Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Fishy Business With The IDPs: Why The Mad Rush?

One of the reasons why politicians in Kenya and indeed most readers in this blog can never understand or empathize with Kenya’s Internally displaced persons has to do with understanding the emotion of fear.

Let me illustrate this to you in a bit more detail. I was still only a young child barely 4 years old when we used to live in Isiolo with my parents. Even now some memories of that house are still etched firmly on my mind. Our house was right next to the bush where on at least two sides of the strong fence we had no neighbor but the thicket as far as the eye could see. I still remember looking out of the sitting room window on most evenings and seeing the clear silhouette of an elephant. I kid you not.

Now one of the best kept state secrets of Kenya was unfolding in Isiolo at that time and it was the Shifta bandit menace. One day, when my father was not around and we were only in the house with my mum and kid brother and the house help, a very fierce gun fight broke out right outside our house at about 7pm in the evening. Our mum huddled me and my brother into a large wardrobe in our kids bedroom and she joined us there as she locked it on the inside as best as she could. The gun battle went on outside for hours and hours. Mercifully that was one of the few gun fights that the Shifta appear to have lost to the Kenyan security personnel otherwise this blog would never have existed and I would not be here today. The Shiftas in those days did not take any hostages. I must have had an inkling, even at that tender age that all was not well because I am told that I threw up inside that stuffy cupboard. To be honest that part I do not remember. But I remember falling asleep in there as endless gun shots continued to ring out all over our compound.

But apparently I was very brave because years later, my dad told me that they were in the police mess less than 100 metres from our house when the firing started and one the civilians taking cover inside some large cupboard was terrified. So much so that soon the floor appeared to be water logged only for everybody to discover that the man had urinated on himself.

Fear is not a pretty emotion but just imagine for a moment that that is the chief emotion amongst most of the IDPs idling away in camps. The memories of the terrible terrible things that happened to them barely 4 months ago are still very fresh on their minds.

And then to make matters worse the government is very determined that the IDPs should go back to the place which for them still has very scary memories. Many watched their loved ones being killed. Others watched as their mothers, wives and sisters were savagely raped in front of their very own eyes by people they thought they knew well.

But the Kibaki government does not really care. All they want is for the IDPs to go back to their farms. So the big mystery is why would people still in so much fear want to go back to a place that has crazy and fearful memories for them? The truth is that the government is forcing people to go back. And the details of exactly how they are doing this is extremely disturbing to say the least (see my latest raw notes for the full story).

For starters it is a human rights violation to force IDPs to go back to their homes against their will and indeed better judgment. One just needs to carefully observe how the politicians are behaving over this IDP issue to realize that there is something very wrong here.

Last weekend Lands Minister James Orengo while addressing a meeting in the Rift Valley suggested that the IDPs be settled elsewhere other than the Rift Valley. That remark has drawn the fire of many Central province MPs who have said that Orengo was wrong as a cabinet minister to say what he said. They have vowed that the IDPs MUST be re-settled in the Rift Valley.

The truth is that it is not too hard for the government to find land elsewhere in the country to settle these suffering brothers and sisters of ours, other than the Rift Valley where the bitter truth is that they will never be safe. They can be given land exactly the size of what thye lost in the Rift valley, or if the land is less fertile, something larger. The truth is that there are vast tracts of idle, undeveloped land all over the country.

Why should President Kibaki and his cronies rush to re-settle the IDPs without addressing the core issues that led to their displacement in the first place, as Rift Valley MPs have requested so many times? Are we not just postponing the inevitable, namely another painful eviction in the near future? What about the scars and memories the IDPs have of those farms that they are being asked to go back to? I am well aware of the fact that history bores most of my readers in this blog, but studying the history of how most of the IDPs ended up being settled in the Rift Valley will help anybody solve the mystery of why the government is in such a mad rush to get the IDPs back on their farms (I tackle this issue in great detail in my latest raw notes.)

Folks we could be triggering off trouble in the Rift Valley re-settling the IDPs so quickly and without addressing the core problems. And even the issue of having police protection is not quite reassuring enough. As one victim put it; they were living right next to a police station but that did not stop them being attacked and were forcibly evicted off their land.


She visited lover in servant quarters leaving husband in bed

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70 comments:

  1. Chris, as you said, the indisputable facts remains that we are merely postponing another eviction. Too bad but I wasn't expecting another solution, not least since the owners of those vast tracts of land are the ones behind this forced 'resettlement'

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  2. Kenya is just about the only country in the world that can provide 1 police security for every one person(idp) , how long will this last and at what expense are we guarding these Golden tribe for? , while all our security forces are focused on providing round the clock security for every kikuyu in rift valley our borders are vulnerable and trust me all manner of things are coming in and leaving the country , soon museveni will invade us and make us part of the baganda kingdom.

