The King of Pop's Dead, RIP Mr. Thriller

He popped onto the music scene, thrilled the world, conquered it and became king. Wacko Jacko was more than a phenomenon, he was an institution. Besides his record breaking sales, his electrifying dance moves of yore were not only athletic but remain uniquely synonymous with MJ.

He inspired a generation and for those who grew during his time Michael Jackson ROCKED THE WORLD. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe MJ's lyrics ring true and uplifting to every music lover.

As a human being he had his ups and downs but MJ's music was and is still like aphrodiastics. From the best selling THRILLER, to Black or White to Heal the World, Michael has left a piece of his musical genius behind him for the world to savour.


Jacko was a trinity of genius. The singer, dancer and songwriter created a new mantra for modern day entertainment. He was simply magic, living ahead of his times even before the sound and visual effects of the present digital age.

Heal the world
His trademark elaborate, stop-on-a-dime dance moves spiced with the sensual soprano influenced generations of musicians. His whispery, high-pitched speaking voice was a unique gift that he employed to good effect in thrilling his fans.


The face mask epitomized his lows. The multiple plastic surgeries and his vitiligo illness transformed the hitherto masculine and athletic black man to a wispy, pale-faced, almost noseless figure. Call it the curse of celebrity if you may but Michael Jackson will remain an icon who also had the human heart. He also knew how to sell a good cause, as with his celebrity-packed "We Are the World" video in 1985 to raise money for starving people in Ethiopia.

Death remain the painful universal equalizer. The grim reaper has robbed the world of one of the planet's finest artiste of his generation. Fare thee well MJ and thanks for ROCKING US ALL when you lived.

Here is some information Kumekucha came across that may interest you: Swine Flu Scare In Nairobi?

Presidential Race 2012: Something Is Cooking

Many Kenyans have gotten extremely angered with the way the 2012 race for State house seems to have started so prematurely. And you really can’t blame them because we still have IDPs suffering like you can never imagine and scores of other pressing issues which the political class has no time or inclination to address.

Still, what is now slowly emerging is the deadly PNU game plan to get their man into State house at all costs when the next elections come (I have always said here that I don’t believe it will wait until 2012).

At the centre of that game plan is one Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta.

It is no accident that this son of Jomo “land grabber” Kenyatta has been in the news in recent weeks like never before. First there was the 10 billion jigsaw puzzle in the supplementary budget (believe what you want but that cash is long gone. I reveal exactly where it has gone in my raw notes to be published tomorrow.)

It is no secret that Uhuru drinks too much (and he drinks the kind of stuff that burns your throat all the way down) and the pressure has been telling for anybody who looks at press photographs carefully. My information is that the political class (which includes Baba Moi) have heaped all their hopes on Jomo’s son. In other words Jomo Junior goes down and the whole political class goes down with him. I will elaborate this point further in my later posts to come. But an interesting aside here is that former president Daniel arap Moi has also been in the news a lot in recent weeks. This too is no accident. Moi is still smarting from the bitter defeat he suffered in the hands of Narc and Raila Odinga in 2002 and seems to have decided that a revenge victory is his sole life’s mission before he inevitably faces his maker like every man has to. His intricate plan to get Uhuru to State house is already in motion. It is a plan that seeks to incorporate all Rift Valley bigwigs (including William Ruto).

However what is most revealing about the next presidential race is that it is now abundantly clear that this will be the race for young candidates and anybody who will be over 50 will quickly find themselves irrelevant (and you can take that to the bank even if you are a die hard supporter of Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga). There are people here who have made an occupation out of labeling me a Raila stooge, but let me just say that I will never vote for Raila Odinga again but if truth be told, he was the legitimate winner of the disputed 2007 elections. The double standards and sheer hypocrisy that western countries often display just irks me because European countries have asked for a repeat of the presidential polls in Iran while nobody dared to suggest the same for Kenya in early 2008. Not because the tribal animosity and emotions were not healed but simply because some very powerful nations decided that they could not trust Raila Odinga to rule the strategically important Kenya. These same “powerful forces” have now thrown their weight behind Uhuru Kenyatta. More so after his maiden budget that appeared to “take care of the poor.” I get very amused when all manner of experts start to analyze the budget and make all kinds of projections. Does anybody ever bother to look at the levels of implementations of the previous budget before a new one is read? NEVER. To me the budget is just a political statement meant to achieve political objectives as funds are allocated to pay the big salaries of our horribly bloated coalition cabinet and to enable the rich and powerful to embezzle.

