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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

ICC Curse: Trapped Between Devil, Deep Sea

The elephant that is ICC is refusing to burg. The Kenyan government is refusing to play ball too. In between Kenyan voter and IDP find themselves sandwiched between the devil and the dark blue sea.

We have been reliably informed by bloggers here at Kumekucha that behind ICC's enthusiasm to met justice to PEV victims and perpetrators lurks the evil schemes by some politicians to eliminate their potential rivals prior to 2012 elections. The wisdom from that logic implies that it is alright to leave the IDPs and those who were prematurely and mercilessly sent six feet under during the 2007/8 near-meltdown to their own devices.

When Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo talks from both ends of his mouth on matters ICC, some support him for his bravery and patriotism. Well, if the new constitution is the panacea to all our problems then one is left wondering what the IDPs are still trapped in squalor. But that a concern for the politically naive because big things come at a prize and it seems none is too big to pay even with more than 1300 lives lost.

It is true the US and China are not signatories to the Rome statute but do we have to employ cheap security in numbers and reverse logic (hata wewe pia) after failing to protect the same voters? Kenyans are superlative spinners capable of shamelessly reading malice from an angel's lips. Behind all the plastic patriotism lies ethnic bravado and loyalty. But dare tell a Kenyan blogger that and you become an e-meal cooked in tribal vitriol.

ICC just like the international community came to save us from ourselves. Were it not for them, there would be no Kenya to speak of in the first place. Waxing patriotic to hide our primitive ethnic loyalties is to live a coloured lie. Well, the five-course tribal meal never constipates. We often wash it down with champagne made from ground conspiracy theories and served as intellectual discourse.

ICC must have seen it coming and Prof. Luis Moreno-Ocampo is better advised to brace himself for more roadblocks. He has not seen the last of Kenya's superlative schemers yet. Meanwhile the living Diaspora and Kenyan leaders continue to urinate on the graves of PEV victim, both burnt and sliced.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

City By-election Results Rattles Political Parties

The recent by-election results is sending shock waves among hitherto united political parties. Having lost two seats, PNU as we knew it is tottering in the brink of disintegration. With Kanu, Ford People, Ford Kenya, New Ford Kenya and ODM-K deserting the coalition, we may as well be staring a new political dispensation all together.

But wait a minute, are these mere political tantrums founded on nothing but hot air or signs of a sober reality check? Well, you guess is as good as mine given the original shaky grounds on which the coalition was founded in the first place. Just like Nark before it, PNU appear far past its sell-by date. But don't tell that to its supplicants lest you become a ready e-meal.

While political spin doctors will shamelessly peddle the lie that the new constitution has no place for pre-poll pacts, the reality lies elsewhere and they know it. No party formed singularly for convenience can stand the occasional political heat like the one brought about by the Kabogo-Sonko axis.

May be we have to witness all the present phase of amorphous grouping as a process of political maturing. But again, it is only in Kenya where the so-called leaders lie through their teeth and the voter including the Diaspora and bloggers buy the deceit line, hook and sinker. The journey to political maturity will surely be both torturous and painful.

Or may be the stillborn political baby christened Progressive Democratic Movement (PDM) will save the day and orphaned political faces. But you only bet on any Kenyan political sloganeering at you eternal peril. Talk is cheap. What is more, Kenyans never disappoint when it comes to waxing patriotic and intellectual albeit of the plastic genre.

Here comes the theatrics premiere of 2012 Kenya style now showing at a microphone and a camera near you. Enjoy, NA BADO.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Iron Lady Martha Karua Floors Giants in Polls

Her Nark-Kenya party has bagged two more parliamentary seats and in the process floored PM in Makadara, VP in Juja and DPM in both Makadara and Juja. She may not be ruling but Martha Karua reigns supreme, at least for these by-elections.

You have to give it to the iron lady from Gichugu and her bare knuckles political fights. Thanks to her resilience, William Kabogo and Gideon/Mike Mbuvi Kioko have acquired the honourable titles before their names.

