tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post6333076347998895278..comments2024-03-28T17:52:49.942-07:00Comments on You Missed This: The Dirt On Tobiko And Why Parliament Must Reject His NominationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-49738604226558738992011-06-13T14:20:50.050-07:002011-06-13T14:20:50.050-07:00Thank you anon! I believe you are one and the same...Thank you anon! I believe you are one and the same @ 1:02 PM and 1:40 PM.<br /><br />Very well written balanced commentary. <br /><br /><br />Indeed Kenyan Indians and by extension the whole Indian Diaspora are on a league of their own when it comes to preserving their cultures. No wonder we do not hear much of intermarriages among Indians and other south Asians.<br /><br />But what went wrong with Africans? I know we like to blame anything on colonialism but surely the Europeans did not steal our brains as well!<br /><br />The thing I hate the most is when I hear from white people how disappointed their were after visiting Kenyan homes because they expected African cultures in the house i.e African furnitures, African foods, African music, African families…etc etc but all they get is mimicking of Europeans. PATHETIC<br /><br />Kenyans should take note of how Masaai culture is admired worldwide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-9655832043346334222011-06-13T13:40:28.385-07:002011-06-13T13:40:28.385-07:00Kenyan Indians are in a league of their own and yo...Kenyan Indians are in a league of their own and you can not compare them them to other Kenyans, nor can one comapre the various Kenyan ethnicities to the Kenyan Indians in general with regard to love for culture, language, religion, food cusine types, spices and herbs, clothing, music, rituatl, etc and above all the Indian diasporan [ethnic] unity coalition.<br /><br />Anyone who has associated with the Kenyan Indian through schooling from primary, secondary, institutions of higher learning, business circles, neighbourhoods, and beyond, will have noticed various vital elements that puts them in a league of their own when it comes to the preservation as well as the strong appreciation of their heritages.<br /><br />It all begins in their respective households, its the parents who pass on the pride and identity of they are as an ethnicity to the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.<br /><br />While their Kenyan counterparts are still very busy haphazardly emulating [parroting and mimicking] their colonial masters in the efforts of trying to be little Europeans aka later day settlers in Kenya.<br /><br />And that's one of the many reasons why the 5th and 6th generations of Kenyan Indians still embrace their heritage and are also able to fluently speak their repsective languages while living thousands and thousands of miles away from the Indian sub-continent.<br /><br />Let's keep in mind that the Kenyan Indians are not homogeneous as it were, for they speak different languages on Kenyan soil such as standard Hindi, Gujarati, Bengal, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Odia, Malayalam and Sindhi.<br /><br />The Wabalushi (Baluchi) are the ones who still speak Sindhi, while the Goans (Malaylis) in Nairobi and Mombasa speak Malayalam among their respective communities and in their homes.<br /><br />Yet how many times have we been treated to the theatre of the absurd or spectacle by upper middle class, middle class, lower-middle class and lower class Kenyans who will say it without blinking that they don't speak their various ethnic languages as a sign, measure or distinction of differentiating themselves from their "backard" counterparts or "washamba cousins" living in the countryside or rural pockets of Kenya.<br /><br />Who is to blame for the brainwashed attitude and leftover colonial mentality?<br /><br />The grandparents, parents, chidren, grandchildren, great grandchildren or the hundred years what passes for half-baked colonial heritage?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-24362969178079451502011-06-13T13:02:37.298-07:002011-06-13T13:02:37.298-07:00So many communities [ethnicities] in sub Saharan A...So many communities [ethnicities] in sub Saharan African countries threw away the cultural baby out with the bathwater and tried substituting it with quasi Arabic and European colonial cultures.<br /><br />All things taken into account, we remain our own worst enemies when it comes to being proud of who we are as a people of various ethnicities and upholding our cultures, traditions and customs that are not detrimental to our societies in general.