Men are really strange animals. To most of them the crime of rape is nothing more than a joke. Something to snicker about and wink to your friends. That is until it is their sister or their mother or their wife who has been raped.
I am a man but to me there is no crime that is worse than rape. In my book it is better to get killed than to live with scars of rape.
Somebody confided in me a while back about her rape ordeal and it has never left my mind. The man who did it to her was a stranger who cornered her in broad daylight on some deserted footpath. He held a very sharp knife right next to her neck. The sheer horror of is still with her to this day.
But what comes later is worse. Much worse. For a woman to get any justice she will have to recount the ordeal several times. In one interesting case involving a young member of the famous Kennedy family who had been charged with rape, defence lawyers asked her whether she was wet down there when penetration took place. All this may be very entertaining to most men but to a rape victim it is a never-ending nightmare.
Yesterday students at Kenyatta University (a campus that has a long history of being the most peaceful within reach of Nairobi) went on the rampage causing destruction. Some unfortunate female students were then raped by riot police who were called in. It is said that on arriving at the scene, scores of red-bereted GSU headed straight for the women’s halls. And yet that was NOT the centre of the storm.
This brings back to memory the ordeal many women went through during the post election troubles. And the saddest thing of all is that a vast majority of these women will never get justice. So would you blame them for taking the law into their own hands?
The crime of rape is the height of impunity. Ordinary folk in Kenya (both men and women) have a pretty good idea of what it feels like to be raped. You see we the people of Kenya have been raped for a long time now by our so called leaders and we are yet to see any justice. They know very well what we don’t want but they still do it anyway. Tuta-do?
News Extra
Cell phones get stolen a lot. And that is why a new service that I have just heard about should make a huge difference. Dubbed Ujanja, the service uses satellite technology to track a telephone (or even a laptop) to it’s exact location. What happens is that after some software has been downloaded to your phone, the minute it is stolen an sms will be sent immediately to a cell phone of your choice (either your spouses or your friend.). The sms will contain vital information including the new sim card number that has been inserted into your stolen phone and the location of the phone. All this makes recovery very easy.
I am thinking that this is the kind of service that has the potential of ridding us of phone thieves (which is a very big business in Kenya these days). You can get more information on this interesting new service HERE.
Kenya is listed among the top countries with worst record on rape and violence against women. Can imagine being raped and then there is a risk of being infected with AIDS virus plus unwanted pregnancy? This is horrid!!!
ReplyDeleteRaila promised to deal with women insecurites once in the govt. I think you should ask him why it's still happening even now.
Rape is really spiralling out of control in Nairobi and to make things worse, the evil rapists are winning. The new trick in town is to spike someone's drink and then hijack the victim before subjecting them to painful rape ordeal. This is not only common in ghettos but also upmarket clubs in the city thanks to millions of young jobless idlers. My view has always been simple, anyone convicted of rape should be castrated, blindfolded and then executed by a firing squad.
ReplyDeleteyou must be seriously bored!! lemme give you something to think about and maybe come up with a story from your "reliable-source(s)!!
ReplyDeleteMungiiki have regrouped and re-organised and are responsible for :
1.the riots seen after the "nyakuaring" a plot from jua kali mechanics in down-town Nairobi recently.
2.the mayhem that was the riots after university of Nairobi rioted after one of their students was shot dead.
3.the chaos that was witnessed when kenyatta university"students" went on a rampage and almost burnt the whole institution to the ground!!
rape in kenya. read and weep!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1954
Its only two weeks back when Kenya,s Premier Public University :Kenyatta University was closed but the senate hastily re-opened the university without first addressing conclusively the isues that the students had voiced!The result, death , rape, mayhem, burnt hostels, destroyed properties , a tartered image ...etc.And someone or some people are ultimately responsible. It is true that the acts by the students to burn and vandalize property is criminal and retrogressive but the truth is it copuld have been prevented if someone or some people made the right decisions starting with the Vice Chancellor Olive Mugenda!
