International striking events of 2009

Barack Obama’s inauguration
He is a black American, half Kenyan, married to a down to earth woman and they have two lovely girls. Maybe 10 years ago, hardly anyone outside America (and perhaps Kenya) knew Barack Obama. And yet on January 20, he became the first African-American President of the United States of America. This was not just amazing. It was phenomenal.
Excitement swept through many corners of the world as the 44th President of the US made his first speech on Tuesday, January 20. Obama, set a record attendance for any event held in Washington where hundreds of thousands turned up to witness commencement of his four-year term (never mind the numbers that watched it on TV).
Based on combined attendance numbers, television viewership and Internet traffic, it was among the most watched events ever by the global audience. President Obama’s inauguration eve interestingly fell on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Nelson Mandela turns 91
Nelson Mandela is perhaps one of the most celebrated people still alive. He is also one of the world’s most influential people, and he turned 91 this year. In addition to the usual worldwide birthday celebration of this icon of freedom, the UN General Assembly declared his birthday, 18 July, the Mandela Day. This day will mark his contribution to the cause of freedom worldwide.On this year’s birthday, 67 minutes to a good cause were observed to reflect the 67 years Mandela, alias Madiba, spent as an activist.

Celebrations for his birthday were huge and included performances from stars like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Lil’ Kim, Gloria Gaynor, the Soweto Gospel Choir and African artistes Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal and Sipho Mabuse at a New York concert. Sadly though, the iconic anti-apartheid leader could not attend.

Usain Bolt breaks world record
Like his name might allude, Bolt’s speed has awed the world. He is the first man to hold the 100 and 200 metres World and Olympic titles at the same time. Bolt broke the world record for the 100 metres, the 200 metres and along with his teammates, the 4x100 metre relays. But that was a prequel to a winning streak for the sprinter, who became the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympic event since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics event.
As a result of this success, the Jamaican runner was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2009. Bolt has earned himself a befitting nickname - “Lightning Bolt”.

Kenya sex embargo
Kenyan women made headlines this year when they moved the national dispute that had torn the country, to their bedrooms - an idea from Women’s Development Organisation, a women’s activist group in Kenya. The women said they would deny their husbands sex for a week and asked other women to do the same so as to get sense into their men’s heads.

Whether or not the boycott got the men to reason together and solve the mess is another question but the supposed week-long sex ban generated quite some debate. In fact, the line “Honey, no sex today until you learn how to govern Kenya” became a common joke among folks in that land; talk of your country’s politics ruining your sexual relationship.

Michael Jackson dies
He was supposed to thrill us with 50 concert shows in UK as his last curtain call. The rehearsals were done, the tickets sold out and the venues ready. And then a few weeks to D-day, the lights went out. Michael Jackson was dead.
The passing away of the king of pop this year was heartbreaking. Michael Jackson, the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time, passed on in June. In death, he was celebrated almost as much as he was in life. This Is It - a drama that features rare behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson’s last rehearsals as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London has been a hit. Within two hours of the first sale of tickets for the advanced screenings of the film, 3,000 tickets had sold out. “Fans had reportedly waited in line for days,” Reuters.com reported, adding that hundreds of screenings in North America had already sold out a month before the film’s October 28 opening. His 1982 Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time.

Credit crunch
There is a radio advert that puts comic relief into the credit crunch business as a lady goes on about “money avoiding her”. The credit crunch has made its effects felt not just on the world market but in smaller markets like our own, where you’ll realise that the cost of almost every basic need has shot up. Here is what happened: The US mortgage-backed securities, which had risks that were hard to assess, were marketed around the world. A more broad based credit boom fed a global speculative bubble in real estate and equities, which served to reinforce the risky lending practices. The precarious financial situation was made more difficult by a sharp increase in oil and food prices. The emergence of Sub-prime loan losses in 2007 began the crisis and exposed other risky loans and over-inflated asset prices. With loan losses mounting and the fall of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, a major panic broke out on the inter-bank loan market. As share and housing prices declined many large and well established investment and commercial banks in the United States and Europe suffered huge losses and even faced bankruptcy, resulting in massive public financial assistance which spread, the world over.

However, the tide seems to have changed, never mind that Kampala revellers continue to party in big numbers every other weekend. Key players in the economy, like the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), have registered the effects of the financial recess. In April this year, the tax body announced that Ugandans were spending less on goods and services such as cement, beer and airtime, which contribute the biggest percentage of revenue. URA’s Allen Kagina noted that revenue collections between July last year and March this year had registered a shortfall of about Shs108b, which translated as a clear effect of the credit crunch.

15th UN Conference on Climate Change - Copenhagen
The Copenhagen climate talks, aimed at bringing together countries and their leaders to discuss the continuous effects of climate change, kicked off in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen this month. However, a day into the talks, controversy was already threatening the continuity of the conference as developing nations accused one another of duplicity owing to the draft negotiating text, likely between the US, UK and Denmark, that was leaked on December 7.
Developing nations interpreted the leaked text as an indication that wealthy nations are trying to cut an unfair backroom deal without them. Developing nations staged a five-hour walkout and China accused the West of trickery as the spectre of failure loomed heavily over Copenhagen.

Jacob Zuma becomes South African President
He is known for having said and done unsavoury things but that did not stop Jacob Zuma from becoming President of South Africa, having led the African National Congress (ANC) to a convincing election victory on a pro-poor populist ticket. Zuma, had earlier been dogged by scandals - among them rape and corruption which cost him his position as vice president. But he bounced back and eventually took the big seat. In his acceptance speech, President Zuma described his victory as a “moment of renewal’’ for South Africa and vowed to use his populist touch to ensure a very different presidency to that of his predecessor -Thabo Mbeki.

Ex-South Korean President Roh commits suicide
This act proved just how shameful corruption is in the west. President Roh Moo-Hyun reportedly leapt to his death from a hill behind his house. Whether this sent some signals to our nation or not, it was a sad departure with a suicide note left for his family half an hour before he left the house. “I am indebted to too many people,” the note read. “Too many people have suffered because of me. And I cannot imagine the suffering they will go through in the future.”
Roh’s death came amid an investigation into a bribery scandal that had tarnished his reputation. Prosecutors were investigating the former president for allegedly receiving $6m in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office. Well, some food for thought for our local politicians.