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  3. DO NOT WORRY KENYANSN WILL NOT ALLLOW THE LAND GRABBERS TO GET AWAY WITH ALL THOSE CHUNKS OF LAND!!AND BY THE WAY WHO SAYS THAT THEY SHOULD BE PAID FOR GRABBING LAND??? BULL-SHIT - KENYA HAS CHANGED THE SOME KIKUYU ELITE JUST GRABBED LAND FRO CRITICOS AND FORCED HIM OUT!! HOW ABOUT THE KENYATTA FAMILY WHO OWN A WHOLE PROVINCE??

    KENYATTA IS DEAD!!THE IDP'S ARE ALIVE!!! WHO IS IN NEED MORE??

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  4. This been Kenya a land of fake miracles, fake results (ranging from fake examination results, fake election results, etc), fake feelings (many fake how they feel in order to fit-in, in whichever place they want), fake opinions, and almost fake everything ... its almost natural to fake anything to look good, if only for a while. The fake manner in which the government is quickly trying to resettle the IDKs is worrying me ... having been to many of these areas that were badly affected by the post-election violence. In a way our beloved brothers and sisters are been forced to move back to areas that they too well know that if kibaki or Raila say the wrong thing (or if they somehow fall out), they will be slaughtered just like those before them. But of coz the gava has given them the fake assurance that they will protect them ... which leaves you wondering where they were before they became IDKs. That is the fake Kenya for you ... with our fake political leaders.
    If the plan works time will tell but it heavily depends with the two 'big men' and the other political leaders on how they will address the issue of peace ... and how they will relate to each other. Now is the time that each political leader carefully selects the kind of words they speak in public ... coz any wrong word will trigger another war.

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  5. Kibaki ia wasting his time ati guarding kikuyu IDP's - he is actually creating more hate among other tribes!!you watch the IDP'S in the rift valley won't take more than a year before trouble starts- if you give others different treatment resentment builds in and the mumbling has already began!! if i were an IDP i would not move back!! why waste the effort and the time?? kibaki is not in the next cabinet!! so who will protect them??

    let kibaki use his brutal force now to resettle them!! if tomorrow never comes!!!!

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  6. anon12:27 PM

    the only war to be fought in kenya will be started by KIBAKI and believe me kenyans are ready!!even his mungiki police force will not manage:) how does he think he can even fight against more than 8million people??ati building a few police stations here and there!!the police will be running! kenyans are well prepared they bought guns too- last time they were slaughtered mercilessly- this time watch and see!!

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  7. Thats a great piece and boy could I imagine the fear felt in that cupboard!!
    That said, one is left to wonder why we (Kenyans) never deal with issues i.e. the core issues that caused the clashes in the first place, is it selective amnesia or stupidity... these IDP's are being forced back only to be kicked out during the next referendum. And please tell us why these central MP's have never ever commented on the land they have been grabbing in central from 1960's which displaced their own people?? is anybody in the Kenyatta family reading this??

    Ken...

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  8. Ken...

    12:39 PM

    kenyatta family reading this?? I doubt- did you see anyone comment on madam Jane Kiano Water theft very city water council??? and selling it to the poor kenyans who have no clue that she gets the water pumped into her home in build tank for free??

    Wanjiku i noticed is the only one who commented!! the rest of the kikuyu bloggers were tight lipped!!

    so grabbed land issues??nope didn't you see how they jumped on Orengo for saying the truth!!

    kenyans and only kenyans must act to stop this greed !! i say we send all the IDP's on this grabbed lands by force!! kenyans collectively can do it! who is there to stop millions of people when they decided?? and this time tell the police !!we will also have guns and we will not be killed like chickens!

    kibaki we know recieved some guns from china right before the elections and the same China was trying to send more to Mugabe of Zimbabwe on kibaki's advise and guess what they didn't succeed to off load them and that is why less Zimbabwians have been shoot dead!!

    kibaki is indeed an animal!!kill kill kill and when will he stop?? He is still killing in Mt Elgon!!!

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  9. The only "historical root cause" that can demonstrably be attributed to the massacres of Gikuyus in RV is tribal hatred. All the garbage about ancestral land is just that, pure warm, rotten garbage.

    How can any of you merchants of hate explain the fact the savages of Rift Valley invaded both Baraton and Moi Universities and forced the students and staff members to identify "outsiders" for them? What does the land question have to do with a Kyuk from Nairobi who goes to school in Baraton?

    Furthermore, Orengo's comments were utterly ignorant, apparently he is one of those half-baked lawyers that our universities have produced because his reasoning is irredeemably warped. These people, whom you fondly refer to as IDPs are not just looking for an empty space to restart their lives anywhere in the country, they want to go back to their HOMES.

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  10. The resettlement should be prioritized and expedited because in a modern nation of law and order(which Kenya claims to be)illegal ethnic cleansing should not be tolerated period.

    Yes, Kenyattas circle of elites disenfranchised millions of Kales but that has little to do with the poor and middle class kyuks there today. That kind of logic is the same as mungiki. Are they justified in robbing and raping you because their fathers were betrayed and left landless after independence??