ReplyDeleteThe students want to be consulted before any decision that adversely affects them is undertaken, but that seems to be a curtain call that falls on deaf ears.Some Members of Kenyatta University Students Association (KUSA) were arbitrarily suspended following the previous strike- another decision that was hastily taken by the university senate and now the matter is in Court for Judicial review. The last time we witnessed such suspensions was during the Moi era and clamour for multi party democracy!That tells the university senate something.
Some of the administrative decisions being taken against these cream of Kenya's academia indicates lack of appreciation of what university education really entails. Prescribing uniforms cannot and will not work.Though the students clearly have valid issues with the academia , they should find acceptable methods to articulate their grievances although the university seems hell bent to silence diconsenting opinion by suspending student leaders instead of engaging them in dialogue-the result is the chaos witnessed!
What a shame, but it was seen coming and in the abscence of concrete measures it will still happen!My call dignify the students listen to them, as for the Police -you used excessive force evidenced and captured on national tv and some of this students will be absorbed into the force(see Standard News item Link here) and be your employers---basically you excercise little forethought and it will come back to haunt you, as for the Kenyatta University students there are better ways to articulate problems rather than criminal activities.Simply a sad and shameful affair!
Kenyatta University; My Take
ReplyDeleteKenyatta University have gone one strike; For the second time in two weeks. I have heard numerous complaint's in the news media, blaming the students for the strike. It's sad that people who have very little information on what actually happens in the university, blame the students so easily. I personally think that the administration has more to do with this strike, buy continuous high handedness and very little empathy for the students needs. Now what are the issues they are striking about? I will start with the most recent, the Strike of the night of 29th March, 2009. Given that the students had gone on strike on the 18th of March, with 2 weeks of class left, they were rather shocked to be recalled back to have to do exams that were set, with the assumption that they will have completed class. Further from this, they were each forced to pay 1,000 each for minimal damage to the campus; A soda dispenser, radar sensor for cars, and the signage at the gate... total? 1000*17000 student = 17million. Hence it was obvious that the payment was not for covering damages, but punitive. Now, this is the situation the student is in: Was sent home, without many books, notes etc, having not completed the syllabus, never studied, and is called back to the university to do exams they are not ready to do. If they do not have the 1,000 they will be turned back home. Along with having their colleagues suspended for years...
Online Registration - Fee payment issues
Now to the strike of 18th March? I blame journalists in Kenya for not getting the story straight on this. A year and a half ago, the university started a policy that they kept trying to implement, that was ill thought. This was the cause of the strike. The lack of extension of the "online registration" was what everyone said... that students who had not paid full fees wanted to sit for exams. You could not be further from the truth. This is the situation: You can only register for units once you have paid full fees. This has never really been negotiable in Kenyatta University, if you do exams without paying fees, you will have to have a sit down with the Academic Registrar to approve, which was and still is very difficult. Problem was this, the university reopened in January. Anyone who had not paid full fees by February 6th was required to call off the semester and resume the next semester. This means that, if your parents paid fees on say the 7th or 8th of February, it did not matter, you had to come in the next semester to resume your studies, you are too late. That's the problem. Now most parent's in the parallel system pay in installments. Even private universities allow you to pay fees in installments. What happened is, for the first time, students who had paid full fees, were informed that they had to redo the semester, paying full fees not withstanding. Even private universities allow for this in Kenya, it was a case of not really caring what the students/parents think of policies. It gets worse, for those who did not call off their semesters, they would lose the fees for the semesters, as the deadline for calling off semesters had passed, and they had not done so. The fees would be charged as they had attended classes, and they would still be locked out of exams as they had not paid full fees in time. This happened to some friends last year, their parents were left angry at the loss of 65,000+ accommodation and other costs, though this was a lack of follow through on their part given the system was not optimal at the time. It worked this year. The students went on strike.
Now that they had gone on strike, what was the administrations solution? Be even more high handed, ensure that the schedule is maintained no matter what, don't listen to the students.
