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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Kumekucha Kweli Plus Statement On Comments Moderation

Kumekucha theme song dedicated to all Kumekuchans. Click here and ENJOY!!!

Recently, during the most serious crisis Kenya has ever faced in her history, we repeatedly said here that only divine intervention would save Kenya. That is exactly what seems to have happened.

Yesterday ODM leader and Prime Minister designate Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki were openly smiling for the cameras during a brief interruption of their long cordial meeting at Harambee house. All the tension and plastic smiles seem to have disappeared. This is nothing short of a genuine miracle (wacha ile fake ya wiper). Whatever it is that is going on here it is good for Kenya and the long suffering people of Kenya.

As you read this, Mvita MP and prominent member of the ODM pentagon, Hon Najib Balala is part of a government team to a major tourism fair in Germany. The team left Kenya last night (Kenyan time). Other members of the team include Foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula and another ODMer, MP for Sotik, Lorna Laboso. Clearly both sides have started working together, even before their gentleman’s agreement becomes law.

In fact the whole crisis has turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we now have the perfect opportunity to not only seal all the loop holes that resulted in the macabre events of last December, but we will also get a brand new constitution as well. Not to mention the proposed truth and reconciliation commission that we have begged for here in Kumekucha for a very long time indeed. Surely things couldn’t be better.

This is a historic moment when we have the chance to correct the mistakes of the past.

Ironically there are many similarities between the birth of the first republic way back in 1963 and the birth of this the second republic that is about to take place right before our very eyes in the next fortnight or so. One similarity is the office of the Prime Minister. It is the desire of the vast majority of the people of Kenya that Kenya’s second prime minister be sworn in at Uhuru Park. If this happens then whatever he says in his acceptance speech will be very important to me and those Kenyans who understand. It has always bothered me a great deal that Kenya’s first Prime Minister Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on a similar occasion in 1963 said in his speech; “Today is the happiest day of my life.” Those words were to prove prophetic because the main beneficiary of that day was the man who uttered those words and indeed his family who today own land the size of a whole Nyanza province. History records that the people who witnessed that historic event and were wildly cheering that day ended up being worse off than they were under the colonial government.

It would be nice if the second prime minister were to usher in the second republic with words about that being the happiest day in the life of ordinary, long suffering Kenyans. Some people don’t think words mean very much, least of all coming from the mouth of a politician. But alas, I beg to differ.

Finally I would like to concur with those who have pointed out here that Kenyans in the diasporas had a huge role to play in this great victory that is about to dawn for Kenya. I take off my hat to you gallant Kenyans. Contrary to what many ordinary folks here believe, our brothers and sisters out there in foreign lands live under some very difficult circumstances. Yet many of them went out of their way to spend hours online sending petitions, leaving comments in blogs and sites like Kumekucha and so many other little things which made a huge difference.

It is only right that the new government (the first in the second republic, which will be the people’s republic) honors and rewards this group of Kenyans. The way to do this is to speedily pass the dual citizenship law that will allow Kenyans to legally hold more than one nationality. I personally believe that this is a move which will have a huge impact on the development of our beloved motherland and in the weeks and months to come, I will personally be pushing for the inclusion of this amendment in whatever new constitution is tabled.

Statement on Moderation from Kumekucha

I have been bombarded by requests to lift comment moderation in this blog. Older readers of this blog will know that being the people’s blog I usually speedily assent to most requests.

However there is a serious problem here. We have some people out there whose sole mission in life is to mess up things at Kumekucha. Over the last couple of months various tactics have been used including the shameless cloning of this blog. The latest tactic is to stage manage a bitter exchange of words between a Ms Brinner and the Okellos in a bid to infuriate both parties as well as the terms and conditions of decency that are in place for the running of this blog site.

Some of you have suggested that I wait to delete hate comments later. I have done this in the past and the least amount of time it has taken for me to clean up the site is 2 long hours. Obviously this is unacceptable as I will have no time left to make any posts or to do the many other things that keep your favorite blog going.

I am exploring other options but in the meantime I appeal for patience from all of you as I continue to moderate comments. Admittedly, this is also time consuming but takes far less time than deleting the comments later.

For the love of the motherland.

Kumekucha.

