This Baring massacre may not be news in the typical Kenyan sense but it exposes the fragile nation that is Kenya. The fact that many Kenyans would readily term such a massacre as normal cattle rustling is akin to the police commissioner claiming an MP's death is normal robbery. We must have sunk very low morally and otherwise to treat loss of human life so casually.
This incident is another apt wake up call for Kenya and her people to redefine and re-evaluate themselves as a people. The present political smiling from ear to ear amounts to nothing but patching a fatally tattered nation. A country that trivializes the security of her people is nothing but a geographical jungle hosting her citizens. The Saboat and Mungikis are not mere accidents. We must exterminate militias of any shade within our borders, no more no less.
Other Articles That Have Caught Kumekucha's Attention
Horror from African Safari: Gory scene not fit for TV as lions fail to find their usual prey
this is sad indeed and should be condemned by all right thinking kenyans! i say bring john michuki back at interior ministry.....now! any potential investor would be worried sick about rampant insecurity being posted allover the world's media. kenyans have to decide whether we want to build or destroy this country. this is not just about the govt, but also society as a whole!
ReplyDeleteKenya has armed forces participating in Global War on Terror alongside USA elite forces on Kenya soil right now.
ReplyDeleteIf some groups in/outside Kenya are capable of violently killing 25Kenyans during a robbery without any reaction from the Kenyan government, then the Wanainchi must ask why our lives are so cheap. How comes the protection of Kenyan citizens is not given a priority?
Global War on Terror came about as result of events of 9/11 and the bombing of USA embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. USA has since taken measures to protect its citizens and interests around the world.
Kenya must use that example to protect its own citizens too. It is said "charity begins at home".
Taabu. I will say the following because it is still very fashionable to blame Kibaki/PNU/GEMA for everything. While cattle rustling has been with some cultures since the days of Jesus, it is not too far fetched to imagine that the rustlers in this case were camouflaged Mungiki folk. This might as well be a Kibaki ploy to divide and rule. The idea is to create distrust of the highest order within neighboring communities. It is to the best interest of Kibaki if communities, especially in the RV, turned against each other.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that any type of inter-tribal unity outside of central is a threat to GEMA.
I have one question to ask...and that is,Kenya what have you done for me lately??????
ReplyDeleteI know kenya is bigger than all of us.I know for a fact that one might ask or say "It's not what Kenya has done for you but what have you done for Kenya".These are all "rhetorical" questions that one has to ask inorder for us to come with conventional and radical changes.The impact has to be significant and felt by each and every Kenyan.
Our security has been compromised and the judicial system is totally flawed,inorder for us to be safe in our country there should be humility and humbleness in our leaders.
Kalamari while I agree with u that the rustlers were not mungiki, I'd like for u to explain deeper what u meant by saying " It is to the best interest of Kibaki if communities, especially in the RV, turned against each other".
ReplyDeleteAm not a fan of Kibaki but I know a few things.
1. Kibaki doesnt care if communities in RV fight. His term is winding up and all he cares about is his family.
2. He will probably place an ODM minister in that docket once the new cabinet is lined up. (Saitoti doesnt even want it). He would rather place a person like Ruto there and then blame him for the upcoming crime rate that will soon soar when the young men who are jobless realize that the private militias wont pay and they have to feed themselves.
3. While we understand that GEMA are a major force, they still depend on other tribes/communities for their livelihood so u can bet that in the next coming elections, a few communities will rely on GEMA to support their candidate or we'll be back to what happened.
anon 12:07
ReplyDeletethat is the exact GEMA type thinking we all know. and for this reason, hope that someday, there will be a GEMA republic and a union of the remaining tribes to forge ahead. this so called GEMA strength is nothing but an elaborate state funded or condoned smokescreen and will fizzle out once GEMA tries to trade with or administer with GEMA.
let the rest of kenya secede.
by the way guys
ReplyDeleteif kibaki was going to create a new cabinet, he should by now have dissolved current cabinet or am i missing something here?
its certainly nothing to do with functions of the govt because in 2005/6 we went for a whole three weeks after he dissolved the cabinet following the fallout from the referendum.
so what exactly are we waiting for here? either that someone knows that this baby is going to take a long time to come out of infancy, or someone has a different game plan but certainly its clear that we are not going to start from from a fresh slate, otherwise, the cleanup should already have started.
kumekucha bro, find out whats going on the revered but dark and sinister corridors of political fiefdoms and bring us (facts only) news.
With all due respect to the worthy contributors, please spare us the poems, we in diaspora come here to find out whats going on in the country, consider creating a new leisure forum for people to post literary insights and hobby items.
hey kumekucha did you see this??
ReplyDeleteI'm told museveni is god at using poison tiny needle like objects to inject enemies?- Qaddafi's security were right to make that move- i'm sure we will hear more on this!!
Guards for African leaders battle; dozen injured
From Samson Ntale
CNN
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KAMPALA, Uganda (CNN) -- A fight between Ugandan and Libyan presidential guards sparked chaos during a ceremony attended by the heads of state from 11 African nations on Wednesday.
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Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni attend the opening of the mosque.
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Several of the guards to the visiting heads of state from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Djibouti sustained serious injuries in the fight, which included punches, kicks and the drawing of guns.