    You kenyans need to pay closer attention at all your churches because your Christianity runs pretty thin outside of a church building....Learn from TZ. Tribe is BS!! Class is reality

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  11. A section of the coalition had expressed these sentiments, albeit feebly, and now seems to be fading away. Perhaps they have other pressing matters to attend to like homecoming parties. However, the resettlement process is such a delicate matter of national importance to be left in the hands of Kibaki and a few of his admirers. Yet for some reason, the grand cabinet has not met to discuss the issue and so obviously the rushed resettlement is a decision of a section that may be eager to perhaps prove that they are running the show. Another section at the grand party appears clueless regarding the matter at hand and is therefore content to follow Baba. Agwambo’s section is in a presumably clever tactical retreat waiting for the exercise to backfire and then they can say ‘we told you so!’

    I wish Raila can stop fannying about and get down to business. The politics of IDP re-settlement calls for delicate maneuvering, level-headedness, ingenuity and foresight.

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  12. Chris - Sorry for what you went you went through as a kid. I bet this is the more reason you should value peace more.

    But your point on IDP is misplaced. My family settled in the rift valley in 1945, molo to be precise. My dad and mother were born there. My children know no other place to call rural home than Molo. We have no relatives in central province, the closest of a relative is in Nakuru. So whats the way forward? Offcourse my father was hacked to death sometimes back but my mother is alive. Atleast they have gone back to where we call home. My major concern is with the minister for lands - advising that we should live our homes and locate elsewhere - Chris you are close to the powers, advise me where should we go? Is it legitimate for a minister, not an activist to payuka on land without himself going to the ground, understanding and appreciating the problem and then giving out solutions. The best he could have done, with all the powers taht he has would have been to say - go here, this is the land. He should speak with finality.

    Am appaled by our leaders, as much as they see books, the more they run from solutions. Orengo is a fine, gandsome gentleman. But fairs no better than Mutula Kilonzo in seeing only superficial solutions. I have nowadays low opinion for lawyers. Their stature is waning day in day out.

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  13. The IDPs have been in the camps too long! The resettlement should have been over by now. So I dont get what 'rush' you are talking about.
    Secondly, Kikuyu haters you will not get your way. This thing is simple, whether you are a kale or a kiuk, we are all Kenyans and you can own property in RV or Central or any part of Kenya. Those suffering IDPs have nothing to do with the land grabbers. The IDPs were evicted from their HOMES, land they BOUGHT. They should go back to their HOMES.

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  14. Anon 10;24 I share your concern on the minister for lands - i bet the gentleman has mistepped. I bet that was an outburst and am not sure he shall provide solution to the land crisis in Kenya. He has already found a solution to the land crisis - one month into power. I doubt whether he will have goodwill in Kenya. He seem like he is still an activist as you have said and in campaign mood.

    All the same, dont accuse all lawyers. Lawyers are thinking homosapiens and learned. Am one of them.

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  15. Chris - pole bwana cant inagine you in a cupboard. All the same its not right to force IDPs to go back. Force is the word. I agree.

    On Orengo - I bet the man is an activist just Kivutha Kibwana, Muite etc. The outbursts from Orengo may not help him in his new ministry. He has put his mouth where his politics are. I still have respect for the man, but i was taken aback by his statement. Kindoff showed some one not aware of the powers of his ministry. Leadership is about providing solutions - He is the minister of lands, he should say IDPs shoudl be settles elsewhere and this is the land for you. Thats his work. I fear he has started on a wrong footing.

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  16. Chris,

    Have a you read todays standard? Rao with all the problems Kenyans are going through has started homecoming parties? Could he have solved theproblems at hand before rushing to enjoy with the folks back home?

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  17. Anon 10.34 - Why not? The villagers would like to see the motorcade too. Wacha uivu. Rao is visiting the people who matter. Kenyans problem are Kibakis and his people - they should solve them. Railas time is 2012. Wacha upumbavu. You steal elections then you want Rao to sought the mess?

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  18. Chris
    I don’t miss reading your notes a single day. Before I read local dailies I make sure I have seen your updates. One disturbing fact though is your recent decision to change the design of your blog. Ata afadhali irudie vili ilikuwa. There are many of your readers who can help in redesign the page..

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  19. Why are you brining Rao onto this. Is it a crime to a homecoming. Its with Rao rights. He has to tell the people thankyou for voting thepeoples president. You must be a kyuk. Raila has every right. As anon 10.36 has said - this is not railas government.