There is another very interesting development in the coming presidential race. All the candidates who have so far shown clear indications of running (except one) are all from the house of Mumbi. They are Uhuru, Martha Karua and at least two prominent well known persons from the civil society. This would have been excellent news because we would have managed to de-tribalize the race for State house which would be ideal just now, so soon after the 2007 debacle. However in view of what happened in 2007 and President Kibaki’s persistent policies, it is highly unlikely that any campaign (no matter how ingenious) will be able to successfully sell a Kikuyu to the electorate. This is the reason why the PNU think tank is working on winning the presidency by a slim margin. One of the reasons why the party is pushing for more provinces based on population. If Central province has two provinces and a Kikuyu province is hived out of Rift Valley, then it will make it much easier for a candidate like Uhuru to get the required 5 provinces a presidential candidate needs to be declared winner.

The odd man out of the presidential candidates list so far is of course agriculture minister William Ruto whose game of political chess has climbed a notch or three higher in the last 2 years. Still, Ruto’s bid will fail for many reasons, perhaps the most important being the happenings of January 2008.

Notice that all names mentioned are below the age of 50.

Whatever happens, Kenyans can be sure of one thing—and that is that this one will be the most interesting presidential race Africa has ever seen.

DVD Movies Kumekucha has been watching

Gangster's Paradise Citizen's Nightmare

Kenyan criminals are using their resourcefulness to unleash an unprecedented wave of deadly car jackings, lucrative kidnappings and violent robberies at a time when many kenyans are unable to make any ends meet. For the most part all these incidences have involved the unfortunate loss of precious lives. It seems everyone is now a target and no one is spared including members of our own government.

The most recent incident involved a kidnap attempt on assistant nairobi metropolitan minister Elizabeth Ongoro's child from the prestigious Makini school. Insecurity is knocking at the executive door. Only last week youthful permanent youth secretary Murugu Kinuthia was shot and wounded in Hurligham in what is now an all too common scenario involving fatal car-jackings resulting in either near death experiences if not permanent loss of life. Thank God the job was not finished.

Gangster's paradise
Earlier this month Evans Akula MP was car-jacked. Being an MP he was robbed of the equivalent of two year's worth of taxed salary for the honest above average earning Kenyan tax payer. I am sure you're as concerned as i am it could be your MP next month.This insecurity problem is getting out of hand and fast. Gates are being opened quicker at night and dogs are upgraded from pet to security status.

As the Khwisero MP was chauffered around for three hours in a late night guided tour of the city he was chatted up by his captors who told him they were angry with parliament for not giving the country a new constitution and car-jacking was their escape route out of poverty. The gangster's have decided to make our nightmare their extended paradise oblivious of the fact a new constitution will not pass a law making car-jacking legal

It's not the first time this blog is speaking about security in our country. Chris has tirelessly worked to bring us up to speed with the security situation through his experience. The truth is no one kenyan life is more precious than the other and if only ordinary Kenyans had the luxury of knowing beforehand what crime was coming their way each day they would be forearmed . MPs whose lives are under threat possess firearms such that if indeed their life is in danger and they're not just crying wolf they can protect themselves.

Sadly the same luxury does not apply for the rest of ordinary kenyans although some kenyans in the diaspora have access to legally owning firearms. If only they would be so lucky to get a hint of what crime was coming their way at the start of each new day there'd be no need for a police force. The message is loud and clear -never before has the insecurity aspect of ordinary kenyan's daily hard-knock life rang so close to home for Kenyan MPs and government minister's. If executive action is going to be taken let it not be reserved only for the politicans and the elite but include ordinary kenyan lives which are just as inexpendable.

KPC Scandal: Kiraitu’s Clean, Media Keep Off

Just how many political bullets must one body stop? Even before the Triton oil wave hit the shores, rivals are scheming to chop Kiraitu Murungi’s political head. Add to political nightmare the Imenti South MP faced less than 1000 days ago following Githongo’s onslaught and you understand why he dolls his lips into all shapes and forms.

KPL bosses even had the audacity to cheat their on Minister last year to request President Kibaki to commission an incomplete project in Mombasa. The Harvard graduate is not naïve and called the media bluff by reminding them that if he is corrupt then they should wait to see him get state accommodation at Kamiti.