On the last strike, 29th March, they burnt KUSA. Why? Well, KUSA is basically on the Universities payroll with allowances of upto 30,000 KES per member. Now, KUSA serve as the PR arm of the University, they no longer address students issues, but basically explain policy to the students with no regard for what their opinions are. Now this is a problem as there has to be mechanisms for feedback in the university, but the administration has taken an approach of necessarily choking the mechanisms and allowing them to exist for PR purposes. Why do I say this? How does a lecturer give out and collect his appraisal from students? It is an exercise in futility as not once or twice has a lecturer simply trashed the appraisals he does not think are appropriate. So, the students do get a raw deal in that regard.
Dresscodes & Curfews...
A lot has been commented on in the dresscodes, and curfews. Many gave the example of Strathmore where this works... On curfews, it's a day university, they have to have them, to some extent. Further, Strathmore actually has more freedom and better student feedback mechanisms than most universities locally. Hence, they do get more freedoms save for the dresscode and ethics. They have friendly relations with their lecturers, and the administration. Hence the administration is constantly aware of all their needs, hence they will not strike as that is the one ill with their system... With Kenyatta, they are basically getting rid of all the freedoms (Dress Code, Fee payment options, Study time options, Campus Curfews etc) and have to reffer to different universities that have each applied it... It's not workable. They have to have some freedom, given that most are over 21 years old.
The Chaos Mechanism
The Kenyatta University Students Union as aforementioned works as a PR agency for the university administration. Example? The water goes off in the University, it takes threats of a strike (a week later) for the borehole to be turned on, to the students at large. KUSA rests on it's laurels and only takes matters forward when the students are at boiling point. Whats the result? With no feedback mechanism, the students have realised that chaos is the only mechanism that gets their problems to administration. When power is gone? Chaos gets it back to the administration. KUSA has been paid for to keep these "incessant student complaints" from the administration. Now, the administration made a mistake the last week, when it charged the students. If you heard the sentiments from the students to quote:
1. Tutangoa hizo maua zake anapenda sana (we will burn the flowers she loves)- Given that students are not getting what they request, they figure that will be the best way to get her attention would be to burn the flowers, simply because she has put so much effort in beautifying the campus.
2. Kwani soda dispenser ilikuwa ya platinum - Reaction to the fact that they were charged 17 million to replace a soda dispenser.
What the students figured is that, they will pay for damages on the school anway, so it's a carte blanche to destroy, after all, they will not register without paying... Given the reasoning is flawed, all I am trying to do is bring out the point that the feedback mechanism is none existant.
The students never had an opportunity to ask for more time before examinations, so they went on and went on strike, as that is the only mechanism they know. They were pushed to the wall. The alternatives? For some, resume next semester, and pay fees for two semesters, for others? Fail the exams through no direct fault of your own (those who could do exams had nothing to strike about the first time). So all the administration did was rally all the striking causes together.
I think it is unfortunate the turn of event, however, speaking to a student/administration/support staff, this strike was predicted 3 years ago, when the rules started being implemented with utter disregard for the students.
Its not just the GSU, but the police rape women everyday in Kenya! Kenya is a rotten society, even the teachers and lecturer force schoolgirls to have sexual relationship with them. And in workplaces, women are constantly harassed by their bosses to give out their goodies or else face a sack.
ReplyDeleteYou are never sure who is going to defile your wife, daughter or mother. (i.e police, teacher, doctor, priest....!)
Only MEN can stop this by demanding protection for our women!
There have been sit ins etc... The response from the administration was to replace KUSA with a handpicked bunch. The students did move to court to prevent exams from happening, but who they is little they can do in their capacity with KUSA hand picked by the administration. End of the day, mobs are not known for their intellect. Someone said that a mob is as intelligent as it's most foolish member. A more peaceful strike was held last week, what was the response on the administrations part? Be even more draconian, and do not listen to them. Given that chaos will erupt when crowds form, you should as administration take heed when the student body is obviously incensed.
ReplyDeleteThe police did not help matters. There as a case of a student who jumped from the first floor window out of fear for her life as police were carrying out rape etc. End of day you should as administration listen when student tension is obviously flared...
Time has come for dialogue. The world has changed for good and isolation is an option in societal interaction.