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  20. The stupidity in your reasoning shows that you are still traumatized by your shifta experience, though going by what you write you probably admire them. Maybe if the shiftas had shafted you, you would sympathize more with the IDPs. What you and Orengo are advocating is a not very clever attempt to introduce majimbo through the backdoor, by creating a so called reality on the ground. The longer the IDPs stay in the camps, the more those who took their land will feel more justified to keep what they don't own. The hope is that eventually there will so much confusion on who actually owns what land that the only place the IDPs will have to be taken is to stadiums in Central province, and ODM will have achieved its aims.
    Why can't gangsters like Henry Kosgei return land they stole from fellow Kalenjin peasants instead of encouraging the killing of innocent Kikuyus with only two acres of land? This story was even on CNN! Is Orengo going to ask his ODM Chairman Kosgei to return the 4000 acres he forcefully stole from a whole clan of Kalenjin peasants?
    I used to admire Orengo but i can see now he is also afflicted by the same disease of hypocrisy and evil mindedness of most Kenyan politicians. Who on earth can you trust in Kenya?
    It really is time for a revolution so that young, fair minded, upright, principled and civilized politicians can take over leadership. The current crop including their supporting props like Kumekucha editors and others like Jukwaa and the entire Kenyan media should be discarded, preferably by firing squad, and Kenyans made to start afresh. In fact, I would not be surprised if suddenly there was a coup.

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  21. Guys look at it this way - the man has been out for a week or so, he comes back and the next thing is to for homecoming parties? when does he built Kenya. I gues Rao should be serious - am dissapointed with him and Orengo. They can do better. Lets then wait for 2012.

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  22. these guys bad mouthing RAO are the same idiots who supported kibaki and now have nothing good to say about kibaki so would rather spend time bashing RAO.

    this is kibakis govt. let kibaki settle the IDPs

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  23. Chris you have really now become a Janjaweed blogger with your irrational thinking. Sometimes I wonder whether we watch the same TV news here in Kenya or maybe you're on Asylum somewhere in Europe living on handouts.

    I watched the news and saw IDP's who were all smiles ear to ear having returned to their legally acquired farms. Why should these people be taken elsewhere when all they wanted was to be back in their own farms?

    True, some in Eloret are scared stiff of returning back but they would oblige if security was guaranteed. The recent outburt from Orengo and Kipkalya Kones has sent a cold chill down the refugees spines.

    The only reason why Kenya will create more refugees in Rift Valley or elsewhere is due to the CULTURE OF IMPUNITY in this country. War mongers and inciters like Ntimama, Ruto, Kones and Bett only know too well we have a weak president hence they will remain untouchable.

    Is it any wonder Mungiki who are seen as the only true defenders of Kikuyus are receiving all the sympathy and millions in funding? Ironically, Chris forgot to condemn war mongers and illegal militias roaming in the Rift Valley.

    Sorry Chris but only Kikuyu haters and ODM fascists like TAABU, the Mad Mullah of Kumekucha Taliban would agree with you on your rant. For your info, TAABU, when I said you take a breather "to regain your sanity due to your legendary hatred of PNU and Kibaki", I was only joking! Come back please and continue spilling your venom, you just never know. Someone in the cabinet may just read your hate posts one day.

    Funny that the like of Chris and Orengo have married from Nyumba ya Mumbi yet continue to hammer them daily from their daily verbal diarrhoea.

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  24. M-pesa...shooo..please see the link below ...I think what you so was just plastic smiles , a job half done by the government surgeon link..http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgindex.asp

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  25. Wagonjwa ni wengi.......Taabu bana where are you? Some people are still leaving under some illusion that you are not around coz of their comments...Nuh i dont think so not the one Taabu i know who doesn't give a damn....Orengo haters mtado? This man was just telling you the plain truth take it or leave it. Last year it was Raila, earlier it was Ruto....Today it is Orengo i wonder who next? Is it a crime for one to marry from house of Mumbi or is it that once you marry you must toe the line, Ei give us break leta ingine. Chris continue speaking as it is coz the reality is that we can't afford to have a policeman guarding homes 24/7 year in and year out si hata pia wao wanchoka. Do you remember the idlers who were guarding grass in uhuru park, they were being given water and food by good samaritans kibaki doesn't care for them. SO i am imagining them on top of trees somewhere in Molo. IS rift Valley just a beautiful place to leave in, having security that you dont pay for? So my worry is will they also be accompanying them to the shamba, market, until that day when hate,anger, resentment, bitterness will be replaced by love. Which day is this? Let us be realistic

    Ivy

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  26. By the way RAO give us the dates for the homecoming, we will definately be there waiting for you on the roads

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  27. Chris,

    Please, if you can not genuinely sympathize with the IDPs leave them alone. The least they need is hypocricy from you and the Orengo types. At least Orengo was mischieviously trying to please his RV hosts in the homecoming party; for you, who are you trying to please or annoy? There seems to be a competition among some Kenyans to see who can laugh loudest at the IDPs simply because majority of the IDPs are Kikuyu. But they forget many of these people are Kisii in Molo and Luhyas in Trans Nzoia.

    Anyway, the IDPs want to return to their homes and they are not asking for any favour from anybody. Those who want to play politics keep on saying that these people were all settled there by Kenyatta. The reality is that majority of the IDPs bought their tiny pieces of land in the open market as individuals or as land buying groups; and many of them did so during the early years of Moi presidency. So to equate IDPs with land grabbers is to do a terrible injustice to them.
    It is now obvious that the so called "core issues" is pure politics of ethnic cleansing. If the issue was land then the Kalenjins would have invaded the large farms that were grabbed and owned by people in the Kenyatta and Moi govt. These large farms are scattered throughout the RV and some of them are idle. In fact, the low level Kalenjins have never had any problems with the "foreigners." But they are incited by all manner of politicians with the promise that they will get the little pieces of land for free. So peasants are made to fight fellow peasants while the kingpins retain large farms.