28 comments:

  1. Kumekucha, even though I no longer call Kenya home, it is moving to see the country that nurtured me come back to peace and likely to sustained and equitable development.

    This crises might just be turned into a trampoline. Kenya needs all it's daughters and sons and I applaud you for your progressive thoughts on dual citizenship.

    I am grateful that your blog gave me an opportunity to contribute my thoughts at an historic time.

    God bless you.

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  2. Good Job Kumekucha, used to be in mashada but with lots of utoto their last year niliama

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  3. Not many days ago, Kibaki, Raila and Wiper were all tongs and hammer at each other. Their 'supporters' AKA tribes were busy killing each other. Now the kingpins are busy smilling and warming up to each other.

    WE Kenyans will have to work even harder to maintain our leaders flash lifestyles of opulence, outriders, private jets, security, Benzes, champaign, caviar, lobsters, fine wines, foreign 'assignments', hefty perks...I could go on till morning. What I want to say Chris is that, the joke is on us!

    All these while most of us live under 1 dollar a day, that is 67 bob per day. When will we Africans ever grow up? As I type this, Mungikis and hawkers are in running battles with GSU and teargas is allover the place. looks like there's no peace at all!

    Where's the real divine intervention?

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  4. The happiest day in my life is the day i stumbled upon this website...Trust me you are one of the few people who made me vote for the first time and you also helped me in making a decision on who to vote for and i dont regret that decision, if elections were to be called to day i will still vote ODM....For the future of Kenya is indeed orange it is the govt of the common mwananchi, PNU is a rich govt for the rich...The rich are becoming richer the poor are becoming poorer and hopeless.

    Anon 11:09 those are called the ironies of life where by there is an economic growth of 7%, and yet millions of Kenya are still leaving with less than a dollar a day and yet this same person is expected to pay a 100/= per day for space and i heard that they are also to pay 50/- per day to Mungiki as protection fee in total about 2 dollars a day so as to be able to do a clean business of hawking, surely where is common sense when one local govt minister needs it? Come to think of it were the hawkers the same people who said kazi iendelee, and the touts echoed their sentiments, now they are told to go back to the good old days of putting on uniforms....Wacha na bado...Politicians will use and dump you after they get what they want from you....Na bado

    Ivy

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  5. Divine intervention it certainly was and yes, this cloud has a silver lining that includes a new constitution.


    ALSO, MODERATION MUST CONTINUE.

    There are some people out there who are determined to consign Kumekucha to the gutters.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I still call Kenya home.

    I have lived in the States and accomplished what I set out to do but I will never change my citizenship and never even contemplated it during the crisis.

    I am proud of all those who stood for democracy and I can hardly wait to visit you again this year.

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  7. Kenya is blessed. the devil will not reign. The solution comes from God

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  8. chris

    moderation is goog, its the time taken while waiting for the comments to appear that's a problem.

    on-line demands expediency, otherwise we can send comments by post then you publish at your convenience, ama?

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  9. kumekucha....thank you for bringing back the lovely memories!!that song is great!!wherever did you find it? is that where you got your name?

    secondly, i note you've admitted that you will 'personally' be pushing for the inclusion of the dual citizenship in the constitution...which is great, but i would like to ask you for a little favour....could you use your 'powers' to 'personally' push the organisers of the uhuru park event to include this song in the celebrations? nothing could be more appropriate for the occassion. thank you!

    and yes, i have to admit albeit reluctantly that this deal is a blessing in disguise, i know if these people actually decide to work together kenyans will benefit immensely. i just pray that they will realise this early enough and do what is best for our motherland.

    i was one of the people who constantly complained about the okellos' nonsense....i am sorry that i am also one of those who feel antsy and complain when there are no comments to read here....i guess i cannot have it both ways! i promise not to complain about snail-paced moderation anymore...you just do it at your own time, do it at your own time!!

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  10. I have sent already an email to Chris regarding his comments on moderation and the way he has portayed me:

    First of all - as I said many times before - it was not me who has sent all these Okello-comments

    Second - the way Chris talks about me here - calling me 'a ' Ms. Brinner - is obviously offensive

    It is just two weeks ago that he wrote to me assuring me of his everlasting friendship and respect.