ReplyDeleteAre the professors reading? Or they have become like the politicians. Eating and Eating?
I actually find it hard to believe that GSU can leave police stations with the intention of going to rape female students.
ReplyDeleteKenya, what is happening to our country?
Let's build an internet platform where we can name and ashame the rapists, the thugs, the dirty and corrupt politicians and officers.
ReplyDeleteIt is high time we changed this nation. Watching and doing nothing means supporting rape, corruption, thuggery, etc.
Let's act now
The parents and relatives of the raped women should hire rapists to rape Olive Mugendi. She is stupid. She should be made to experience the pain our daughters and sisters have gone through.
ReplyDeleteThe thugs in learning institutions should be contained at the earliest opportunity.What is there to differentiate the mental capacity between university students and their younger siblings in secondary schools if both resort to the same juvenile ways of adressing their grievances and isnt this what is ailing our society in general where only a few want to follow the rule of law.Arent we all living in communities where having our way no matter what the rulebook says the order of the day,cutting deals here and there,bribing officialdom and isnt all that is happening around us what is accelerating the breakdown of law and order in our country.Why pretend to be righteously outraged and indignant about what happened at KU as if the students and then the cops dont live in Kenya?Hasnt the precedent been long set that you can commit almost any crime in Kenya and get away with it.Isnt all this the result of that CULTURE OF IMPUNITY that everyone seems to talk about and nobody is willing to do something about?
ReplyDelete@10:57am:
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! Tell em.
There is no excuse for thuggery. Short and simple.
How do you "dialogue" with someone who is throwing stones at you?
I think they should all be expelled--an example should be made of them! There is nothing "cream" about them. Dregs of humanity.
anon11:10 AM
ReplyDeleteand you are the fool you seems not to have children and who does not understand how it feels to have a child in university run by tribal loads in Kenya.. just like the high schools Kibaki cronies have taken over universities to fail students from other tribes but give a blind pass to central province students
the irony is that these are the kids that drop out and join mungiki for free ride and extortion
when will central lame dogs learn that one can't force brains into brainless fools.. prostitution and thuggery is all they know..
Sad about Kenyatta University we all know who was behind the burning of the school and i repeat not students.. hired thugs were send in.
WHO OWNS ALL THE LAND NEXT TO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY??
UHURU KENYATTA AND THE KENYATTA FAMILY AND HOW DID THEY ACQUIRE THIS LAND?? THEY TOOK IT FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR FREE!!NEVER PAID A CENT..
IT SHOULD BE TAKEN BACK AND GIVEN TO THE KENYATTA UNIVERSITY..
@11:54:
ReplyDeleteLife is a bitch--go lie down and die.
KIBAKI'S HATCH MAN RAFEAL TUJU NOW INVOLVED IN AKINYI AND HER NIGERIAN FORMER HUSBAND SAGA..
ReplyDeletesources now confirm Tuju used the police force to go and take property belonging to the hotel - in continuous harassment to Akinyi's husband( this is kenya tax payers money yet again being used by people in power) we pay the police salaries people are dying in the streets of Nairobi daily - how can the police rush to Akinyi divorce dispute ordered by Rafael Tuju the adviser to PRESIDENT KIBAKI?? SHAME SHAME!!
sO IF A KENYANS IS MARRIED TO A FOREIGNER? DOES THIS GIVE KENYAN A RIGHT TO DISCARD THE DIVORCE LAW WHICH STATES 50/50?? INSTEAD USE THE POLICE TO HARASS THE FOREIGN HUSBAND?
this is setting a bad precedence on mixed marraiges..
Tuju should ANSWER to using the kenya police for his girl friend Akinya.. so wanjala is out of the picture now?? Tuju has taken over the rich lady who sales drugs??
Akinyi says it was Tuju who got her out of the India prison??
people ask yourself as who?? with what powers did Tuju former Foreign minister use to convince the Indian government to release Akinyi and Wanjala??
only KIBAKI POWER!!
kibaki and Tuju should answer using police to fight domestic fights!!! shenzi kabisa
anon3:36 PM
ReplyDeleteWhat?? Rafeal Tuju former foreign minister now Akinyi's new boyfriend??