No leaders were hurt in the melee, though several were knocked over. Several journalists also were caught up in the fracas and suffered injuries or lost their grips on cameras and recorders.
The incident occurred at the opening of a massive Gadhafi National Mosque in Kampala, a structure begun by the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972 and completed with financing from Libya, according to African media reports.
Minutes after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and his host, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, jointly unveiled a plaque to mark the event, the Libyan guards pushed away the guards of other delegations at the mosque's entrance.
The Ugandan guards -- who had traded hostilities with the predominantly-Arab Libyan guards at every joint event since Gadhafi's arrival in the country Sunday -- reacted with fury and fought back.
Museveni briefly lost his balance when a hefty Libyan guard pushed him to a wall. Another Libyan guard pushed Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who also lost his balance but was caught by his own guards.
The vice president of Tanzania was knocked over by fighting guards as he was taking his shoes off to enter the mosque.
Guards to the rest of the visiting presidents and prime ministers kept their respective leaders out of the fray, with some drawing their guns as the dignitaries looked on in disbelief. Some leaders -- notably those from Somalia, Burundi and Djibouti -- were visibly uneasy as guns were drawn on all sides.
By the time the fight was over more than six minutes later, about a dozen presidential guards were left bleeding from compound fractures and the Libyan and Ugandan protocol officials traded bitter accusations of disrespect and racism.
"What are your people up to? Do you want to kill our leader?" a Libyan protocol official said to his Ugandan counterpart.
The Ugandan official, who declined to be named, shouted back, "Why do think you're superior? What makes you think Uganda has any ill intention against Gadhafi?"
The Ugandan official said Museveni's guards were simply doing their job as security for the host country and had a right to respond when the Libyan guards pushed them back.
It has taken 36 years to complete the giant mosque on a hill in the heart of Kampala. It used to be a colonial fort named after British Capt. Frederick Lugard.
The mosque can accommodate as many as 17,000 people at one time, according to the engineers, who call it the largest mosque in sub-Saharan Africa.
Many Muslims interviewed said the mosque's opening evoked sweet memories of Amin, the deceased dictator.
"It is a great day and thanks be to Allah for the completion," said Salim Abdul Noor, 39. "This should remind us that while Amin is demonized as Africa's worst dictator, there are many things he did for this country that successive governments largely depend on, and much of the completed installations and structures like this beautiful mosque was Amin's dream, may Allah rest him in peace."
The Swedish vice president of the European Islamic Conference, Adly Abu Hajar, 57, said the mosque heals rifts in a religion introduced to Uganda in 1844 by Arab slave traders.
"I find this complex has brought unity among Muslims in Uganda. There have been so many factions, but this attraction has brought them together, identifying themselves with a common home."
The fight prompted a crisis meeting by Ugandan security authorities, after which invited diplomats from mainly the European missions in Uganda expressed dismay.
"It's disgrace. It shows there is something wrong yet unknown between the two parties," said the head of one European mission in Kampala, who declined to be named.
The police chief, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, and the head of the army, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, declined to comment on the fight.
But Capt. Edison Kwesiga, the spokesman of the Ugandan Presidential Guard Brigade, confirmed their hostile relationship with the Libyans.
"It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of any visiting head of state. We have to do our job using any means. But our Libyan brothers always want us to fail. True, it's not the first time they come and act as you see," Kwesiga said. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
Blogger kalamari said...
ReplyDeleteTaabu. I will say the following because it is still very fashionable to blame Kibaki/PNU/GEMA for everything. While cattle rustling has been with some cultures since the days of Jesus, it is not too far fetched to imagine that the rustlers in this case were camouflaged Mungiki folk.
you are on the spot- they were not cattle rustlers from the area- this people forget this rustlers have been known to each other for decades and any new rustler that comes in their area can be identified byu both sides a foreign entity not the ones none around - again proof i understand has been found by the villagers that this were definately strange people that attacked- not from that region!!
this is saitoti at work and guess what he will be caught- it is like sending a luyha to central to steal coffee from their coffee factories?? you want to tell me by the time this luyha passes all the villagers the features or the exchange between them won't be noted?? think again-= Saitoti is playing a very dangerous game!!
TAABU; The truth is that many people are aware we need reforms.
ReplyDeleteThat is why LAND REFORMS WERE WRITTEN INTO THE GHAI DRAFT.
And that is why, constitutonal and land reforms are the fourth and last of Annan's four point plan ("historical injustices").
Anon @3:26PM - I agree with you about those annoying poems. KK should create an alternative link for the poets.
ReplyDeleteAnon 4:14
ReplyDeleteWhere were the rustlers from if you think they were not from the region or neighbouring communities. Are you saying rustlers have become very sophisticated and probably droped from the sky with parachutes and air lifted the stolen animals? It important to realistic with our judgement despite our political differences
The CNN(http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/03/20/uganda.libya/index.html ) story on kampala presidential guard fight is interesting, It has not been reported in local media. Where was our kenyan president as he was in Kampala too
ReplyDeleteAnon 3.26 & 8.09 you don't have to read the poems if you don't like them. Kumekucha sometimes has 3 or more posts per day so you have plenty of reading to do. Otherwise Kumekucha breaks news as they come.
ReplyDelete