<br /><br />For starters, how many times have we heard the terms ethnicity, blackness, African race, traditions, customs, cultures, rural, villages, countryside, ancestry, etc being overly associated with primitivity, backwardness, underdevelopment, uncouthness, low class, basitions of poverty, witchcraft, darkness, evil and what have you?<br /><br />IMHO, we don't need a national debate as it were on whether or not to "uphold our cultures including the importance [that's already been lost on so many of us] of maintaining our ethnic languages" and whatever that is left of our Kenyan or African cultural heritages.<br /><br />The main responsibility of a such noble initiative or debate falls upon the respective ethnicities that want or have the ardent desire to preserve their cultural identity and heritage for all the right reasons.<br /><br />And the herculean efforts must be engineered from within the concerned communities by all generations within those specific ethnicities and any propagation as well as sustenance of the initiative must start at the cultural grassroots.<br /><br />It took centuries in north Africa and part of west Africa and more than hundred and forty years in other parts of Africa, to empty the African mind, brainwash it so to speak, and it will take another century or more to deconstruct and then reconstruct the continental African mind, body, spirit and soul back to humanity but in modern times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-11311876894076293962011-06-13T07:29:22.080-07:002011-06-13T07:29:22.080-07:00Chris,
Kenya is truly a country of criminal minded...Chris,<br />Kenya is truly a country of criminal minded people. How did Education officials steal Sh4.2 billion through unregistered schools and unofficial accounts right under the nose of KNUT and the ministry of education without suspecting a thing until Uhuru did an audit<br /><br />Everyone including you and me would do the same{i.e. steal from public} if granted opportunity. We are nothing but a bunch of thieves and crooks!mmmmmh!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-77639735981655701662011-06-13T07:13:49.859-07:002011-06-13T07:13:49.859-07:00Anon 7:03am
You have the right idea but its the wr...Anon 7:03am<br />You have the right idea but its the wrong timing with the "ipod" generation. Note the failure of Alfred Mutua's government backed Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya campaign is not due to lack of patriotism or poor marketing but due to the avenues and methods used<br /><br />If popularizing the uptake of Kiswahili is not done through the platforms of the mobile phone or on the television screen/computer then the initiative will falter and ultimately fail to take offAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-26048086110027612812011-06-13T07:03:22.004-07:002011-06-13T07:03:22.004-07:00I think we should have a national debate on how to...I think we should have a national debate on how to uphold our cultures including the importance of maintaining our ethnic languages.<br /><br />I was watching the history of Wales (which is part of UK) and I was astounded by the number of people wanting to learn their native Welsh language. What I found staggering is the number of city dwellers who are willing to learn Welsh which is a very awkard langauge. Amazingly the number of Welsh speaker in Cardiff the capital city (beautiful modern city) rose from 17% 50 years ago to about 48% in 2009. And these are city slickers born and bred in the city, some of whom are 4th or 5th generations of city dwellers.<br /><br />Folks, you don't even need to go far, look at Kenyan Indians; they can converse in English, Swahili and 1 or 2 of their native languages (eg Hindi, Gujarat, and Urdu), yet they have lived in Kenya for more than a century.<br /><br />Come on Kenyans!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-85395045423937427822011-06-13T06:33:26.020-07:002011-06-13T06:33:26.020-07:00Anon 2:53Am
Wonders will never cease. now you have...Anon 2:53Am<br />Wonders will never cease. now you have infuriated the entire generation of Kenyans born circa 1990 because you've shown a whole mzungu speaking the much loathed and despised national language, not to mention cultural father and mother tongues of certain groupings and clans of the mother continet<br /><br />Next you will say that Prince William is learning kikuyu/luo/kisii/kikamba etc. you know you are making these youngsters of Kenyans ashamed of their imported american/british accents which they use to intimidate their fellow Kenyans with their class and international statusAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-45324669322385499992011-06-13T05:54:15.374-07:002011-06-13T05:54:15.374-07:00Repeat after me.
'The more things change the...Repeat after me. <br /><br />'The more things change the more the remain the same! <br /><br />Two legs good four legs bad! <br /><br />Always do as I say and not as I do! <br /><br />Only the strong know how to survive in a country like Kenya! <br /><br />Respect the strong and honour the powerful in your villages, towns, counties, parliament and at the State House! <br /><br />Your very survival depends on their well being at all costs! <br /><br />Men like Tobiko have the blessings from high places and come highly recomended by the powerful dons of Kenya!<br /><br />Never ever forget where you belong! <br /><br />Never forget your place in Kenyan society!<br /><br />Never ever attempt to bite the hand that feeds you ugali, rice, beans and potatoes!<br /><br />Best respectiful of the powerful at all times!<br /><br />And mind your own business without poking your nose into other people's businesses!'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-83868091706105183742011-06-13T04:25:50.885-07:002011-06-13T04:25:50.885-07:00Who appointed Atwoli to chair the vetting committe...<i>Who appointed Atwoli to chair the vetting committee?</i><br /><br />One would have thought that the COTU Seceretary General would always be on the side of the workers, therefore on the side of the ordinary Kenyan, Wanjiku, and in trenches with them whenever shove came to push.<br /><br />But as it turns out, the COTU Secretary General, Francis Atwoli has been in bed with the anti-reformist all long for the express purpose of watching our for <i>the interests of those who eat together</i> and consequently safeguarding <i>their time to eat together</i>. <br /><br />The untouchables who turned Kenya into their own little playground during the day and a pool table (snooker table, billiards table) during the night.<br /><br />So, why should the public be even surprised or shocked that a man like Francis Atwoli, COTU Secretary General would be singing and dancing to the same tune as one infamous Amos Wako and Caroli Omondi?<br /><br />What a way to go Mr. Francis Atwoli! <b><i>Scratch my back and I will scratch yours</i></b>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-57419286129578901222011-06-13T02:53:04.701-07:002011-06-13T02:53:04.701-07:00Prince William's great-great Aunt, Princess Al...Prince William's great-great Aunt, Princess Alice also learnt Swahili and could speak fluently. <br /><br />And if you thought it was a joke Prince William can speak Swahili here is the link:<br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2949496.stmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-45417362004560015182011-06-13T02:02:54.815-07:002011-06-13T02:02:54.815-07:00Anon 1:37AM
well done my friend you have with a fe...Anon 1:37AM<br />well done my friend you have with a few strokes of your keyboard disillusioned an entire generation of Kenyans born in the Moi regime who will never believe that Kenyans are worth anything other than comedic entertainment value<br /><br />they will never believe that Prince William "that cool guy who got married" was learning our local Kiswahili language, and maybe even considered attempting to learn its ugly mutation "sheng". Oh no!<br /><br />The "mzungu" is the epitome of ultra sophistication and there is no way he can lower himself to speak the ordinary language of common Wanjiku. That is why Wanjiku wishes she married Prince William for he is more romantic than he is pedantic, and has more money than he'll ever need to spend, he just needs a kenyan girl or guy to spend it onAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-19076323819391712992011-06-13T01:37:59.939-07:002011-06-13T01:37:59.939-07:00Funny people like to speak "Queen's Engli...Funny people like to speak "Queen's English" but Queen is also fluent in her mother tongue which is surprisngly German and beside German she can also speak fluent French.<br />When her grand-son Prince William (the one who got married in Apr) told the media he was learning Swahili back in 2001, the demand for Swahili courses and private tutors in Swahili shoot-up to an all time high in UK.<br />The only thing, we never got to know how William got on with Swahili lessons but it is understood he found Swahili too difficult for him and so he only learnt the basic words.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-37669687439161229152011-06-12T23:45:21.845-07:002011-06-12T23:45:21.845-07:00Who appointed semi-literate Atwoli to chair the ve...Who appointed semi-literate Atwoli to chair the vetting committee?? The guy is good at mobilising crowds but on this appointment he failed miserably.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-66035033339784849422011-06-12T21:13:29.707-07:002011-06-12T21:13:29.707-07:00Reject Keriako Tobiko as Director of Public Prosec...<i><b>Reject Keriako Tobiko as Director of Public Prosecution of Kenya</b>.<br /><br />Keriako Tobiko should be a nominee for the investigation by the Kenya Anti Corruption-Commission - not for Director of Public Prosecution.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-66100089763241068002011-06-12T21:05:03.516-07:002011-06-12T21:05:03.516-07:00I wish Kenyans would love to value their cultures!...<i>I wish Kenyans would love to value their cultures! Your culture is priceless!</i><br /><br />The question is, are Kenyans students in general dying to fill classrooms all over the country for the sake of learning their vernacular languages, let alone Swahili, one of the official languages? <br /><br />Kenyans are not every Jewish people, Latin Americans and the Castelian Spanish who are proud of their heritage.<br /><br />Kenyans are the kind of people who would rather prefer to overfill classrooms in order to learn musical Lingala and American slang phrasses and lyrics.<br /><br />Majority of Kenyans have never valued nor developed an appreciation for their country, cultures, foods, music, unique dancing styles, villages, towns, traditional names, 'made in Kenya brands', religions, geography, history, and the wonderful mosaic of ethnicities that makes them who are as a people and nation.<br /><br />Warped political leadership, self-loathing, psychodrama that is induced by our exceptional educational system, and an endemic sense of self-imposed inferiority complex is to blame.<br /><br />BTW, how many Kenyans do you know of that have bothered to earn or pursue their certification, undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees and PhDs in their native languages, let alone in Swahili, like the every Jewish student, scholar, physician, politician, religious leaders, judges, civil servant, business people, and many other experts have done since standard Hebrew was revived by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda?<br /><br />We are to blame because the buck stops with us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-85458993605844939212011-06-12T19:00:05.568-07:002011-06-12T19:00:05.568-07:00Contrary to popular opinion, Kenya is now a nation...Contrary to popular opinion, Kenya is now a nation with a large pool of highly educated, qualified and competent lawyers with unblemished and uncompromised professional, social, and personal track records of service to their clients and country.<br /><br />Observing the soon to be dark consequences of Keriako Tobiko's nomination, one is left to wonder why certain names of questionable characters that were part and parcel of the past political sewers and institutional cesspools keep popping up at a critical moment when Kenyans are trying to steer the country in a totally new direction for the greater good?<br /><br />Why are some well connected individuals among us and the political cartels busy trying to store leftover old wine from the Nyayo winery into new bottles? <br /><br />And, why are we as a people who value Kenya's future agreeing to the horrendous practice of relabeling compromised old wine and repackaging it as Keriako Tobiko & Co., with the expiry dates of August 14th, 2019 and May 19th, 2023?<br /><br />Anybody for the DPP nomination but NOT one Keriako Tobiko, a trojan horse, a radioctive individual and a well known schmoozer from the dark era of impunity, dictatorship, judicial double standards and absolute national stagnation?<br /><br />We all aware of the fact that, a hyena, be it striped or spotted, can never afford to change its appetite nor its behavioul instincts even if its very survival is based it, or just because it finds itself in a different political habitat.<br /><br />We, concerned Kenyans, will be damned if Keriako Tobiko's nomination is confirmed, and we will also be damned if we don't fight and seek for a fresh start of the nomination process of the Director of Public Prosecutor of Kenya.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-86327959146610644172011-06-12T09:59:53.128-07:002011-06-12T09:59:53.128-07:00anon 4:41am
Kenyans love their culture. What we do...anon 4:41am<br />Kenyans love their culture. What we don't want to do is to honestly deal with tribalism/negative ethnicity or whatever else its called nowadays<br /><br />The problem is discrimination based on tribe/age/gender/sexuality/political affiliation etc<br />Using your native cultural language in a Government office or NGO for that matter is not the issue. <br /><br />But as usual our less than helpful politicians try to confuse solution with the problemAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-35672272040718844102011-06-12T08:51:38.213-07:002011-06-12T08:51:38.213-07:00"How ironic, while the rest of the world are ..."How ironic, while the rest of the world are filling classrooms to learn their native tribal languages, Kenyans are banning them!"<br /><br />A virulent case of taking something out of context. Banning the use of ethnic languages in government offices is a different matter from an *overall* ban of ethnic language anywhere. Use your head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-51027501697555590702011-06-12T06:27:24.794-07:002011-06-12T06:27:24.794-07:00Anon 4:41 AM
I am a native tongue speaking junkie,...Anon 4:41 AM<br />I am a native tongue speaking junkie, however, why don't you learn to speak your father tongue and national language for starters, instead yapping 24/7 about the proposed ban of all mother tongues?<br /><br />There are some "mother tongues" that are the theatres of the absurd because they lack a viable vocabualry.<br /><br />Case in point, could you, anon 4:41 AM translate the following into your cherished mother tongue?<br /><br /><i>Across Africa, we serve our customers by combinning an unrivaled presence with our local expertise in corporate and investment banking, foreign exchange, cash management, trade finance and retail banking. ... We in more countries in Africa than any other bank in the world</i>.<br /><br />FYI, there is an official translation for the same in Kinyarwanda, Luganda, Kirundi, Amharic, Tigrinya, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Herero, Silozi, Oshiwambo, Damara, and Somali.<br /><br />WADR, where does that leave you with the clamouring for your mother tongue?<br /><br /><b>Back to why parliament should and must reject Tobiko's nomination.</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-90100794298357705852011-06-12T05:58:44.863-07:002011-06-12T05:58:44.863-07:00I feel you on the money issue but you also know go...I feel you on the money issue but you also know good and well that bankrolling of they type Rannenberger was funding was solely coming from the coffers of US tax payers, no individual private kenyan citizen can compete with that type of money, especially as the richer Kenyans who made their money illegaly are the majority of law makers in parliament. Talk about the stakes being against the majority<br /><br />You mentioned Atwoli-sad to say that is one man who failed to live up to his much touted billing as the Organizing secretary of countrywide manpower. He does wield the type of influence that even the church you talk about would envy lol. <br /><br />If Francis were to say strike then ideally every kenyan should say How high?No, me thinks the next battlefront is the counties. fellow Kumekuchans make sure whoever your governor is he/she will be a believer in competitive development for your region/county. That is the final frontier, we can either go the Nigerian way or the S.African way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-7634209703544250712011-06-12T05:28:03.580-07:002011-06-12T05:28:03.580-07:00You fail to get my point. External money, whether ...You fail to get my point. External money, whether US, UK, Mars etc will not cut it. That strips integrity, controls the terms and generally just coopts.<br /><br />I agree with you, though--the grass roots type of movement emerging does need a lot of imagination. But we do have some raw material we can work with that is more class than identity-based. But Atwoli is either fast asleep or just burdened by all that metal around his neck and wrists.<br /><br />Sometimes i cant help but wonder about the church--a deplorable thought--but its getting pretty desperate, really.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-45654796244915378152011-06-12T04:44:39.158-07:002011-06-12T04:44:39.158-07:00Anon 4:17am
Well as things stand at the moment we ...Anon 4:17am<br />Well as things stand at the moment we are definitely not in for another Ranneberger type of Ambassador, at least not from the US of A, and from the looks of it neither will our former colonial master UK provide another Sir Clay. <br /><br />But i think your "faith" if i may call it that, in the awareness and participation of the kenyan public at large is slightly idealistic.in terms of grassroots, the ordinary "wanjiku" is mobilized by the tribal gatekeepers of the 2 big parties PNU and ODM. <br /><br />And ODM is a leaking sinking vessel at the moment with the whole of RiftValley about to abandon ship at the behest of the new Kalenjin leaders in the shape of Ruto/Kutuny/ and the amorphous named GNU party.<br /><br />No, to rally the public to the levels of engagement with governance and legislation such as you are suggesting will require a central unifying lead figure to provide the sort of unity Kenyans are capable of outside the confines of tribal bondage and ethnic affiliation. <br /><br />This is one of the biggest hindrances to Martha Karua's bid for presidency despite her recorded achievements on activism and reformAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-63918268290044788642011-06-12T04:41:57.379-07:002011-06-12T04:41:57.379-07:00It's pathetic Kenya want ban speaking of mothe...It's pathetic Kenya want ban speaking of mother tongues. This is the most stupid thing I have heard since medieval times. Then again Kenya is not deemed as centuries behind the rest of the world for nothing!<br />Banning of 'minor' or tribal languages was only done during the middle-ages in Europe. But in the recent times, those languages have a made a big come back! <br />How ironic, while the rest of the world are filling classrooms to learn their native tribal languages, Kenyans are banning them!<br />Every Jewish person these day MUST go back to school and learn to speak and write the ancient Hebrew.<br />Anyone with the roots from Southern Europe are going back to school to learn Latin, same as with the Irish, Welsh... and the list is endless.<br /><br />I wish kenyans would love to value their cultures! <br />Your Culture is priceless!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-49412717769367583352011-06-12T04:17:42.570-07:002011-06-12T04:17:42.570-07:00@3:45 am.
It may be that even more depends on the ...@3:45 am.<br />It may be that even more depends on the "strength" of the public and perhaps less on who is in state house. As I see it now, prospective state house residents have enough baggage and will be seeking not to sink--and the DPP as it looks will be for the take. A strong, well-informed public might just have the influence to, from time to time, disrupt collusion between the DPP and head of state. I have very little faith in the "civil" society as they too are for the take to the highest bidder (prostitutes!). I'm thinking more in terms of grassroots organizations and movements that are not necessarily mobilized by Ranneberger type of money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12839785.post-17284853364543501982011-06-12T03:45:37.737-07:002011-06-12T03:45:37.737-07:00Anon 2:33am
In this case you are right, reform is ...Anon 2:33am<br />In this case you are right, reform is only good if it works for you. But then again thats Kenya for you, and in particular under this current regime which is no different from past successive administrations in terms of key figures who are symbols of past KANU era. So who will make Tobiako toe the line when he decides to act unilaterally against the spirit of the new constitution as he is bound to do in future? you'd better hope there is a stronger personality seated in the static houseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com