archive
As promised, Kumekucha went behind the scenes and right into the center of operations at Equity Bank to unearth the truth about this indigenous bank (one of the few successful ones that has been at the center of rumours and a vicious hate-email campaign).
The questions I set out to answer were mainly 3. I have divided them into 3 separate posts to make it easy for quick perusal.
1. Is Equity In Financial Problems As The Emails Suggest?
2. What Are The Weaknesses Of Equity Bank?
3. Who Is Behind the Emails And Rumors Against Equity Bank?
I take this opportunity to thank all the people who assisted me in making my work much easier and reassure them again that even if the media bill were to become law today, I would rather go to jail than reveal their identities.
In Kenya and indeed all over the world, I often meet "professionals" who will quickly look down at any analysis that does not heavily use technical terms and one that fails to show off technical knowledge on the subject. I often pity such individuals because this is a clear demonstration of how insecure they are. I often like to explain everything in simple terms that everybody can understand. That is what you will find in my detailed reports on Equity Bank. Let not my simplification fool you, my investigations were thorough.
To be honest what I found shocked and staggered me. I must admit that before I started this research, I was convinced that I was already an expert on Equity Bank. In many ways I was wrong because there was so much that I did not know.
But it is all here, exclusively for you from Kumekucha.
Enjoy.
Start reading the articles HERE
Monday, August 20, 2007
Is Equity In Financial Problems As The Emails Suggest?
archive
If you believed half of what you read in the emails that have been circulating about Equity Bank you would be expecting the bank to collapse at any time.
Based on the information I have managed to gather this is NOT true.
There are two main things that can cause a bank to go down. Firstly not being able to generate enough revenue and secondly non-performing loans in its' books. Equity suffers none of these two. Interestingly, according to confidential information that I was able to see, almost all the loans the bank gives are very small amounts to individuals and small business people. Meaning that even if some of them were to go bad, it would hardly leave a dent.
But the thing that shocked even me, was the revenue generation happening at the bank. WOW!! Let me simplify it so that everybody can understand.
Equity bank now has 1.4 million account holders. Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that when you have critical mass in numbers like these you can hardly go wrong.
Every time those 1.4 millions folks breathe, Equity makes money.
Read more
If you believed half of what you read in the emails that have been circulating about Equity Bank you would be expecting the bank to collapse at any time.
Based on the information I have managed to gather this is NOT true.
There are two main things that can cause a bank to go down. Firstly not being able to generate enough revenue and secondly non-performing loans in its' books. Equity suffers none of these two. Interestingly, according to confidential information that I was able to see, almost all the loans the bank gives are very small amounts to individuals and small business people. Meaning that even if some of them were to go bad, it would hardly leave a dent.
But the thing that shocked even me, was the revenue generation happening at the bank. WOW!! Let me simplify it so that everybody can understand.
Equity bank now has 1.4 million account holders. Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that when you have critical mass in numbers like these you can hardly go wrong.
Every time those 1.4 millions folks breathe, Equity makes money.
Read more
What Are The Weaknesses Of Equity Bank?
archive
I did find the inevitable "warts" in this star player of a bank.
Top on the list of its' weaknesses emerges from the style of management. The tight-control-one-man show that built the institution from nothing (actually Equity missed being put under receivership by a whisker—but I'll explain that story in a minute) to what it is today is still very much in place.
This is not the place where staff can share ideas and suggest things. Everybody knows that doing so is way too dangerous. That is how such talented members of staff like Kariuki Nguru and more recently, Joyce Sang lost their jobs. The way to keep your job at Equity is to do exactly as you are told and to oil the right egos frequently enough. This is more than a little dangerous for an institution that has reached the size that Equity Bank has.
It is instructive that this was the same problem that Uchumi Supermarkets had. The dukawalla management style of former CEO Suresh Shah was good for raking in the profits but skills were hardly passed on down to lower cadre workers. Interestingly this is something that Nakumatt Supermarkets have...
Read more
I did find the inevitable "warts" in this star player of a bank.