    So what has changed his mind to talk about me as 'a Ms. Brinner' .... and allow me the remark here: my name is Briner with one 'n' as Chris knows very well ........

    I wonder if he 'allows' this comment to be published ......

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  11. Ms. Briner... I do not know how well you and Chris know each other, but nevertheless, my advice to you would be that on a public forum like this, you have to develop a thick skin and avoid picking offence about every comma and fullstop on any posting that relates to you. We really need the moderation"curfew" to be lifted as soon as possible.

    "Chrriss", you are doing just fine. Now I understand why the curfew may take a while longer.

    Any insights from todays ODM PG meeting?

    Kongo

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  12. Kumekucha don't sweat the moderation stuff. How about you get yourself an E-Secretary.

    Duties: Moderation
    Research
    Archiving
    Bookkeeping
    Domo Receptionist
    etc etc

    Fill in the payslip below and advertise the vacancy on Kumekucha. You'll be surprised.

    Basic Salary:
    House allowance:
    Traveling allowance:
    Risk Allowance:
    Entertainment:
    Health Allowance:

    The said Secretary shall be paid overtime and a monthly bonus depending on the hitometer.

    Au sio.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Chris this is a RECOMENDATION to a ptential applicant whose qualification will definitely be UNRIVALLED. First disclaimer no conflict of interest WHATSOVER those you may think outherwise. The key to DOMO lock can only be trusted with one Ciku. That must be your special PROJECTS editor. Come of I am not RIGGING. How can I be so naive to STEAL in public like that. Give Ciku the JOB of kiss able an unbiased moderation goodbye. She has no HANGERS, never suffers FOOLs (like yo know who) lightly and is a real man who will make Martha Karua melt. Any seconding out there? Over to you Chis and don't let the opportunity pass lect you lose to the opposition.

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  14. Taabu Gosh!!

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  15. When this crisis began, I said that there can only be 2 outcome out of this. Either it will be the beginning of a better Kenya for us all. Or it will be the beginning of the end of Kenya. I would say this deal could be the beginning of a better Kenya BUT a lot will depend on HOW we implement it, how we embrace each other. I refuse to celebrate and be happy until I see a real change.
    Finally, the BBC is reporting the a meeting in STATE HOUSE between Mungiki and seniour gov't officials. Not that it is surprising, only that it was used to plan and consequently organise the burning of those children in their house in Naivasha.

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  16. Habel Kifoto....a true kenyan sang also the hit Charoonyi! you can gues where I am from now

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  17. Taabu
    That is rigging! Yet, I thought you were one of the few Kenyans who was beyond lobbying and rigging. Well, why am I surprised? Anyway, just kidding you are a great soul.

    While on the issue of real Kenyan bad behavior, check out this BBC link about PNU sanctioning Mungiki.
    All along I said that PNU can not be trusted (that is why I moved to ODM). They were responsible for most of the killings yet they were in the forefront of accusing ODM.

    I remember during the elections of the speaker. Martha Karua saying ...'We know some of you are in fact planning murder...' and I wondered, if you are the minster of justice, and you know some one wants to commit a crime, do say it in parliament or arrest the individual? or atleast do something? can Martha provide evidence to back up her statement?
    Yet the link below provides what I have said a long that our tin pot dictator is indeed a murderer. Martha could have been right someone was planning murder,... the abomination in state house was!

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7279149.stm

    ReplyDelete
  18. Marianne - Please read Chris' post again. He was not disrespecting you in any way. He says someone was posing as yourself, posting comments here. That is the correct way to frame his statement, may be something got lost in translation.

    Really, this is not about you. This is a monumental time for Kenya, Kenyans and Africa. We've got a lot more issues of import to discuss than personal grievances. Quite frankly, I think you have a lot more to be pissed off about than someone spelling your name wrong. For once, let Kumekucha be the forum that it was meant to be. I wish you well.

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  19. Chris, I Support you on two counts:
    1. Dual Citizenship - many do not quite understand the real benefits of this to individuals, their families and the country at large (see what the Jews in America are able to achieve economically and politically for their motherland),
    2. Moderation - keep the "rifrafs" out of this useful and informative blog.

    There is one other issue of extreme importance that is not getting due attention. Would you consider using the influence you are amassing through this blog to unify the various efforts to start economic ventures that would harness the immense opportunities available to the Kenyan diaspora? Left unchecked, many conmen will take advantage of the current spirit and wreck the whole idea. Any thoughts?

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  20. Whatever you decide, Kumekucha needs an overseer/overseeing mechanism of sorts.

    The respondents have repeatedly failed to police themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  21. shiko, i see your marketing yourself? domo receptionist?...lol....just come for the references.....i'll write you a wonderful piece.

    i definitely second taabu in nominating you for the post... no one can match your qualities my dear. no one!

    kumekucha, please treat her well you know she's my buddy!! otherwise, i will sic bush's UN peacekeepers on you!!

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  22. We here at Kumekucha are happy with what Chris is doing as far as trying to moderate the press and issues.There was a time when we were treated to swahili porn (uughhh, who reads swahili porn?) and there was a time some fool, maybe the same fool, posted some graphic porn as well...at yet another time, there were loooooooong articles copied and pasted here...very boring.
    Of course, we have seen the never ending "wars" against the Okellos and Ms. Briner (as Chris mentioned in his post) and these wars are pathetic, they sometimes degenerate into all sorts of name calling and nonsense!
    That is why we are for moderation, we need civility and common sense, we need educated comments as we move on.
    Therefore, Chris keep on moderating and let Kazi Iendelee, those who want to start another blog can do it, it is free and we shall offer free advertisement for them!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hey Kumekucha,

    Thanks for echoing my sentiments about dual citizenship. I know to this end we will have many supporters not just ODM in diaspora but every Kenyan. Just think of it this way, if the diaspora sends home annually close to Ksh. 70 billion, what about if there are the right frameworks and a dual citizenship law in place. By the right laws am talking about the dual citizenship and the existence of an office in the foreign affairs ministry to deal specifically with Kenyans in Diaspora: This can be called Kenyan Diaspora Commission, the same exists in Ghana so I hear. This office will be responsive to Diaspora needs and provide information for Kenyans in the diaspora on the potential investment areas.

    Lastly, I wish to put a suggestion to Kumekucha. We all know that this blog is very popular. It has even become more popular as Kenyans in the diaspora have tried to put pressure on our leaders to see sense and do the right thing in the last two months.

    My suggestion is, we all know that Kenyans in the diaspora have different experiences, different expertise levels which can be harnessed. Many would like to contribute in a significant way in the rebuilding of Kenya. So, why not start evoking debates and discussions on the problems Kenya faces with the hope of getting ideas from Kenyans in the Diaspora who see things from a different view-point. Say today we will debate the de-congestion of the CBD, how can Kenya do this effectively? Tomorrow we debate on establishment of an effective I.T policy, how can this be done to rival I.T powerhouses in Asia and Europe? etc.

    Just my two cents.

    Rhyymemaster

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  24. Must see:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2008/03/080305_kenya_allen.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  25. Another must see:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7279149.stm

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mrembo/Taabu I'd rather apply for the post of Kumekucha Fashion Cop when Chris opens a fashion department. No going to the beach in ugly socks!

    ReplyDelete
  27. AJA @ 7:37 AM – there are some ideas brewing that you could be a part of if interested give me a shout here and I will let you know how to get in touch.


    Having watched Dr Mutuas stoic defence in the BBC interview I have to say he handled that very badly indeed. He was totally not in the loop and he seemed to have been ordered to " stay the course " He has put down a marker that there was no such thing - exactly what they wanted him to do on camera, combine that with Mungiki running wild in the CBD today - just watch the follow up. BBC seems to have got themselves very senior credible and tested sources within the organisation. Kenyans have learned that there are no guarantees leaking to the Kenyan press and it seems the foreign press will be flooded with juice about what have been the going-ons pre and post the ballot.

    This one is definitely one to watch it has wings and it seems its payback time. The young Dr should bow out now with some dignity left before the bus rolls of the cliff , but then again its not easy for a Government apparatchiks to walk out on 800 big ones a month plus all “off the books perks” due to principle. Wonder how much Baghdad Bob was getting? He continued even as bombs were razing the neighbourhood. Parallels?

    THE CHICKEN ARE COMING HOME TO ROAST

    ReplyDelete

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