim Ghandour responded quickly to Kiir saying that the election law has determined that constituencies will be based on population.

     this debate seams to continue while other political parties such as the Umma party or the Democratic Unionist Party are on the observation seat. of course this is not the first time the NCP and the SPLM are in the arena for the other parties to watch the ferrous debate. now what really made my head spin is that the news of this population census is not widely found on the net, even not  talked about in Sudan national TV as if it was meant to be that way. i am really grateful to Sudantribune for there articles and it is wonderful to at least find reliable information on the net. but the main job should be for the Sudan national TV to talk about these issues not to just over pass it and forget about it and not mention anything about it expect on the news broadcast. of course the census can lead to lots of changes in the compressive peace agreement because it is a key factor in the distribution of power and wealth according to population.

     As the debate continues on this issue there is an important factor this is surfacing up in the news and that is there is a need for trust between parties in Sudan. this trust doesn't come easily and i know that, but i believe in order to enforce this trust the two side that are playing the major roll in this CPA should work together more constructively not assuming that each party is an entity by it self. i believe the first step to having this trust is including the Sudanese people in the debate by the means of media sources that normal Sudanese citizen receive there information from. i guess Sudan TV has to rethink again about what they need to broadcast about to us not what they want to broadcast about to us.  so here i end it,please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue.