That Adolf Hitler epitomizes ethnic cleansing in recorded history is indisputable. But even to the Germans in whose name he fought and sought purity for, Hitler smeared them with blemish that will be carried forward by generation to come and probably into eternity. Most history students outside Germany and Israel marvel at the murderous heroics of Hitler oblivious of the irreparable damage he caused the human species. He is simply a case study of how ruinous the idd (animal) in us can be given a trace of chance.
But why all the rant about Hitler in this blog, you may ask? Well, the answer sits pretty in that very question. Our nation is undergoing that five-year painful and divisive ritual christened election. Painful because electioneering inflicts such obtuse emotional and personal harm to a majority of Kenyans than any other period in their lives. And divisive to an extent that even people whom one previously thought would have mellowed intellectually from exposure to other cultures and continents all over a sudden start spewing such acidic tribal vitriol without parallel.
An outsider visiting Kumekucha for the first time would imagine that its bloggers are permanently at war albeit without guns. God forbid prospects of inventing e-guns. The tone of posts in this blog have changed dramatically for the worse. The pretence to civility has vanished and the gloves are off. But the evil bit comes in comments dressed in ethnic gabs.
The earlier civilized and unwritten agreement to respect divergence in views has suddenly evaporated and in its place hatred and war mongering shamelessly taken residence. And where does this leave us as the future of Kenya and our motherland herself? At the risk of being branded a judge, I put it to readers here that we have been cleverly roped into tribal jingoism by our selfish politicians. We have perfected the art of being hate peddlers to unfathomable proportions. Consequently the scoundrels answering to the name of 'our leaders' must be laughing their heads off as we shadow box each other inside the maze they have weaved for us.
Politicians and polls come and go but the country is there to stay. With one finger we vilify Moi for perfecting ethnic division of Kenyans while what our own practice makes him look a saint. Until we resolve to rise about our cheap leaders and see the forest for the trees, we will continue riding our respective horses down a steep slope to oblivion. We must STOP and PRESS Kenya. She is bigger than any of us and until we accept that we all equally belong together, we are all engaging in nothing short of self-deception.
My dear country people, we must accept being biological accidents populating geographical accident (forget colonialism) called Kenya. Hitler thought of Aryan’s superiority and people are still paying the price almost a century later. Stop imagining that you are more Kenyan than your neighbour. Never mistake bigotry for superiority. We must not talk at each other but rather to each other. Support your candidate if you must but don’t transform political campaign into grandstanding and brinkmanship. It is unity in diversity, stupid. May the real Kenyans please stand up? God bless Kenya
One again Chris another great post, obviously as a result of what happened at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday. Constitutional and democractic undertaking like elections in Kenya have clearly been turned into "painful and divisive ritual" by insecure individuals.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that recent events are increasingly scary, it seems to me that instead of calling a spade and spade you are calling it a big spoon. In other words, you should directly and openly tell the PNU to tone down its hate campaign against political opponents - and should instead be selling its policies and future programmes.
With that said, we can only hope for peace and that the Kenyan voter is well informed to distinguish the good from the pretenders.
Apologies. Kudos to Taabu (not Chris) for that great post.
ReplyDeleteHear hear Mwalimu;
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about it is someone is now going to come along and denounce everything you have just said not because its wrong but kwani wewe ni ukabila gani na hiyo jina yako?
Despite it being known that you are happy&horseless, others commentators will brand you a mole of some rubbish party whose name begins with O or P and suggest that you are simply being gallantly and playing to the gallery
Phi. I am unable to understand what you are writing about. I think it is time Chris looked at some of these empty contributions that are simply taking up space in this blog. anon.
ReplyDeleteYes, Phi and taabu are experts in tribal hate! These idiots think Raila is Jesus Christ. Oh, my dear railaherd please learn to worship the creator and not the creation. Yes, even where the creature is uncut by implements made by human hands. anon.
ReplyDeleteCHRIS!!
ReplyDeletedo you know your comments affect the tradings of the kenyan stock market??? i was in http://www.stockskenya.com and saw that your article on unmasking kenyas angloleasing ghosts has the capacity to shake the kenyan stock market!!! go to the discussion forum and see what milly says about you!!! in that regard if what you predict in the forth coming elections and the plan you suggest thet the establishment would rather hand over power to anyone else but moi then our future does not look so bright!!!!!
jane!
I think Luke and Taabu are now overplaying this "horseless" line far too much. We know u r horseless, so what? U make it sound like u r right and other people are wrong which I am sure is not the case. Go back Kalembe, Koigi, Raila or whoever it is u fancy OR quietly choose to continue 'abstaining' instead of fighting imaginary accusers.