Top on the list of its' weaknesses emerges from the style of management. The tight-control-one-man show that built the institution from nothing (actually Equity missed being put under receivership by a whisker—but I'll explain that story in a minute) to what it is today is still very much in place.
This is not the place where staff can share ideas and suggest things. Everybody knows that doing so is way too dangerous. That is how such talented members of staff like Kariuki Nguru and more recently, Joyce Sang lost their jobs. The way to keep your job at Equity is to do exactly as you are told and to oil the right egos frequently enough. This is more than a little dangerous for an institution that has reached the size that Equity Bank has.
It is instructive that this was the same problem that Uchumi Supermarkets had. The dukawalla management style of former CEO Suresh Shah was good for raking in the profits but skills were hardly passed on down to lower cadre workers. Interestingly this is something that Nakumatt Supermarkets have...
Read more
Who Is Behind the Emails And Rumors Against Equity Bank?
archive
It is not too difficult to figure out who is behind the nasty anti-Equity emails because the bank's enemies are well known.
In the days of TradeBank several big banks spread many nasty runours against TradeBank and the fact that the bank ended up being closed laid credence to a lot of the rubbish they were talking under the table.
There have even been cases where fights have almost broken out in the field between employees of banks like Barclays and Equity.
The truth is that the big foreign banks in Kenya believe that Equity have taken away their clients (whom they consider their birth right). The reality is a little different. Once upon a time big banks in Kenya were getting pretty fat on high interest government treasury bills that were at one point paying out close to 80 per cent interest that they decided they did not want to bother with small accounts. This was around 1992 the year when Equity missed receivership by a whisker. It was quickly decided that the then building society change its focus from mortgages to banking services to meet the needs of many Kenyans who had resorted to putting their cash under pillows after all the big banks went on a campaign to close small accounts. What followed is the staff of legend at the bank. It is said that many customers came to Equity with their paltry cash while crying after the harsh words arrogant managers at banks like Barclays and Standard had shouted at them. The rest as they is history.
Read more
It is not too difficult to figure out who is behind the nasty anti-Equity emails because the bank's enemies are well known.
In the days of TradeBank several big banks spread many nasty runours against TradeBank and the fact that the bank ended up being closed laid credence to a lot of the rubbish they were talking under the table.
There have even been cases where fights have almost broken out in the field between employees of banks like Barclays and Equity.
The truth is that the big foreign banks in Kenya believe that Equity have taken away their clients (whom they consider their birth right). The reality is a little different. Once upon a time big banks in Kenya were getting pretty fat on high interest government treasury bills that were at one point paying out close to 80 per cent interest that they decided they did not want to bother with small accounts. This was around 1992 the year when Equity missed receivership by a whisker. It was quickly decided that the then building society change its focus from mortgages to banking services to meet the needs of many Kenyans who had resorted to putting their cash under pillows after all the big banks went on a campaign to close small accounts. What followed is the staff of legend at the bank. It is said that many customers came to Equity with their paltry cash while crying after the harsh words arrogant managers at banks like Barclays and Standard had shouted at them. The rest as they is history.
Read more
Sunday, August 19, 2007
GTV Outfoxes DSTV
archive
Kenyans are crazy about English soccer and especially the ongoing premiership. This is the reason why South African based DSTV has until now had such a huge subscriber base. That subscriber base now looks like it is going to disappear literally overnight.
The reason is simple. GTV, a brand new satellite TV outfit with strong links in Britain has won the rights to transmit 80% of the matches live. DSTV have only managed 20% and so far most of the matches they have transmitted don’t involve the big “four”. Kumekucha is reliably informed that already dishes with the “G” logo are now coming up in Nairobi, Mombasa and elsewhere at a rate that suggests there is no tomorrow. Most of these new customers were previously DSTV clients.
Read more
Kenyans are crazy about English soccer and especially the ongoing premiership. This is the reason why South African based DSTV has until now had such a huge subscriber base. That subscriber base now looks like it is going to disappear literally overnight.
