I hope you my colleagues in that Investigative Internet Journalism Training are very fine and ticking well. I am so fine too.

By the way, has anyone of you tried to communicate through same arrangement we used while in training with Instructor Peik Hohannson? I have tried to no vain. My postings do not come to you.

Could anyone tell me what is wrong.

I thank you much.  

Tasks for The Execellent D Day

The third and last day of the training in Investigative Internet Journalism, October 26, was a really a wonderful day. After a stint of recapping, we did assignment which the training instructor chose yesterday for us all.

A bit misunderstanding that all of us participants believed we had to do all three journalistic works which he gave us before we left on Thursday. Truly it was just one of those three stories which are Coca Cola in India, Shell in Nigeria and China and Africa: Opportunity and Challenges. Then everybody chose one and we did.

It was a huge assignment which needed more time since everyone had to spend at least two hours to have a complete story published in own blog. My observation had it that some participants spent more than two hours seaching information. Then they needed at least one and half hours to write and publish the story in their blogs.

After at least two hours I was through, something which was possible because I arrived at the training venue ahead of normal time, 9 ocklock morning and the internet was very fast.

Thereafter, the instructor did little lecturing after what he had observed from every participant. His lecturing touched on the setbacks which one faced in doing assignment.

Came lunch after fall of midday.

We spent afternoon session to furnish our stories publishing in the blogs with a big challenge to make links in between the stories. This was an essential part in the training since it is important that we journalists leade readers to the sources whereby we searched information.

Yes, it was like that. Finally came the Chairperson of MISA-TAN, Mohamed Tibanyendera for closing the training.

Coca Cola India shutumani

Kampuni ya vinywaji baridi ya Coca Cola India italazimika kufikiria upya mpango wake wa kupanua uzalishaji kutokana na shutuma nyingi kwamba inasababisha uharibifu wa mazingira ikiwemo kupunguza kiwango cha maji ardhini.

Ikiwa ndio mzalishaji mkubwa wa soda nchini India, Coca Cola imekuwa ikizidi kulaumiwa kuwa shughuli zake zilizotarajiwa kuzalisha ajira na kuinua uchumi wa wakazi wa maeneo ya karibu na viwanda vyake, zimegeuka hatari kwa maisha ya watu.

Viongozi wa kampuni hiyo sasa wanakibarua kizito cha kuthibitishia ulimwengu kuwa shughuli zake haziathiri mazingira bali zaidi zimelenga kuleta maendeleo kwa pande zote za maisha.

Mwaka jana, Coca Cola India ilitangaza kuwa itatumia Dola 500 milioni kuongeza kufikia mwaka 2020 baada ya kugundua soko kubwa la bidhaa zake.

Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wake, Muhtar Kent anasema: "Tunaamini kuna soko kubwa hapa na tunalenga kulipata kwa kuwa wananchi wa India wanashauku kubwa ya kutumia vinywaji tunavyozalisha. Ni soko ambalo halijafuatiliwa ipasavyo."

Mipango hiyo na kauli za wamiliki wa Coca Cola nchini India ni tofauti na zilivyo fikra za wananchi kwani wanaona kuwa shughuli za kampuni hiyo zimeanza kuhatarisha hatima ya maelfu ya watu wanaotegemea kilimo kwa kusababisha uhaba mkubwa wa maji na kuharibu rutba ardhini.

Maji machafu yaliyochanganyika na kemikali zinazotokana na shughuli za uzalishaji za Coca Cola hupenya na kusambaa hadi kwenye visima ambavyo maji yake yanategemewa sana na wananchi kwa matumizi ya majumbani na mashambani.

Matatizo makubwa yanayotajwa kusumbua wananchi ni matumizi ya kemikali, kiasi kikubwa cha maji na malighafi inayotumika kuhifadhia viwanyaji.

Matatizo ya kiafya yanayokabili wananchi hao yanatokana na kuwepo kwa asidi (tindikali) kwenye baadhi ya bidhaa za Coca Cola hivyo kusababisha kuozesha meno, hasahasa kwa watoto.

Kituo cha Sayansi na Mazingira (CSE) ambacho ni shirika la kiraia jijini New Delhi, kimebainisha kuwa maji machafu yanayotokana na uzalishaji wa soda nchini India, yana aina mbalimbali za sumu na kuzitaja baadhi kama lindane, DDT na malathion.

Kemikali hizo zinaweza kusababisha magonjwa ya kensa (saratani) pamoja na kupungua kwa nguvu ya mfumo wa kupambana na wadudu mwilini.

Kituo hicho kimechunguza vinywaji kama Coke, Pepsi pamoja na 7Up, Mirinda, Fanta, Thums Up, Limca na Sprite, vingi vikiwa vinatengenezwa na Coca Cola.

Kituo cha Radio 4 katika kipindi chake "Pata Ukweli" au "Face the Facts" kimetoa kwa mara ya kwanza taarifa nyingi za jinsi kemikali zinazotumiwa kutengeneza vinywaji hivyo zinavyozalisha sumu inayotapakaa hadi kwenye kingo za mito.