    Short of a civil war, it appears that nothing will ever appease the ethnic cleansers. Can Kenya survive as a nation while it continues to allow victimisation of innocent peasants on account of their tribe under the pretext of "historical issues?" I doubt it very much. In January we were told that the IDPs were spontaneously victimised because they didn't vote the "right way" and the election was "stolen" by their kinsman. Later, the explanation was extended to include "historical injustices." An attempt to resettle them back in their homes is called a "mad rush" - this is after they have been living in pathetic conditions for over four months. Then lately we hear people like Orengo and Chris pronounce that if we want peace the IDPs should be settled outside RV. Before the holocust in Hitler Germany and in pre-genocide Rwanda there were similar demonisation of an ethnic group and similar pronouncements from otherwise "normal" people.

    I am afraid we are heading to a situation where this thing might have to be sorted out man to man, tribe to tribe. When the civil war monster begins it will chew even the cheerleaders. Most of the bloggers/cheerleaders at Kumekucha will be blogging from foreign countries or from their ethnic enclaves and not from Nairobi or Mombasa - these cities have owners also. My player is that it doesn't come to that. But to avoid it we need to sober up. Let the IDPs return to their homes peacefully, and let those with historical grievances take them without being hypocritical to the Truth Commission which is being set up.

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  28. Chris would you like to live in a camp for another 4 months? Yet one moment your are talking about how the country should move fwd and the next minute you are bashing the idea of resettling the IDPs. It's people like you who are drag this country behind.
    May the blood of every innocent Kikuyu murdered in RV haunt you and people of your ilk for the rest of your life.

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  29. M-Pesa @ 12:36 said

    Sorry Chris but only Kikuyu haters and ODM fascists like TAABU, the Mad Mullah of Kumekucha Taliban would agree with you on your rant.

    M-Pesa, you sound like a fascist.

    M-Pesa said...

    1. Members of illegal gangs like Mungiki, Chinkororo, Kamjesh, Taliban and SLDF Should be lined up against the wall, blindfolded and executed by a firing squad.

    2. Employers who exploit or slap their workers should be stripped naked and fed to crocodiles in Mamba village.

    3. Asians and Wazungus who refuse to integrate should be given a one way ticket back to Bombay.

    4. Voting should be made compulsory.

    5. Matatus that flout traffic rules should be set ablaze.

    6. Prostitution should be legalized and taxed.

    7. Greedy politicians should be stripped naked and whipped thoroughly in a public baraza.

    8. No president should be over 60 yrs old.

    1:08 AM

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  30. M-Pesa, James Orengo wife left him 2 months ago. All our sisters are now beginning to come to senses. They are ALL leaving their Kikuyu-haters husbands. The New York Times reported a high rise of inter-tribal marriage breakdown in Kenya since the beginning of the year.

    As for the warmongers like Ruto, Ntimama, Bett, Kosgey time will catch with them very soon.

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  31. What a 'shit' this RAO business has become: throwing 'hoimecoming' parties because one has been out of the country for one week on false presumptions: he did not get any eye treatment but signed the contract with Mercedes for his posh car.

    Instead of spending money on him and his false pretention, you should better spend the money to feed some starving people - or better: dare to ask your Messiah RAO how much money he has spent up to now to take care of the poor people of his constituency who have fought and died for him - and how much money he has spent on throwing lavishing parties, travels etc. to entertain his rich friends.

    I am sure, he will refuse to give an answer.

    Or better: he will tell you - and I am sure the majority of you will cheer him as you did in the past - that all this he does for the benefit of Kenyans - and most important: to secure his own political future.

    Your 'Messiah' is a crook - although I do not expect you to understand this yet.

    But wait another one year or maybe two - but then it will be too late to start crying.

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  32. Hey Anon 2:57 i think you are new to this blog. Welcome, those comments we read them mpaka we got tired. bring another one

    Ivy

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  33. Ivy - still worshipping your newfound god? Open your eyes. Your Messiah is already spending the money like water and will continue doing so until Kenya is 'dry'.