The reason is simple. GTV, a brand new satellite TV outfit with strong links in Britain has won the rights to transmit 80% of the matches live. DSTV have only managed 20% and so far most of the matches they have transmitted don’t involve the big “four”. Kumekucha is reliably informed that already dishes with the “G” logo are now coming up in Nairobi, Mombasa and elsewhere at a rate that suggests there is no tomorrow. Most of these new customers were previously DSTV clients.
Read more
Murder Most Foul In Mombasa: Unfaithful Kisauni Wife Makes Love One Last Time As Assassins Watch
archive
The crime rate in Mombasa is generally very low, so when a gruesome crime happens, the impact it leaves is felt for many months and even years.
I have recently come across some interesting, albeit bizarre information on a murder committed in Kisauni Mombasa. This is the old constituency of the late Karisa Maitha and the current legislator is Anania Mwaboza.
The crime was in fact a murder that shocked the surrounding community and left many puzzling questions unanswered and the residents terrified.
One of the things about Mombasa is that it is very difficult to keep secrets. Sooner or later somebody will talk too much while taking some mnazi (traditional brew) and the story will always come out.
The murdered man worked at the Mombasa Port, where even children in Mombasa know, there is a lot of money. It is said that even the cleaners and watchmen find a way to demand bribes and end up going home every day with lots of cash in their pockets.
The young man was not married and soon hit it off with a housewife who was a neighbor in the plot where he lived in Kisauni. His friends and neighbors warned the young man several times that...
Read more
The crime rate in Mombasa is generally very low, so when a gruesome crime happens, the impact it leaves is felt for many months and even years.
I have recently come across some interesting, albeit bizarre information on a murder committed in Kisauni Mombasa. This is the old constituency of the late Karisa Maitha and the current legislator is Anania Mwaboza.
The crime was in fact a murder that shocked the surrounding community and left many puzzling questions unanswered and the residents terrified.
One of the things about Mombasa is that it is very difficult to keep secrets. Sooner or later somebody will talk too much while taking some mnazi (traditional brew) and the story will always come out.
The murdered man worked at the Mombasa Port, where even children in Mombasa know, there is a lot of money. It is said that even the cleaners and watchmen find a way to demand bribes and end up going home every day with lots of cash in their pockets.
The young man was not married and soon hit it off with a housewife who was a neighbor in the plot where he lived in Kisauni. His friends and neighbors warned the young man several times that...
Read more
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Yet Another Tribal Chief Calls For Strategy Meeting
Suggests Kumekucha should be meeting place
They say it is never a good idea to reveal your weaknesses to the public, especially when you know that your enemies are clearly waiting with baited breath for you to make a mistake.
Most Kenyans for instance believe that the majority of people leaving comments in Kumekucha do so from cyber cafes and therefore the survey findings (some of which I shared and a lot of which I kept to myself) were “cooked”. Somebody (notice how the thinking is so similar amongst these NSIS guys) suggested that they will vote with their feet. For your information brother, your comments have no impact on the silent majority and if you know the first thing about how sites get most of their traffic, you would realize the kind of ignorance your comment reveals about you.
Read more
They say it is never a good idea to reveal your weaknesses to the public, especially when you know that your enemies are clearly waiting with baited breath for you to make a mistake.
Most Kenyans for instance believe that the majority of people leaving comments in Kumekucha do so from cyber cafes and therefore the survey findings (some of which I shared and a lot of which I kept to myself) were “cooked”. Somebody (notice how the thinking is so similar amongst these NSIS guys) suggested that they will vote with their feet. For your information brother, your comments have no impact on the silent majority and if you know the first thing about how sites get most of their traffic, you would realize the kind of ignorance your comment reveals about you.
Read more
“The Whole World Has Been Waiting For Kalonzo Musyoka,” Kalonzo Says
I am seeking guidance and advice so that I understand the above statement made by a leading presidential candidate recently. I have agonized using my limited knowledge of the English language and I still can’t make any sense out of it. Maybe Vikiii can help me.