I think you are right here where she claims it was Tuju who helped with her release from the Indian Jail
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Local/Chinedu,-Akinyi-soap-resumes-3887.html
Ms Akinyi said that they were both released following the intervention of former Foreign Affairs Minister Raphael Tuju.
"It is Tuju who helped us, it is not Prime Minister Raila Odinga or Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula," she said and narrated how she ‘led a comfortable life in the Indian jail’.
"Indian jails are very nice. I was in a self-contained room. That place is not like Kenya. There is no congestion there and we even ate good food," she said in reference to the time she spent at India's largest Prison in Tihar.
Tuju Kibaki's adviser has a case to answer you are right how dare he used police to harass Akinya's former husband he has a right to 50% of their accumulated properties
ati Akinyi is now saying the properties belonged to her father?
let her show proof on when her father purchased all this properties!!
Tuju should pay for ordering police to rush to the scene -
Kenyans are suffering and yet people like Tuju are using the law like it is a toilet?
Kenyans must demand change to this impunity -
KIBAKI'S SPECIAL ADVISER RAFAEL TUJU NOW IN A LOVE TRIANGLE WITH AKINYI "BABY"
ReplyDeleteBIG MISTAKE THAT HE HAS MADE IS TO USE THE POLICE WHO ARE PAID BY KENYA TAX PAYERS TO ASSIST HIS GIRL FRIEND AKINYA IN A PROPERTY FIGHT IN A DIVORCE CASE.
THIS IS SHOCKING:):) WHAT WAS TUJU THINKING? AND KIBAKI THE RAT IS ASLEEP IN STATEHOUSE WITH HIS ADVISERS USING THE POLICE FORCE TO HARASS
i PITY TUJU'S KIKUYU WIFE AKINYA ANA MALI UNLESS YOU AND TUJU HAVE AGREED TO EAT AKINYI'S WEALTH TOGETHER AND THAT I WOUNDN'T PUT IT PASSED A KIKUYU LADY "WACHA TUKULE"
anon3:43 PM
ReplyDeleteMoney can get you anything in Kenya
why blame Rafeal Tuju if he finds Akinyi's money attractive? or the whole package attractive? see akinyi can help him pay for his expensive bills that he was used to as the minister of foreign affairs?
I don't think he is paid much as Kibaki's advisor and like Chris posted here some former Ministers can do anything for money after they leave office
Chris was right on the money
Tuju gets Akinyi out of Indian Jail (she must have paid him plenty under the table) he used powers from presidents Kibaki's office(being the presidents adviser)
and now he used the police to harrass Akinyi's former husband( on the video here it shows police arriving and akinyi shouting this is kenya( unless she has a powerful man called Tuju behind here there is noway she can behave like this and the police supporting her?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osqW_YAXphU
I agree this is impunity to the highest order where are all the back bencher MP's on watch as they claim for kenyans interests?
why exactly are the police being used in a matrimonial difference fight?
Yes I totally agree with the other blogger on here
Rafeal Tuju Kibaki's adviser has a case to answer why he send the police to assist Akinyi!!!!!!!!!!!!
and is Akinyi now Tuju's second wife? Kibaki denied he had a second wife called Wambui.
anon 3:48 PM
ReplyDeletehey called capital "M" Money made the world for round
Rafeal Tuju knows how to make money
Akinyi is a money bank (selling drugs at the highest order) period
Tuju's wife supports this endeavor
so what is the big deal?
NOW THE GOVERNMENT POLICE ARE USED TO PROTECT A DRUG TRAFFICKER IN THE NAME OF AKINYI WHO WAS JAILED IN INDIA AND RELEASED WITH THE HELP OF THE PRESIDENTS ADVISORY? TUJU
anon12:34 PM
ReplyDeleteyou don't like hearing the truth too bad you need to wake up thugs and thieves ? Uhuru and kibaki.
Chris aka Chris,
ReplyDeletewhat was this post about again?just curious you know...