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  34. Is it really true that anyone can own land and do business anywhere in kenya?


    we all know the answer to that......everywhere except central unless your a kuyo. I sympathise with the none kuyo idps who bought land but not the kuyos cause they are hostile to other kenyans, postelection violence aside.
    Sir Alex

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  35. Chris you know as well as i do we're number 1 when it comes to sweeping life&death matters under the carpet and saving them for a rainy day-my guess is the resettlement of IDPs will be no exception-as Bw.Phil pointed out last month there were IDPs before 2008, numbering i think 1,000,000 he said- so these johnny-come-latelys are only unfortunately joining the ever-growing bandwagon of Kenyans whose lives a Kenyan government has yet again messed up
    now its funny to me that having failed prior to 2008 to meet the millenium development goals of providing one policeman for every <100 people in the entire country, our cash-strapped government is offering to provide policee protection along the ratio of one for each dozen or less of the 150, 000 IDPs-wata weza kweli?and for how long?the answer of course is NO, this is not a fish market
    the "customer is always right" if IDPs fear going back dont bulldoze them into returning to their nightmare scenario? as far as scorecards go this coalition's track record has already notched strike one for playing games with the lives of victims

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  36. Chris,
    my good sir,please, I beg of you to do something about the problems with the comments box. I can not resize it using my mouse neither can I maximize it. I can not read comments comfortably neither can I make comments comfortably.
    Despite being a poor Kenyan, mimi sijazoe shida ndogo ndogo kama hizi za sanduku la maoni. My life is already hard without this comment box thing cropping up!
    I think you are running a dictatorship on this very democratic blog. We have complained about the box and you have decided to stay aloof. I beg you to at least indicate you are working on it.Or, give us anything, like... a sign. Otherwise, I will now commence my 3 day comments 'hunger' strike. If after 3 days nothing has been done, I will resume commenting like everyone else but it will be under my now registered protest and dissatisfaction with your heavy handedness!

    NB this communication is for Chris, so, some of you vile loud mouths keep off.

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  37. Oh Chris, please resize the comments box.

    I am tired of reading comments on this small box.

    Thank you.

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  38. That's better Chris!
    Thanks for redefining our comment box, now go and fetch our beloved Taabu. Please.

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  39. jamaaz

    resize the comments window by placing your cursor at the bottom right hand corner of the window and dragging

    -fake chris-

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  40. Thanks Chris,
    I still miss the older comment box, but this is definitely better than the last one.
    On IDP resettlement, it is a difficult emotional issue for me. I can not put everything in a sound bite. I manage to contradict myself when addressing the issue.

    There are positives, to the issue there are negatives to the issue. My advice is when you move anywhere, try to integrate with the community. Trust me that makes life easier for you and everyone else.
    Kenyatta-era, ethnic hubris should stop, it is the source of the current problems. Offcourse, the dictator being from that era, is not helping at all!
    It is a complex issue, I can only like anyone address specific issues in this multifaceted problem.

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  41. Fake Chris,
    we tried that!

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  42. So Anon 2:56, so Rhoda Orengo can have his husband back all to himself

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  43. Chris, this is better, but the old Kumekucha was the only site I knew with the big pop-up window.

    Thanks anyways.

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  44. What ails Kenya is the need to always side with wrong and then blame those that try to redress the wrongs and injustices. Kimi and the likes were not here condemning the stolen elections but are quick to cast aspersions at RAo and Orengo for just merely stating the truth. I did not see him and the rest do that when Kibaki was holed up in Statehouse and the IDPs were languishing in those camps. What about the IDKs that are non-Kyuk, all I hear is silence. There has to be good will from both sides. Would the Kyuks allow other IDKs return to their abodes in Central? By the way, Orengo was being brutally honest with that statement made. There is so much resentment at this point that resettling those Kyuks in RV would be disaster simmering and waiting to explode in the not too distant future. Please folks let us be pragmatic, level-headed and realistic about this whole issue instead of always blaming and pointing fingers.

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  45. it is impossible to write this comment without drifting in and out of stereotyping so i apologise to all those who will be offended. it is with a sad and heavy heart that i write this.

    IMO kikuyu are not disliked because they are peasant farmers or because they bought land, and what not.

    the fundamental problem is one of severely broken trust. they are perceived to be deceitful, liars, cunning, money hungry, and untrustworthy, ready to make a quick buck or sell out on any prior commitment to a fellow kikuyu and generally more susceptible to "anti-social" behaviour on account of money.

    from the very simple everyday issues to large financial/social matters. this is not to say the other tribes are not, but just that kikuyus top that list.

    this negative perception is further exacerbated by a new moneyed (or wannabe) arrogant abrasive breed recently emerged and seen in the high and mighty places (who incidentally are a little more conspicuous now in the kibaki era, than previously seen).

    to sum it all up, the real long term safety and security behind the resettlement of the IDPs is contingent upon the breaking away from this negative stereotyping as well as tackling the other injustices. as long there is no community/neighbour trust and instead there's always suspicion then more ill-feelings will be supressed until the next catalytic event that will trigger another round of violence. and this applies equally to any minority group in any community.

    effective healing is long term with interim feasible measures that rule of the gun cannot meet.

    any healing process is also immediately scattered as soon as some idiot starts ethnic diatribe.

    IMO we have to overcome stereotyping if we are to emerge from this mess, otherwise it will be here with us for many generations to come. and the best way to do this is name a criminal by his name and not by his tribe or community. e.g pattni stole, not indians are thieves, livondo is illiterate, not luhyas are illiterate etc but who am i kidding

    lets turn up the heat, bring it on

    UrXlnc

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  46. Anon: 7.08... what stolen election??? There was no stolen election. Kibaki and PNU won fairly and squarely. What happened after that was an attempted coup by ODM.