With an average turnout of 40%, the three by-elections epitomizes the curse and cost of democracy. Well, people get the leaders they deserve but having such a low turnout flips the argument on its head. While the electorates may be blamed for failing in their collective and individual civic duty, it is difficult for the emerging MPs to claim to be comprehensive representative of the people.

The latest by-elections also exposed the folly of Kenyans expecting different politics from the same old brood. The campaigns took the predictable and partisan path that read like any script from the years of yore. And the voters have themselves to blame because they cannot turn around and demand any better after going to bed with the same scoundrels.

Just like exams being the worst form of evaluation but for lack of a functional alternative, democracy is surely a curse and damn expensive. It may be tempting to wax intellectual with a think-outside-the-box prescription but viability and practicality will dissuade such pretense.

We have laid our bed and must sleep on it with all the moulds underneath. In the meantime congratulations to William Kabogo, Sonko Mbuvi and Bishop Dr Margaret Wanjiru. All the three winners owe their success to no king-pin with Mbuvi drawing the thickest of political blood while Kabogo has whipped the UK-Wiper alliance.

What is more, Bishop single-handedly upset the bookmakers even with ODM's lukewarm support. Well, I guess the cast will be complete when Maina Njenga becomes the Governor of Nairobi in 2012.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Shocking inside stories and the Bashir puzzle

What were the political objectives behind the Bashir visit to Kenya during the recent promulgation of the new constitution?

What analysts and insiders have to say is so fascinating that it almost borders on the bizarre.
President Al Bashir of Sudan in Nairobi for the promulgation of the new constitution

But first some shocking inside information. President Al Bashir left Kenya very hurriedly after the ceremony at Uhuru Park and although he came in through Wilson Airport, he left via the Moi Air base using the presidential jet. His own jet was left idling on the runaway at Wilson airport where unconfirmed reports indicate that a trap to attempt to arrest him had been set. It is not clear who may have been behind this gallant move to arrest Bashir but there are claims that the Americans were heavily involved (unofficially because they never signed the Rome statute). But this raises more questions than answers including the big one. Would it be possible to “unofficially” arrest a visiting head of state who has been invited by the host nation?

Anyway nagging questions aside, all this happened after the military were instructed to cut down dramatically on their rehearsed parade so that the function would be speeded up and completed much earlier. It is believed the main reason was to ensure Al Bashir’s safe exit out of Kenya. Some insiders go as far as saying that Kibaki was advised by NSIS chief Michael Gichangi that there were plans under way to attempt to arrest Al Bashir. The panic from this news is what is said to have caused the military parade and the ceremony to be cut short. Bashir was then smuggled out of Uhuru Park to State House and on to Moi Air Base Eastleigh for a quick flight back to Khartoum. He skipping the state luncheon and abandoned his own plane at Wilson Airport.

Not forgetting that Wilson airport was shut down for the first time in the history of the country solely for the use of President Al Bashir.

Skeptics who dispel the whole story about the behind the scenes drama over the basher story are hard pressed to explain why he entered and exited the country at different points.

Now the big question here is why would somebody take all this trouble caused by the invitation of a single guest to Nairobi? What would make all this trouble worth it? What was the main political objective?

There is mounting evidence that the Bashir visit was aimed at discrediting the ICC and its’ efforts to get to the bottom of the 2007 post-election violence that left so many Kenyans maimed raped and dead. Some of the chief perpetuators of the crimes against humanity committed mainly in January 2008 after the stolen election of late December are senior people in government who are very close to the president and he is keen that they are let off the hook. Hence all the Bashir acrobatics to score pints against the ICC and create an impression of how toothless they are. It is interesting to note that ICC special prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo revealed during one of his visits into the country that the ICC’s intervention had blocked Bashir from a planned visit to Uganda at the request of President Yoweri Museveni. Bashir’s toothy constant grin to the cameras in Nairobi was no doubt mainly for the benefit of the ICC. Bashir was telling them, “catch me if you can.”

More interestingly most political analysts agree that the plan worked and that indeed a lot of thunder has been stolen from the tempo created by ICC more so recently when they fully set up shop in the country to prepare for the impending prosecutions. These analysts insist that this master political stroke by Kibaki will be difficult to reverse and will have an impact on the planned prosecutions in Kenya. For instance the whole issue has attracted attention and given more credence to the cowardly ruling by the African Union to ask the ICC to withdraw the arrest warrant against Al Bashir.

See also:

Open letter to Ocampo from concerned Kenyans

Kumekucha's controversial Kalamari talks about the AU's decision on Bashir

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Beware!!! Do you hate young Kenyans because they play their music too loudly?

There was this restaurant in Nairobi being run by a man in his fifties. He had been operating it for over 20 years and KNEW all the right things to do. Only that business gradually went downhill over the years. Finally, with the debts mounting he decided to call in a business consultant with the intention of selling off the restaurant for the best price possible.

It did not take long for the “young” executive from a well know accounting firm in Nairobi to figure out what the problem was.

Then Senator Barack Obama addressing a crowd of mostly young Kenyans

What had happened over the years is that the owner grew older and lost touch with his target clientele. He was busy doing things that would attract people his own age into his restaurant, sadly most of those guys are in semi-retirement and few of those still in Nairobi would go into a fast food joint in a prime location in the CBD.

The restaurant owner hated young folks. He did not like the way they dressed, they played their music too loudly and talked too loudly. He really hated their morals and their guts. And it showed in his restaurant. But sadly those were the guys he was supposed to be targeting.

This is the reason why many corporate companies these days change their marketing department teams pretty frequently never allowing them to grow too old. The result is that they easily stay in touch with their target market.

The way Kenyan politicians are behaving at the moment reminds me of that short-sighted restaurant owner, running a fast food joint for pensioners. It is business as usual for many of our politicians and they are busy playing the usual game of tribal arithmetic.

Today the Sunday Nation published a fascinating article based on the recently released Census figures that reveals that there will be an additional almost 6 million young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time in 2012. That is in addition to the high number of youngsters who unanimously gave a nod to the proposed constitution in the August referendum. According to my contacts on the ground older people voted against the draft constitution for various reasons and what made the difference is the huge percentage of young voters. Now picture the impact considering that another 6 million youngsters will be eligible to register as voters by 2012. And judging by the increased awareness amongst the young about how critical politics is to their daily lives, chances are that a sizeable percentage of these youngsters will register as voters.

Many politicians and even readers of this blog KNOW that Kenyans ALWAYS vote along tribal lines. They KNOW that the way to win a presidential election is to organize some powerful tribal alliances. They KNOW that elections in Kenya have never been issue-based. Well, they will know a little different in 2012.

Incidentally targeting the young is NOT giving exciting speeches and telling jokes that young folks can identify with.

Issues are very important for the brand new young voters of Kenya who will decide the next occupant of State house. Corruption is something else that has been brought to the forefront in recent times. Good looks too are important. And then these guys easily get bored and so very few presidential candidates if any will be able to successfully make long speeches and still hold the attention of their audiences. And as the Matuga constituency by-election a few months ago clearly illustrated the young people of Kenya are pretty unpredictable and can easily change their minds at the very last minute.

Revisiting long boring speeches, if you are Kalonzo Musyoka you will bore your audience who are already upset with your water melon ways and then blame your political rival for taking the trouble to organize a jeering crowd just for you from Kibera. The point is that such politicians stuck in their old ways of doing things will find it extremely tough going in 2012.

By the way the restaurant I started this post with was saved and retains the same owner to this day, only that he has employed some young mangers and listens to their suggestions. He hates young people less these days. Or shall we say that he is a lot more tolerant?

See also:
Breakthrough For Young Kenyan Presidential Candidate: Winds Of Change Blowing From Congo

Kenya youth are not idiots

Friday, September 10, 2010

Al Shabab terrorist attack was diverted from Kenya at last minute

Kumekucha exclusive

Somali terrorists deliberately chose a Ugandan target when a Kenyan one would have been more effective in sending their message home because they wanted to protect their vast interests in Kenya. This country has clearly become their centre of operating and the hub of the economy that keeps many Somali activities, legal or otherwise going.

This is after months of activities that suggested that Kenya was being set up for a terrorist attack. Last year several explosive devices linked to terrorist activities were found in the country. Which suggests that there was a change of heart at the last minute in deciding to target Uganda a landlocked country that is of little or no use to the Somali community.

In shocking information made available to Kumekucha it emerges that Kenya is such an important centre of activity for Somalis based all over the world that if they were to be shut down in Kenya everything would ground to a halt for them. Financial activities ranging from piracy earnings transfers to the financing of the same activities to financial activities to keep the Al Shabab going are all transacted through Kenya.

Indeed most of these activities suffered a massive temporary blow last January shortly after the riots over Muslims demanding the release of the radical Jamaican cleric, Abdullah al-Faisal, broke out in Nairobi. Faisal is on a global terror watch list and served four years in a British jail for inciting racial hatred. He secretly entered Kenya through Tanzania only to become a hot brick nobody wanted to touch and no airline wanted to fly out. In a major blunder Somali youths mainly believed to be from neighbouring Somalia caused mayhem especially around the Jamia mosque area which led to a massive crack down by the government to eject illegal Somali immigrants from the country. The crack down was more effective in lining the pockets of some officials with plenty of hard currency from Somalis rather than in solving any immigration problems facing the country. Still Somali power brokers learnt a lot from the mishap and the word on the street now is NOT to upset the apple cart in Nairobi in any way because it will jeopardize a lot of other “important things.”

In other words the shocking truth is that Kenya was saved from a terrorist attack only because of her generosity and welcoming hands to illegally immigrants from Somalia and allowing Somalis to set up shop for all kinds of illegal activities right here in Kenya no questions asked.

My informants tell me that in this kind of scenario it is extremely unlikely that Kenya will ever be a target for any Al Shabab attack. At least for now. But even more interesting is that this information suggests a clear link between terrorism and big Somali money in Kenya which is rather scary.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Predictions of a coming Kamba president?

Contrary to what most folks here think, I DO NOT enjoy putting down my community. I want only what is best for the Kamba and a much better future than what the past has brought. It saddens me at the dawn of one of the biggest breakthroughs Kenya has ever had, namely a new constitution, the same old diseases are holding the Akamba people back and threatening to push them from receiving any benefits like the rest of the country. That alarms me very much and is what inspired this series.

President inspects guard of honour during promulgation of constitution.

But let me tell you a fascinating tale first so that you understand my thinking in writing this no-holds barred ruthless analysis of the tribe that gave birth to me.

My story is about these two brothers who never finished high school. However it seems that they had grasped some key lessons in life when one is looking for a breakthrough. Namely start where you are and start by analyzing the failures. Failures are extremely valuable if you know how to handle them. I am of course talking about the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur). For years I have studied the methods they used in discovering mechanized flight with a fascination that will just not go away. The two started by gathering all the information they could find on previous attempts at flying. They studied them in great detail and then started their work with the failure they thought was closest to success. One of the really important things they did was to develop the most accurate wind tunnel of the time. This is for experimentation and gives you an idea in exact scientific terms of the lift of your wings and aircraft considering its’ weight and shape. And so when the two exhausted but excited brothers gathered at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; December 17, 1903 they were not hoping for a miracle, they already knew from their calculations that the dammed thing was going to fly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer

That’s why history, even your own personal history can be life saving, but the key in analysis is to be brutally honest. The positive thinking comes after your plan is in place.

My hope is that my series has shown the Kamba people where they are and now we have to find a way forward and out of our misery. Already it is clear that the Kamba tend to do very well far from home. Many agree also that they are very creative fellows. But on the political front they have done very poorly. Their leaders have failed to unite so as to negotiate and fight for a better life for their people. And neither has the lone ranger approach worked as stubs for the presidency by leaders from Ukambani like Charity Ngilu and Kalonzo Musyoka have yielded very little to show. Before them Paul Ngei’s repeated claim that he was the king of Ukambani did not add any isyo (Kamba staple of maize and beans) into the people’s plates.

But even before that there was the renowned ruler and medicine woman Syokimau who correctly predicted the coming of the white man. She did not try to unite the Kamba to face this coming threat. And that is one other thing about us, we love to have our predictions proved right but are hardly proactive in suggesting remedies and solutions that will come in handy in dealing with the problems we see coming. You would think after the biting famine that kept on sweeping across Ukambani for centuries, somebody would have come up with an attempted remedy of at least preparing for them. It never happened.

At the moment Kalonzo Musyoka is the leading political figure from the region who is very much interested in the presidency in 2012. Mr Musyoka needs to ask himself if his community is fully behind his bid for the presidency. Secondly he needs to put his house in order before he seeks national leadership. What kind of man leaves sufurias flying in his poverty stricken home to go to the village to seek to be chief of the entire community? While doing that he needs to appreciate the fact that things have hanged dramatically on the ground. More and more members of the community are looking at other more united communities and asking themselves why not us? Chances are that if he does not quickly reposition himself he will find that events have conspired to make him completely irrelevant in 2012 politics. It matters little that he is currently the vice president. Remember vice president Moody Awori?

Charity Ngilu has already etched her name boldly in the history of the country and can beat Musyoka easily in any political contest that is limited to Ukambani. But now at the twilight of her political career Madame Ngilu needs to sekk to make a different kind of history, Namely helping find the lost key that will unlock the Akamba people and their virgin potential.

But if you want to believe that Syokimau was right in most of her predictions then keep your eyes on a miracle of sorts in the not too distant future that will put a Kamba in State house. That’s right, she predicted that a great leader from Ukambani would make their mark nationally, after Kenyatta and Moi meaning that the day cannot be too far off.

Many thanks for reading and commenting on this series. This is my last post and I hope that it will stri up things enough to bring about much needed change in Ukambani.

Previous articles in this series:

Part 1: What future for sleepy Kenyan community?

Part 2: What is the true origin of all the suffering?

Part 3: Dangerous votes from Ukambani

Part 4: Terrible crab mentality that rules the Kamba

Part 5: Kamba athleticism and other deadly talents

Part 6: Kamba constituency that is very different from the rest

Part 7: Predictions of a coming Kamba president?

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Kamba constituency that is different from the others

The most fascinating tale my dad has ever told me is the one about his trip to Nairobi from Machakos on foot through the bushes, sometimes in the dark. It happened around 1943 or thereabouts and my father was barely 5 years old.

A section of the crowd during the historic promulgation of the new constitution 27th August 2010

His uncle was carrying some tobacco from his small shamba to sell in Nairobi and the environs. It took them about two days to get to Nairobi. On their way back they were “loaded” with cash and so they took a bus. The highlights of that trip was that he saw a car for the very first time in his life and children back in the village could not get enough of that story months and years later.

The point is that the Akamba people pioneered in many things and started traveling far and wide very early on. They were mostly traders and sometimes sold the produce of their farms when famine did not hit. If other communities had gotten the kind of opportunities they got, there is no doubt that they would have utilized them and gotten very far.

Indeed the Kamba started getting a reputation of “not being ambitious”. They would dutifully work for an Asian for decades without it ever crossing their minds that they could duplicate the business and set up their own. The only kind of business that seems to be populated by many from Ukambani is the one of selling car tyres. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea.

The Kambas were trusted in the military because they would never dream of being disloyal let alone overthrow the government.

Sadly it is also true to say that one of the reasons why many Kambas are terrified about progress is because of the fear of being bewitched by jealous friends and relatives. In other instances they are actually bewitched or seem to believe that they have been bewitched and that is the end of the road for them. In other instances the crab mentality creeps in and a fellow Kamba works hard towards their downfall which then becomes inevitable.

This is an attitude that will have to be tackled head on by the new governors who will have jurisdiction over counties in Ukambani. The big challenge is finding ways and means to overcome this mindset and to encourage people to work and exercise their talents.

There is no doubt that the Kamba are generally very talented people and anybody who unlocks their potential will be utterly amazed.

So what is the way forward? How can the Kamba break from the terrible bondage of the past into a glorious new future?

Sadly as the voting patterns from the referendum proved this will be very difficult in the foreseeable future. Cheque book politics, it seems, will continue to rule in most of Ukambani.

Still there is a little light at the end of the tunnel. From progressive constituencies like Kangundo (where Johnsone Muthama is MP). Many who have visited the place for the first time have quickly said that they did NOT believe that they were in Ukambani. It does not look like Ukambani they have emphasized. Interestingly this is the same constituency that was ruled with an iron hand by one Paul Ngei for years.

You will find plenty of cash crops and development in Kangundo and you will notice a lot of stone houses as opposed to grass thatched huts with “extreme poverty” written all over them.

Constituencies like Kangundo give me a lot of encouragement that Ukambani can change for the better.

See interesting tale about how Paul Ngei's friendship with Kenyatta enabled him to get away with test-driving a Mercedes Benz for 20 years.

Previous articles in this series:

Part 1: What future for sleepy Kenyan community?

Part 2: What is the true origin of all the suffering?

Part 3: Dangerous votes from Ukambani

Part 4: Terrible crab mentality that rules the Kamba

Part 5: Kamba athleticism and other deadly talents

Part 6: Kamba constituency that is very different from the rest

Part 7: Predictions of a coming Kamba president?

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Month of disasters turned into month of miracles

August has usually meant disaster for Kenyans. Even on a personal level my own mother suddenly and very unexpectedly passed on August 20th. One evening she was there and a few hours later she was gone. Founding father and first president of Kenya Jomo “land grabber” Kenyattta died August 22 1978. The list of disasters in the month of August for Kenyans is pretty long and includes the American embassy bombing in Nairobi in August 7th 1998 and the death of former Vice President Kijana Wamalwa on 23rd August 2003.

But this August 2010 was very different. Mighty different!!

I will continue with images from Kenya's KATIBA day in August over the next few days: Here the PM takes the oath of office.

Powerful forces behind the scenes including the president’s own close advisors not to mention his intelligence boys were very much against Kenyans getting a new constitution. Hopefully one day Kenyans will get to hear of at least a fraction of the things that went on behind the scenes to frustrate things. But historians will record that in the month of August 2010 miracles happened and Kenyans got a wonderful new constitution, in my view the best in Africa.

By some miracles one Mwai Kibaki who has never been enthusiastic and passionate about anything in his life (even the political fight of his life in 2007) was suddenly deeply passionate about Kenyans passing a new constitution and criss-crossed many different parts of the country campaigning like some youngster rookie president.

As the miracle month approached the end with the many wonderful things that happened, and as most Kenyans pinched themselves to confirm that it was all real and happening, yet another miracle was dropped on their laps. Folks went to bed paying about Kshs 7 per minute for their calls even as the leading mobile phone service in the country was still able to declare obscene profits in the region of 20.9 billion. The next August morning Kenya suddenly woke up to Kshs 3 per minute to all networks and short text messages to all networks was at a mere shilling. Zain the company that introduced these rates told Kenyans that this was NOT an offer but a more permanent rate structure. As you read this Kenyans are paying as little as 2 shillings for Safaricom to Safaricom calls (which is an offer as the company thinks of what else to do to keep its’ obscene profits).


Why the number of Somalis in Kenya exploded
By Guest writer

Early this year, rumours had it that the number of Somalis in Kenya have increased substantially. And that the results for the census that was carried last year were cancelled because of this. Actually, this story appeared in one of the tabloids in Kenya - The Star. Now, the results are out; Oparanya officially announced the Kenya Census 2009 results on 31st August, 2010.

Seems like they are not rumours anymore; the population of Somalis in Kenya which was just under a million in 1999 has more than doubled in just a decade and now stands at about 2.4 million. Is that possible? Yes and no. The new figures for the Somalis would not be possible if you base your analysis on natural growth alone, i.e. the net difference between births and deaths. But, there are many ‘non-natural’ reasons that could increase the population of a community.

Thus the question here is; what could have caused the exponential growth of the Somalis in Kenya? In my opinion there are many reasons underlying this seemingly doubtful growth rate that have nothing to do with immigration. And that the growth rate in essence could be a true reflection of the Somali population in Kenya. Therefore, these reasons include, but are not limited to, the following; changes in method of data collection and analysis, and changes in the pattern of intra-country migration – notably from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles. Other reasons could include inaccuracies, either deliberate or accidental, in the base population from which we found our previous assumptions. If, for example, the earlier census was not properly conducted or the results intentionally distorted, both of these would have an effect on the validity of our base population i.e. 1989, 1999 etc.

I know for sure the method of calculating Somalis in Kenya has changed. This, by sheer happenstance, I came to learn while a student at a certain college in Nairobi when we were given some assignments part of which entailed getting some figures from the census book. A friend of mine, he was a Turkana, decided for some reasons to compare the Somali population in Kenya to his community’s. He was shocked when he realized that the Somalis were indeed much fewer than the Turkanas. When I went back to the library with him, I was stunned too. The Somalis were divided into clans and each clan listed separately. Only a tiny minority were listed as Somalis. I later explained to my friend that the Degodias, Gurres, Ajurans and Ogadens he was seeing were actually Somali clans and not some distinct communities.

Why they decided to enumerate the Somalis in that manner is something that I have never understood. Now, if indeed the ‘Somali’ population, as listed in the 1989 census, was much lower than the Turkanas in Kenya, would the KNBS also be basing their analysis on inaccurate figures? Wasn’t it also easy for the guys behind these evil machinations to push the figures for the Somalis downwards? I have this feeling they not only could do that but they did. Why they did it is something that we would probably need to ponder on, for a long time to come.

Secondly, the Somalis in Kenya are predominantly nomads. We also know that the region mostly inhabited by these people has suffered from perennial drought and famine. This, I know for a fact, pushed many nomads to a sedentary lifestyle. Some of my relatives currently living in Garissa can attest to that. Also, it is only possible for government officials to enumerate settled residents. I thus, do not believe that the census clerks can exhaustively count nomadic tribesmen wandering in the expansive arid northeast, especially, when the census exercise is carried within a relatively short period of time. Therefore, the fact that many people now live in the urban centres in North-Eastern would definitely affect the number of Kenyan Somalis and of course push their numbers upwards.

Thirdly, and slightly related to the previous point is that the enumerators could have done a brilliant job this time round. I have a feeling that with each subsequent census the sophistication of the whole exercise improves. And this would have a positive effect on the census. Therefore, this would most likely increase the population of a community and in this case the Somalis who usually were not counted would effectively be captured by the census clerks.

Fourthly, I have this feeling that someone somewhere has some vendetta against the Somalis. I say this because it was only early this year when we heard that there would be some audit of Somali owned properties in the city. I am convinced that someone, reeling from the failure of the anti terrorism bill fail to go through, wants to pass the same through the backdoor. Thus as Kenyans we need to be careful about this shadowy figures.

Conversely, the argument that immigration, too, has something to do with the increase of the Somalis could be true. And, in the case that this is true then the government should be held responsible for that. How, for example, should Kenyan Somalis be held accountable for the corruption condoned by the government? If any non Kenyan Somali has illegally obtained Kenyan citizenship then I doubt whether their accumulated numbers could exceed a few thousands. Thus, I doubt this last point could substantially increase the number of Somalis.
Lastly, most of the above would also be true for the Turkanas whose numbers have also been questioned. Or, is this some clever way of justifying the imminent downward revision of the number of Somalis in Kenya? By making it appear as though it’s not just Kenyan Somalis they have a problem with? Anyway, I pray that sooner rather than later we will come to bottom of all this.

Question for Kumekucha readers to ponder:
Recent developments point to increased pressures to charge for quality content on the web and even at times on TV where it has mostly been free. And so is the future in TV services like DirectTV in the Americas Caribbean etc. and DSTV closer to home? What are your views? Would love some feedback in the comments area below.