And what is the main deal Standard newspaper is yapping about? If the project was designed to increase by purchase two pumps with 880 metres cubed/per hour capacity, what is the fuss if lower capacity 440 cubic meters pumps can deliver? Simple maths, it amounts to saving on number by half in addition to magnifying the original cost from Sh2.6b to just under 10b.

Malicious professors
The media must spare Kiraitu flack and disembark from the bandwagon hell bent on derailing his bright political future. They better know that the government is COMPETENTLY represented in KPL board meetings by the able minds of Solicitor General Wanjuki Muchemi and Energy Permanent Secretary Mr Patrick.

Nowhre ealse can you get more qualified representation than the President's own personal lawyer. The media are better informed that the Solicitor only graduated with a PASS because of malice from envious professors but that is a story for another day. And educationists will disabuse you of pegging performance on mere papers.

Kiraitu is on the right side of history, in right company and headed for bigger things. Not even Githongo’s juvenile enthusiasm to please his masters could extinguish him. He is the author of the MUD in politics and must know better. What is more, he has admitted what the Standard reported albeit with denial in the details. Couldn’t ask for a more forthright politician within our shores, or can you?

Can The Mungiki Lead A Revolution?

I've avoided talking about the Mungiki because I'm terrified of those guys.

Over the past few days I've been thinking about this group of hardworking, industrious and extremely dangerous guys. I've wondered what motivates them, what grievances they have...and what solution could be found to stem the rising insecurity they pause to Central Province and eventually to the country. Like many organizations without a discernible public face, the Mungiki is difficult to figure out. What is clear is that by the gruesome nature of their murderous exploits, they are sending a stern message to us that business will not be as usual until their demands are met.

For starters, it is clear that this group of guys (do they have women in their ranks?) are extremely bitter with a Kenya they feel their forefathers fought for yet they can't even get jobs in. They frown at a government that does not seem to have a solution to their increasing frustrations...where they can't start businesses, can't raise decent families, can't afford the basic necessities of life, yet they see their leaders retire to expansive bungalows in tree-lined streets across the city. Why do we then wonder why they've resorted to tough tactics?

I recently traveled to Nyeri and saw for myself the difficulties some of the youth of that region face. Joblessness. Poverty. Hopelessness. What struck me was the similarity of their plight to what I've often seen in Nyanza, the Rift Valley and Western Kenya. Should I go to Mombasa and other parts of Kenya, I know the story will be the same. In a word, our youth are disillusioned and are ready for a revolution. They are ready to take on the leaders and create a situation where the nation's wealth won't be concentrated in the hands of just a few folks at the expense of everybody else. In fact, what do you expect the Mungiki youth to do when they see the Kenyattas with land the size of Nyanza Province while they coil in squalids? Should they sing Glory Hallelujah? And what should they do when Kibaki used them at the 2007 elections with promises to form the core of the Kenya Army then dumped them? Sing Hail to the Chief? I don't think so.

So what's the way forward?

Me thinks the time has come for the Mungiki to spread its wings across Kenya. I say so because this nation is ready for a revolution and I have seen that the Mungiki has the capability and the zeal to make it happen. What the Mungiki leaders need to do is broaden the scope of their mission to include liberating Kenya from the bondage of elitism and inheritance politics. They must act to keep Kenya from falling into the hands of Uhuru, Gideon, Jimmy and other big-name kids. By so doing, they'll be creating a level playing field for tough girls like Martha Karua and untainted brilliant men who've been kept from running for office by a system that glorifies sycophancy and ridicules penniless courage.

I abhor the murderous tactics of the Mungiki, but I'm also aware that we all take them seriously because of their success at intimidating communities. I hope they can turn their attention to using that success to free this nation.

My word to the Mungiki is...don't kill the small man. The small does not ride in a guzzler Mercedes or Prado. The small man does not live in a gated bungalow. And as sure as the sun rises in the East, the small man does not eat in the Serena and Safari Park. Those are the toys of your enemy!

Toys!

I know the Mungiki can be the new Mau Mau against the black rulers who've turned out to be even worse than colonial rulers. I personally think it's time to give our brothers from Central Province a chance to kick the hell out of this deaf system. Shake the system by going after the toys.

Go get them, folks!