Kituo hicho kimefichua uchunguzi uliofanywa na Chuo Kikuu cha Exeter uliobainisha kuwepo kwa chembechembe za sumu zinazoweza kuathiri mifumo ya hisia ya watoto.

Pia baadhi ya chembechembe hizo hufyonzwa na mimea (ikijumuisha mazao ya mboga) hivyo kuweza kuathiri figo, ini na kusababisha kensa.

Mwanasayansi David Santillo anasema kuwepo kwa chembechembe za kemikali hizo kwa muda mrefu kwenye ardhi zinazotumika kwa kilimo, kunahatarisha afya za wanadamu watakapotumia mazao ya kilimo.

Katika jimbo la Kerala, kusini mwa India, tayari matatizo yameanza kuwapata wanavijiji kadhaa ambao wanatatizwa na uhaba mkubwa wa maji kiasi cha Coca Cola kuanza kuwasambazia maelfu ya lita za maji safi kila asubuhi.

Matumizi makubwa ya maji katika utengenezaji wa bidhaa zake, yameanza kuathiri kilimo na tayari serikali ya eneo hilo imeamua kufuta leseni ya kampuni hiyo.

Mtaalamu wa mazingira nchini India, Vandana Shiva anasema mpango wa Coca Cola kupanua uzalishaji, utakuwa na athari kubwa kwa wananchi kwani utengenezaji wa lita moja tu ya soda ya Coke, huhitaji lita tisa za maji safi.

Kampuni hiyo pia inalaumiwa kwa kuzuia ushindani, kutoa rushwa kwa madaktari ili wasitoe taarifa sahihi za athari za afya na mazingira, mauaji yanayofanywa na vikosi vya walinzi wake na unyanyasaji kazini.

Japokuwa Coca Cola nchini India inaendelea kushughulikia kesi kadhaa mahakamani yenyewe ikizuia vikwazo vya kuendelea na biashara, shurti irudi na kuangalia upya mipango yake ya maendeleo.

Coca Cola India under fire

The Coca Cola Company in India needs to re-think on how it can start afresh to revamp people’s confidence rather than proceeding with the expansion plan of its business in India.

Being the largest coca cola plant in the country does not necessarily sound good enough since it has not succeeded in satisfying the Indian community that its activities are environmental friendly or purely developmental.

Last year, the company announced its plan to spend 5 billion US Dollars as investment in India by 2020 for what it boasts of expansion plan to increase production and market. Says the Coke’s Chief Executive Muhtar Kent: “We think there is potential here which we want to tap it into India's growing thirst for soft drinks; a market which has not yet been exploited to its full potential.

That is notwithstanding the accusations that the company is putting thousands of farmers out of work by draining the water that feeds their wells and poisoning the land with waste sludge that the company claims is fertilizer. Main issues in environment are pesticide use, water use and material used for packaging while health effects have been acidity, tooth decay especially among children and high fructose corn syrup.

In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE),^[14][15] a non-governmental organisation in New Delhi, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos — pesticides that can contribute to cancer and a breakdown of the immune system. Tested products included Coke, Pepsi, and several other soft drinks (7Up, Mirinda, Fanta, Thums Up, Limca, Sprite), many produced by The Coca-Cola Company.

In a recent report on Radio 4's Face the Facts programme details of the contaminants in the sludge Coca-Cola sells as fertiliser, gives away, or sometimes dumps in dry riverbeds are revealed for the first time.
Samples taken in India and analysed by Exeter University show high levels of lead and cadmium in the sludge. Lead is particularly bad for children, affecting their nervous system, and cadmium is taken up by plants, is toxic to the kidneys and liver and can cause cancer. \

The report by David Santillo says: "Repeated applications of sludge, containing these sorts of levels of cadmium and lead, to agricultural soils would undoubtedly lead to a build-up of these toxic metals in the soil, from where cadmium could then be transferred to plants _ and therefore into the food chain.

"This contaminated sludge sample also contained a high component of phosphorus, presumably the reason for its promotion as a fertiliser. However, the presence of high levels of cadmium and lead in the sludge make it completely unsuitable for use as a fertiliser."

Meanwhile, so desperate have the nearest villagers become for water since their wells dried up that Coca-Cola sends water tankers round every morning to supply minimum needs.

The company denies the shortages have anything to do with its use of up to 1m litres of water a day from the underground aquifer that used to keep the wells topped up.

Its vice-president (India) Sunil Gupta claims the company has been the target of a handful of extremist protesters and it is lack of rainfall that has caused local water supplies to be exhausted. The company claims to use a maximum of 600,000 litres a day.

Mr Gupta also says Coca-Cola undertook an environmental impact assessment before building the plant, but has declined to make one available.

At one of its plant in Kerala, the India’s southern state, the company’s aim has been to satisfy the demand for Coke. But its huge demand for water is seriously causing such damage to the local economy that the village council which had granted the company a license to operate is now demanding the plant’s closure.

An Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva suggests that accomplishing the company’s plans for expansion, would have adverse effect on the water availability to the nearby community because the coke making uses a lot of water.

He says to manufacture a litre of Coke, the company needs nine litre of clean water.

The company is also under fire that it is monopolizing the business by stifling the competition to win the bigger share in the market. It is also accused of bribery, racial disrimination and bottling plant murders.

Althoug Coca Cola in India is still having cases before courts of laws, it remains to be seen that its development programmes should be reviewed, if the company thinks of sustainable development.

What in Day Two

We started with recaping on what we learnt yesterday, the first day of Investigative Internet Journalism Training at the Tanzania Global Development Centre. Then we continued with the exercise of searching for stories in the web, starting with the President Kikwete story during closing of the UWT general meeting in Dodoma.

The day shone by going the way the Instructor directed us to search from online sources to know who actually is Ezekiel Kemboi, why this Kenyan man is all about and his biggest merits in his field, and why has he been in the news this week. Finally we had to structure the story in minds and on paper and write and publish a short commentary.

Then followed the way we can link our stories in the blog using different sources of information.

Lastly, we were taught on how to link all blog addresses of the training participants in our blogs.

Girl drops assault charges against runner Kemboi

The third fastest runner in Kenya, Ezekiel Kemboi is now free from assault charges he was facing. The court was about to open the hearing of the case when Anne Njeri Otieno, announced to have dropped the accusation.

It was a big surprise to Kemboi. The announcement came while he was consciously set in the court waiting for the hearing of the case which has been a talk in the East African leader in first class athletes.

Anne claims that she has not received any kind of compensation as remedy for what she was humiliated to, only that she has decided to forgive Kemboi.

“I want to go back to university to pursue journalism and have forgiven Kemboi out of my own free will,” Anne was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency, outside the court.

She said she needed enough time to concentrate with her study something that she believed could not be accomplished while having the case going on.

Kemboi lawyer suggests that the girl had found unworthy to proceed with the case since it was damaging her own status and that of her family and of the nation as a whole.

Kemboi has all along been denying the charges that he stabbed Anne after she rejected sexual demand. He instead states that the girl was stabbed during the skirmishes which ensued when the gang she associated with, had wanted to rob him.

Kemboi won the gold medal in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the London olympic games last June in eight minutes 18:56 seconds. The medal was Kemboi’s another big achievement since 2001 when he first entered into the world books as a big runner. He has run in both Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia and his best time in history is 7:55:76 seconds.

It was in the African Junior Championships in Reduit, Mauritius. Since 2009 he has been under manager Enrico Dionisi and Moses Kiptanui, his neighbour, is his coach. His colleagues in similar achievement are Reuben Kosgei and Brimin Kipruto.

Born in 25^th May 1982 at Marakwet district village of Matira, Kemboi did not take up athletic during the time he was schooling, but was spotted by Paul Ereng who noticed his talent. Kemboi is married to Jane with two sons.

Kumbukizi ya Day One

The first day of the Investigative Internet Journalism (IIJ)Training took us from the introductory stage of the training up to the stage whereby everyone was expected to be able to manage posting information into own blog. I created new blog after experiencing some problems in reactivating the one which I created during the first training in 2008. Some participants attended the first training four years ago at the same place. Few are new though many are knowing to each other.

It started with short brainstorming of the self introduction where each participant expressed himself and finally explaining the expectation after the training. We had first to know the acutal meaning or essense of the Investigative Journalism (IJ), followed by the full understanding of the internet technology as a special tool for the search of information when one gets into deep investigative reporting. In order to be able to quickly catch up the definition, we went through different aspects of the definition of the investigative internet journalism. There are several definitions found in the manuals. However, one of the scholars whose definition is taken as an excellent one, is Alan Knight. He says it is making in-depth search of information to uncover the somewhat untold stories which have been into big silence.

On working on blogs, we created blogs and posted two items.

We learnt that investigative internet journalism can also be used to write information which concern personalities or research.

Tip

It is very interesting to note that the Investigative Internet Journalism Training has been sharpening my knowledge. At least I still need to spend more time, and I should spend more time, on practising since without it is impossible to thoroughly manage.

Internet Journalism Training

I am Jabir Idrissa, the editor of MwanaHALISI newspaper in Tanzania. The newspaper, which is a weekly, is right now banned by the government on claim that it was publishing seditious material. I am one of ten participants in the Investigative Internet Journalism Training, organised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Tanzania Chapter, in collaboration with the Finnish Foundation for Media, Communication and Development. Our instructor is Mr. Peik Johansson, a Finnish who has been conducting such training all over the country.

The Investigative Internet Journalism Training is one that gives us opportunity to refresh our minds in the knowledge about how best we could use internet to search information from various sources in the internet and write stories which have public interest. To be able to know widely the essence of the training one needs to be well acquainted with the Investigative Journalism (IJ) skills. It is an in-depth way of looking into events which have not been exposed possibly because of fear of the repression by the government.