Here is that statement again;
“The Whole World Has Been Waiting For Kalonzo Musyoka,”
Read more
Here is that statement again;
“The Whole World Has Been Waiting For Kalonzo Musyoka,”
Read more
RECREATING THE REPUBLIC: The Challenges Facing Young Kenyan Leaders
"But to get to our Land of Promise, there is a wilderness we must cross and there are giants we must slay."
Closing Address delivered at the 3rd National Youth Convention Kenyatta International Conference Centre Sunday, 12th August 2007
By NJONJO MUE Senior Legal Counsel and Head of the Advocacy Programme Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: I would like to congratulate you on the successful conclusion of the Third National Youth Convention.
Over the last two days, you have had occasion to discuss and debate the future of our country and the critical role that Kenya’s young people must play in reclaiming the fortunes of our land. Unfortunately, I was not able to join you until this afternoon, but going by what I have observed and heard in the short time I have been present, I know I can rest assured that the future of our country is in safe hands.
Indeed, when I go to bed tonight, I shall be able to close my eyes and rest. I know I can afford to dream of the country that my children will call home. Through the watches of the night, I will behold in my mind’s eye, a strong African country, united in its diversity with a vibrant economy and equitable distribution of resources; where every man, woman and child has the opportunity and the means to achieve his or her fullest potential and where justice and respect for human dignity shall be the basis of social behavior by both the citizen and the State alike.
I can already see a strong, united country, taking its place of leadership in regional and international affairs; setting the pace in political governance, economic growth, foreign policy, science and technology, and promoting fair trade. I see a green land where people are able to feed themselves, enjoying the fruits of the land while protecting the environment in the true realization of the fact that “we did not inherit this land from our parents; we have borrowed it from our children.” From Lamu to Lokichogio, from the Lake the blue shining sea, I behold all the peoples of this beloved country, in their different hues and colours living and working together side by side in mutually reinforcing and affirming communities across the land.
Read more
Closing Address delivered at the 3rd National Youth Convention Kenyatta International Conference Centre Sunday, 12th August 2007
By NJONJO MUE Senior Legal Counsel and Head of the Advocacy Programme Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: I would like to congratulate you on the successful conclusion of the Third National Youth Convention.
Over the last two days, you have had occasion to discuss and debate the future of our country and the critical role that Kenya’s young people must play in reclaiming the fortunes of our land. Unfortunately, I was not able to join you until this afternoon, but going by what I have observed and heard in the short time I have been present, I know I can rest assured that the future of our country is in safe hands.
Indeed, when I go to bed tonight, I shall be able to close my eyes and rest. I know I can afford to dream of the country that my children will call home. Through the watches of the night, I will behold in my mind’s eye, a strong African country, united in its diversity with a vibrant economy and equitable distribution of resources; where every man, woman and child has the opportunity and the means to achieve his or her fullest potential and where justice and respect for human dignity shall be the basis of social behavior by both the citizen and the State alike.
I can already see a strong, united country, taking its place of leadership in regional and international affairs; setting the pace in political governance, economic growth, foreign policy, science and technology, and promoting fair trade. I see a green land where people are able to feed themselves, enjoying the fruits of the land while protecting the environment in the true realization of the fact that “we did not inherit this land from our parents; we have borrowed it from our children.” From Lamu to Lokichogio, from the Lake the blue shining sea, I behold all the peoples of this beloved country, in their different hues and colours living and working together side by side in mutually reinforcing and affirming communities across the land.
Read more
Friday, August 17, 2007
Tribal Chiefs Shine As They Consolidate Their Positions: Only Divine Intervention Can Save Kenya From These Hyenas
archive
Political temperatures in the country have risen considerably. Tribal chiefs have come out with both barrels blazing and each region is now strategizing on how best to come out ahead of the other.
So where does Kenya feature in all this? Stupid question you ask. Kenya features nowhere. You think Kenya is more important that individual tribal and regional interests? You must be out of your mind.