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  47. anon 6:22

    sorry didnt realise you were using IExplorer

    if you are using firefox you should still be getting the popup (unless you've disabled popups) for firefox users, if you are not getting the popup comment box, then right click on the comment and open in new tab.

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  48. UrXlnc your comments are the bomb. I guess you are so different from the Wu Tang Clan. Anyway that is the plain truth

    Ivy

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  49. UrXlnc: Wazungus own the biggest chunks of land in the RV, they came to our country raped it, and plundered all our national resources. Beside that they are very arrogants, they don't like to intregrate with Africans coz they have low regards us, and yet we don't hear any fuss about them.
    But then again, Mzungu is seen as a mighty God by the Kales and Luos.
    In central Muthungu (mzungu) mean nothing.

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  50. Anon 7:58....Just listen to yourself. Ati what

    Ivy

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  51. But again you have a point. Ask yourself why the luos and kales dont resent them yet they resent guys from central

    Ivy

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  52. Ivy.. White skin is seen as superior and untouchable by these primitive tribes. And that's why they remains dumb and fools!! You can go to school, get the degrees and phds but you are white man asslickers!!!

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  53. Anon 7:58 Guess you became the "self-appointed" spokesperson for the Luos and Kales, kudos to you.

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  54. anon 7:58, 8:12

    interesting

    first (strike 1) you continue to subscribe to the stereotyping (kales, luo, kikuyu, wathungu, primitives)

    next (strike 2) you continue with the diatribe (ass-licking etc)

    next (strike 3) you attempt to solve a problem (negative perception) by not just only deflecting the argument to a different topic but by also introducing a new problem based entirely on your prejudices.

    effectively you continue to be part of the problem rather than the solution. but then again, its your democratic right.

    UrXlnc

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  55. Anon 7:58 So I guess all Kales are great long distance runner, all Luos have degrees all Kuyos are wealthy beyond comprehension, damn did I just waste two minutes of my life :-(

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  56. To Ivy, UrXlnc and to all you lot of your ilk; Kikuyus will always be a formidable force. So you better get used to them and live with them peacefully. The agricultural nature of their lives means they will always be “better off” than any other tribe and that’s a fact. Economically, they are blessed with some of the most fertile land, their work ethic, and their willingness to adapt and adopt to new situations, makes them ideally suited as business people, so much so that’s why you see many Kenyan businesses today are run by Kikuyu.
    Unlike many other Kenya ethnic groups, Kyuks are a united nation, there is no such thing as clan infighting in Gikuyuland. Prior to civilization the Gikuyus were very democratic. If one experienced a problem, it was solved within one’s own place in the hierarchy. If that did not work you would go to those one-step higher, and so on.
    And it’s those hierarchies that have enabled them to be a dominant force politically. As a matter of fact they will always have an edge over the emotionally charged Luos who mix politics and emotions. Yes, Kyuks are arrogant and cocky but they are more resilient. If you don’t believe me, just ask Richard Leakey, the only white man alive who claims to know more about Kikuyus than any one else. So please please let’s find ways to live together as one bearing in minds we are all different.

    By the way I am not a Kyuk and I don’t claim to be one but I see things the way they are. At least I don’t live in a cloud-cuckoo-land that most of you live.

    Kwale

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  57. Kwale, yours is pure thoughts of crap. Kyuks have so far dominated because of their stealing tendencies and nothing else. Mungiki got their match in the Rift Valley so Kikuyu's now know Kenyans do not fear them. Guns for guns! pangas for pangas! The RV militia was their equalizer, period.

    On a level playing field, Kikuyus are simply equal to everybody. Nothing special.

    Pinto

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  58. yes kwale

    applying anon 8:12 logic, you are a kikuyu ass-licker

    UrXlnc

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  59. Kwale who really gives a DAMN, does that add more sufurias of ugali on my table or does it help me educate my kids....I think you blogged on the wrong Kumekucha. Mashada is beckoning you.

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  60. Kwale you need to "songa pale pale" and make sure "hubaki huko huko". Can you at least discuss something substantive.

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  61. Anon 9.35, I never said they are special. Never! Their proxmity to colonial govt and early contacts with the European gave me an advantage. Read the history of Kenya and it's civilization and you will see what I am talking about. I am just arguing about facts here. Even during Moi's era they continued to prosper even though Moi supressed them politically.
    By the way my father-in-law is a Kyuk and he has taught me greatly on how to be shrewd and ruthless in business dealings. But with honesty!! And boy it has paid off!!

    Kwale

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  62. and the truth shall set you free

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  63. kwale

    for most kenyans, honesty and untrustworthy are extreme diametric opposites,

    so like i said, we are trying to fight perceptions here known also as stereotyping

    its good you say your father-in-law is honest, so lets keep it at that (individual level), and not bring in the rest of the community. and by the way, do you mean like "in you were blind and now can see" thanks to in-law, i.e you had zero bzna acumen but he successfully pumped you with brand new stuff?, i dont quite get where you are heading with this. or is this a more subtle (wannabe wealth flaunting) arrogance ("boy this has paid off")

    just continue feeding this monster

    UrXlnc

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  64. Chris, anybody knows that HURRY, HURRY HAS NO BLESS.

