Kenyan Chief Foils Robbery Via Twitter

PolygamousRanchKid writes with this quote from CNN: "A Kenyan chief in a town far from the bustling capital foiled a predawn robbery recently using Twitter, highlighting the far-reaching effects of social media in areas that don't have access to the Internet. Chief Francis Kariuki said he got a call in the dead of the night that thieves had broken into a neighbor's house. Local residents, who subscribe to his tweets through a free text messaging service, jumped into action. They surrounded the house, sending the thugs fleeing into the night. In the town 100 miles from Nairobi, a majority of residents don't have access to computers, the Internet or smart phones. The sporadic cyber cafes strewn across the landscape charge for Internet access. However, almost every household has a cell phone and text messages are a major form of communication in the nation."

Two Crimes Committed

[retroworks]

Africa has more cell phones than toilets. http://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/more-cell-phones-than-toilets [worldbank.org] The entire infrastructure was built on "e-waste", used cell phones were imported and hacked/jailbroken, which created enough subscribers for private sector companies to erect the towers. The free market bypassed the entire government-infrastructure track. Of course, there is evidence of a second crime here.... http://archive.basel.int/industry/mppi/gdfd30Jun2010.pdf [basel.int] Cell phones are labelled "e-waste" in Europe http://retroworks.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-world-order-interpol-calls.html [blogspot.com] and Africans who buy them have been declared "criminals" by Interpol.

What kind of demented post is this?

[arcite]

Perhaps this is how cellphones made their way initially, but the ICT revolution is built on sound business. There has been much investment from the Middle East and other telcom companies such as Vodafone. Cheap, low cost 'African' versions of phones are easily available for as little as $20. Cellphone services such as SMS, telephone banking, are revolutionizing hundreds of millions of lives. The great part is, this is still the beginning of the revolution, the next stage is to wire up everyone for highspeed internet, which is well underway, particularly in Kenya. I think, what you are really talking about is the shadow economy, or 'informal economy'. Laws are very flexible in many African nations, cargo containers full of all kinds of electronics make their way to the shores and docks of major African cities, e-waste included. However, most people would rather buy a store bought version if they can afford it, people like warranty after all. Indeed, there are thriving businesses for second hand cellphones, and even replacement parts and repair. Nothing goes to waste in Africa.