The Luhya community (all legislators from Western province) had a meeting yesterday where they announced that they will only support ODM if Musalia "Goldenberg" Mudavadi is declared the party's presidential candidate. They emphasized that any other candidate being selected would force the community to reconsider its' options. We all know who the ODM presidential candidate is don't we. One Raila Amollo Odinga, who by the way is yet to reply to Kiunjuri's accusations in parliament about oil deals and missing files.
Read more
Political temperatures in the country have risen considerably. Tribal chiefs have come out with both barrels blazing and each region is now strategizing on how best to come out ahead of the other.
So where does Kenya feature in all this? Stupid question you ask. Kenya features nowhere. You think Kenya is more important that individual tribal and regional interests? You must be out of your mind.
The Luhya community (all legislators from Western province) had a meeting yesterday where they announced that they will only support ODM if Musalia "Goldenberg" Mudavadi is declared the party's presidential candidate. They emphasized that any other candidate being selected would force the community to reconsider its' options. We all know who the ODM presidential candidate is don't we. One Raila Amollo Odinga, who by the way is yet to reply to Kiunjuri's accusations in parliament about oil deals and missing files.
Read more
How Kenya Treats Her Real Heroes And Heroines With Contempt
archive
It must have been quite a sight witnessing the hanging of one Dedan Kimathi at Kamiti Maximum Security prison in 1952. I can imagine those penetrating eyes staring as if at nothing. Even as the heavy hood was thrown over his face and the rope fastened. When the trap door is opened what is supposed to happen is that the neck breaks, but death rarely comes quickly in hanging. People often urinate and pass feaces before the legs begin to jerk and kick incessantly signifying that death is close.
Kimathi's only regret was probably the fact that he did not have the opportunity when dieing to clasp the soil and speak those famous words in Kikuyu signifying what that it was for the soil that belonged to them that they had died.
Brave man, this guy although he was not fighting for independence. He was fighting for the land taken away by the colonialists to be restored to its; rightful owners. Still, there is no doubt that the Mau Mau uprising was very effective in attracting attention to the plight of the majority indigenous African Kenyan. This alone classifies Kimathi a true Kenyan hero.
It would take over 50 years for Dedan Kimathi to be honored. But with what?
Read more
It must have been quite a sight witnessing the hanging of one Dedan Kimathi at Kamiti Maximum Security prison in 1952. I can imagine those penetrating eyes staring as if at nothing. Even as the heavy hood was thrown over his face and the rope fastened. When the trap door is opened what is supposed to happen is that the neck breaks, but death rarely comes quickly in hanging. People often urinate and pass feaces before the legs begin to jerk and kick incessantly signifying that death is close.
Kimathi's only regret was probably the fact that he did not have the opportunity when dieing to clasp the soil and speak those famous words in Kikuyu signifying what that it was for the soil that belonged to them that they had died.
Brave man, this guy although he was not fighting for independence. He was fighting for the land taken away by the colonialists to be restored to its; rightful owners. Still, there is no doubt that the Mau Mau uprising was very effective in attracting attention to the plight of the majority indigenous African Kenyan. This alone classifies Kimathi a true Kenyan hero.
It would take over 50 years for Dedan Kimathi to be honored. But with what?
Read more
9th Parliament Does Not Like Women
archive
The message is loud and clear.
The 9th parliament does not think much of women and do not want more women in parliament. They probably believe that they have nothing to contribute.
I say this because, if they were sensitive, they would have made every effort to have the bill adjusted so that the 40 new constituencies, which they were against could be removed and the new seats fro women remain. Instead this bone of contention was used as en excuse to throw out a bill that would have had far-reaching effect and very positive impact on the country.
This whole episode has made nominated legislator Njoki Ndungu look a real heroine to have gotten her Sexual Offences Bill passed. But just look at the hard work she put in?
She organized seminars for MPs and basically did everything to cajole, beg and so on to get the 9th parliament to pass the land mark legislation that is still having problems being enforced.
Read more
The message is loud and clear.
