Could a rusty coin re-write Chinese-African history?

A joint team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists found the 15th Century Chinese coin in Mambrui - a tiny, nondescript village just north of Malindi on Kenya's north coast.

In barely distinguishable relief, the team leader Professor Qin Dashu from Peking University's archaeology department, read out the inscription: "Yongle Tongbao" - the name of the reign that minted the coin some time between 1403 and 1424.

"These coins were carried only by envoys of the emperor, Chengzu," Prof Qin said.

"We know that smugglers would often take them and melt them down to make other brass implements, but it is more likely that this came here with someone who gave it as a gift from the emperor."

And that poses the question that has excited both historians and politicians: How did a coin from the early 1400s get to East Africa, almost 100 years before the first Europeans reached the region?

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Will January vote bring war or peace to south Sudan?

south sudan referendum in january 2011 an opportunity to have a new state of south sudan.
It may be a new begining for better things for the south sudanese people hopefully it will be peaceful.
the new nation will have an impact on other countries especially Kenya and hopefully the city of lamu once the post is built and operational.

definetly the port will have an economic and infrastructure development but am concerned about the ecological and heritage effect on the beautiful lamu island paradise.



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Kenyan author sweeps in as late favourite in Nobel prize for literature | Books | guardian.co.uk

A novelist, post-colonial theorist and social activist, Ngugi wa Thiong'o currently holds the post of Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. He began writing in English, but following his arrest and imprisonment without charge at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Kenya after the performance of his critical play, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want) in 1977, he made the decision to work in his mother tongue, Gikuyu. He wrote the novel Caitani Mutharabaini (The Devil on the Cross) on toilet paper during his time in prison; his other works include the childhood memoir Dreams in a Time of War and the sweeping satire Wizard of the Crow (Murogi wa Kagogo), which is widely considered to be his finest work.

Kenyan author sweeps in as late favourite in Nobel prize for literature | Books | guardian.co.uk: "-