ReplyDeleteTaabu, please do not despair. All is not lost. On the contrary I think this election has the propensity to unite Kenyans in the most formidable way. You see, feelings of nationalism cannot be attained without pronounced goals benefiting every citizen. I think we are quick to forget how Kenyans united to remove the bedeviled administration of one baba Giddy. Kenyans were extremely joyous and prideful reminiscent of Kipchoge Keino clenching that first gold medal. It is with that rejuvenated vigor that we all spoke the same language and cast the same vote. Finally, we had ‘taken back’ our country, united as ever. Studies showed we were one of the most optimistic people in the world. Well, Kibaki settled his ass on that red seat with the Kenyan court of arms on its back and the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteFive years later, we are disappointed, disheveled and withered but we are back to take our country. This time around it is clear who wants to maintain the status quo and who wants change and it has nothing to do with tribalism. Kenyans want change. No more Anglo-leasing types of corruption, blatant tribalism, drug dealing mercenaries, hush hush IPOs, insecurity, low quality education, killing of the opposition and intimidation of the press. You want examples? It is these common goals that unite Kenyans against a rouge administration. It is precisely these goals that will break the shackles of tribal politics and gear us towards a ‘changed’ administration.
That said, the angry vitriol witnessed last Sunday is simply kicks of a dying horse. They are desperate attempts to clasp the reeds by the riverside that you so much talk about. The reality is, negative campaigning is part and parcel of democracy and as such any candidate must have tough skin. The quagmire is that the resultant effects of such campaigns are always up in the air. Nobody has been able to judge how effective demonizing an opponent can be. You see, calling Raila all those nasty names can actually be beneficial to his campaign. Likewise, calling Kibaki a ‘pumbavu’ or ‘mavi ya kuku’ is likely to backfire. Name calling should cease and desist. Ama aje wazee?
Bwana Vikii, as i have said time and again you know if this were 2012 i would be just as hot and bothered under the collar as you are for your stand, but in my case it would be for one John Githongo
ReplyDeleteAll the same, I wish you and yours well. Let me not stand in your way please
Continue collecting those e-mail address
I will Phil. You see I dont endorse positions just because somebody else has done it. John Githongo may be generally a good man,BUT the truth of the matter is that I DON'T KNOW him. I am sure nobody knows him enough here. All we hear is Githongo, Githongo. Well, I always say back whoever it is you fancy and I will also not shy away from telling you who it is I fancy. Lets meet in 2012, u riding your githongo and me riding the man who will be Kenya's fourth president, Uhuru Kenyatta.
ReplyDeleteI meant Luke
ReplyDeleteBwana Vikii for a moment you almost confused me for Phil! Believe me when i say ODM+K, PANU, KANU,Ford Kenya+New,Shirikisho, TIP(what a joke!), Sisi kwa Sisi, Narc+Kenya etc do not represent the dreams, aspirations and hope i have for my life or this great nation of Kenya in any way, shape or form hence my unwillingness to be confused with Bwana Phil who apart from suffering a giant dose of footsoldier syndrome is otherwise a sane&sound guy. although somebody once told me i look like an ODM guy but they probably looked like a mungiki to me(what a way to judge a book by its cover!)
ReplyDeleteNow, you say you don't endorse positions because somebody else has?well neither do i!Afterall, who am I to endorse anyone, whether Githongo or Kalonzo? i am nothing but a name to them!Unlike you, i am not privileged to personally know a dishonourable politician or two, and they remain nothing but faces in newspaper pictures to me. However, in my post today i argue the point that you cannot judge a politician by his cover and i think that is true. we must dig deeper than promises and look for character and not just reputation, whether good or bad. Popularity, promises and image mean nothing to me(in fact i have all 3 going for me).
Now, i hold no brief for him, but what we have on record that John Githongo did in months is yet to even be whispered as a rumour about some of the current names who feature prominently in our politics today, even with their lifelong political careers
By the way, thank you for leaving me this red-herring;i must bite at it, knowing that you may have set me up for a fall, but its all fun and games to me- it seems to me that if you only vote for people you know personally, you must be the mayor of Kenya. How does the ordinary voter get to know everyone who wants to run for parliament on a party ticket?And doesn't knowing them make it even worse because you are at a conflict of interest?
I am a voter who is proudly non-partisan, and you must woo me with your character otherwise you have lost me and my voting block of non-ethnical,stupid-proof like-minded pumbavus who believe Kenya is greater than a revised GDP figure
Luke I didnt claim to know Uhuru Kenyatta personally. If I said that then I lied.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that we know very little about John githongo. This is a man well over 40, what else do we know about him apart from the Anglo-Leasing tapes? How does that make him better than the likes of Orengo who have been exposing government's misdeeds for decades now? JG may be a good man but the herd mentality spearheaded by Chris here is not suficient to form any justification on why we should vote for him. I am sorry if I said I know politicians personally.
When someone is praised so much even when there is no reason for that praise, that repels me. I will not try to win you for my presidential candidate, NO. It is your country we are talking about and I believe you know what the country needs and what is realistically achievable.
I wish you a good day and will please forward me more email addresses?