    Orengo was right. A lasting solution should be found, and that is resettling the Kikuyus on Kenyatta Land in Central Province.

    The land actually doesnt belong to Kenyatta family. The land was bought with Kenyan tax payer's money after independence. Kenyatta took all of it. That's why Oginga left KANU to form KPU.

    Is it funny that the same sons of Mau Mau (the Mungiki), who supported Kenyatta by then, are now roaming around killing people and claiming they are landless and jobless. The same crooks who stole their land (wakina Karume na Uhuru) now want the gov to dialogue with Mungiki.

    The same people dont wank lasting solutions of the RV IDPs. What a silly folk!

    Orengo was right.

    Ngayu

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  65. Kwale,

    The work ethic the Kikuyus have is: Be corrupt during day time, rob and kill at night.

    No, thank you, I would rather die poor than kill to be a millionare. That is my upbringing: Christian, civilized and moral.

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  66. Chris your support that the IDP's be resettled elsewhere is just like "mama mtoto kupuliza who grazed his knee" it does not address the issue.

    1st of all the IDP's should go back to the same places they lived 4-5 months ago. The more they delay, the more the people that chased them away will feel that the land is theirs. That is justifying a wrong.

    2nd. If they are resettled somewhere else. Take for example somewhere in Northern Kenya, dont you think maybe 50 years from now Wolalo's will say they were displaced so that other "intruders" can be given their land? The issue here is that no matter where they are resettled, they will still be seen as intruders.

    3rd. Being that u peaceful guy, why dont u advocate for peace and more intermarriage btwn those communities. Believe me their kids 20 years from now will not have to choose btwn baba na mama. They will have to embrace both.

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  67. If these IDKs bought land from white settlers then this issue is more complex than i had thought , the settlers had no moral or legal right to sell land that was not theres in the first place , if you buy stolen material it is taken and given back to the original owner , then it is up to you to get your money back from the thief .So the IDKs should sue the british to get a refund of their money if any was paid , the land belongs to indegenous owners.

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  68. Precisely Anon 12:50. Anon 12:13 the IDPs will not just be resettled anywhere. They will be resettled where they belong, that is why it is better to check all the issues of land and sort them out once and for all otherwise trust me this thing will blow up again in 3 years time. You see these thing of ancestral land like e.g. Nyanza belongs to luos,kisiis. Western, Luhyas didn't just start with Kenya when the israelites were moving from Egypt to the promised land, every tribe was given their own portion and they were told that to dwell in the land and cultivate it and let it produce. If you read our kenyan history, it is almost the same thing the luos moved from Sudan and they settled on the lakeside coz they were fishermen and so it just happened that they settled in Nyanza, Kyuks came from Cameroon and they settled in Central province and so it happened for all the other tribes, so as Orengo rightfully says we must go back and read our history well than we can yapp all that we want that we are the legal owner of the land in RV and yes if they want it we can sell it at the market price currently. And why only RV
    The biggest irony is that how come it is not the kambas, the rendile, illchamus not the ones who bought land in Rift Valley or is it that they were not enterprising enough....Just a thought!!!!!

    Ivy

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  69. kwale I don't know where nur from but clearly u have issues I grew up in nbi and know all about kuyo 'work ethic' ...first there is no such thing, I beat them sound
    ly in class and in the sports field. They had hygiene issues. They only thing that made them stand out was a unhealthy, demonic worship for money and wealth. That include any fair or otherwise means to get money they only succeed cause the rest of us try to be decent. Postelection violence was us trying to give them a taste of their own medicine look how they quickly became cry babies.
    Sir Alex

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  70. Only the people who have no brains resort to violence in group to forcefully get what they think is theirs. Who really owns the soil or Land? Only God does. No one on this earth can claim that he is really original to a certain location. All the tribes moved from one place to another at one point in history. Where people claim to be theirs may have at one time or another been occupied by another. Civilization teaches us that one can acquire property by purchase and the security of that Land is the document or agreement made between the seller and the buyer or any succession document. The idea of selling land to certain individual with the idea that that area belongs to a certain community and then take it by force just because they dont agree with some individuals on political issues, that means that the aggressors are still primitive and should be considered as such. It is high time that the whole country should turn against such communities and wipe them from National jobs and let them work where they were born. The idea of chasing other tribes from certain areas just because they differ with the local community politically or just because they are perceived as more hardworking that the locals has the precedent that eventually that community will end up fighting itself just as what is happening in Somalia. Although all people there are all somalis, they are fighting every now and then over clanism and families. In fact there is rumours that in the areas where the Kissis and Kikuyus were chased from, the local Kalenjins are threatening to chase those Kalenjins who bought land there. So watch out. What you saw is what you reap. Only time can tell.

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