The 9th parliament does not think much of women and do not want more women in parliament. They probably believe that they have nothing to contribute.
I say this because, if they were sensitive, they would have made every effort to have the bill adjusted so that the 40 new constituencies, which they were against could be removed and the new seats fro women remain. Instead this bone of contention was used as en excuse to throw out a bill that would have had far-reaching effect and very positive impact on the country.
This whole episode has made nominated legislator Njoki Ndungu look a real heroine to have gotten her Sexual Offences Bill passed. But just look at the hard work she put in?
She organized seminars for MPs and basically did everything to cajole, beg and so on to get the 9th parliament to pass the land mark legislation that is still having problems being enforced.
Read more
Uganda Attacks Kenya With Tanks, Helicopters And Foot Soldiers
archive
The Ugandan army (UPDF) recently crossed into the country in Pokot complete with military tanks and helicopters and made away with large herds of cattle.
The defense minister's only comment; "We are talking."
My question is; talk about what?
When a neighboring country crosses the border with tanks and helicopters to attack a small village of unarmed Kenyans, is the thing to do, talk?
Isn't the right action to ask them to give a good reason why we should not send our military complete with helicopters into their country to recover the said cattle. And such a message is not delivered in talks, it is sent as an ultimatum. Or even better declare war based on this act of extreme provocation?
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The Ugandan army (UPDF) recently crossed into the country in Pokot complete with military tanks and helicopters and made away with large herds of cattle.
The defense minister's only comment; "We are talking."
My question is; talk about what?
When a neighboring country crosses the border with tanks and helicopters to attack a small village of unarmed Kenyans, is the thing to do, talk?
Isn't the right action to ask them to give a good reason why we should not send our military complete with helicopters into their country to recover the said cattle. And such a message is not delivered in talks, it is sent as an ultimatum. Or even better declare war based on this act of extreme provocation?
Read more
When The CEO Personally Appears In A Commercial It Usually Means Trouble
archive
All over the world, whenever you see the CEO of a company appear in his own TV commercials, trying to sell products, then you know that all is NOT well. Lee Iacooca appeared in the Chrysler ads when the car maker was in serious trouble and as he attempted to turn it around.
In the latest ads being run by Uchumi Supermarkets (I doubt whether they will cause anybody to have any confidence in Uchumi) the CEO appears himself and even talks. The difference between Chrysler and Uchumi is that the latter does not have any viable turn around strategy apart from wanting to raise more money to help the management team make the same mistakes their predecessors who failed, made. This is probably the clearest sign yet, to the public that all is not well once again at Kenya's oldest supermarket chain.
Read more
All over the world, whenever you see the CEO of a company appear in his own TV commercials, trying to sell products, then you know that all is NOT well. Lee Iacooca appeared in the Chrysler ads when the car maker was in serious trouble and as he attempted to turn it around.
In the latest ads being run by Uchumi Supermarkets (I doubt whether they will cause anybody to have any confidence in Uchumi) the CEO appears himself and even talks. The difference between Chrysler and Uchumi is that the latter does not have any viable turn around strategy apart from wanting to raise more money to help the management team make the same mistakes their predecessors who failed, made. This is probably the clearest sign yet, to the public that all is not well once again at Kenya's oldest supermarket chain.
Read more
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Are You Scared For Your Life Leaving Comments At Kumekucha?
A recent survey I have just completed carrying out has given me results that have completely taken me by surprise. They reveal that many people who read Kumekucha believe that associating themselves with the blog endangers their lives at worst and can get them in big trouble and behind bars at the very least.
The words of one respondent are still ringing in my ears;
"I always look over my shoulder imagining that some guys in suits will burst into the room the next minute and arrest me. The information you reveal here is just too dangerous."
It seems that a whooping 70 per cent of the people who regularly visit Kumekucha are too frightened to leave a comment because they are aware that ip addresses can very easily be traced.
Even more interesting is the fact that even some Kenyans in the diasporas fear to be associated with Kumekucha because they will have to return home at some point.
Read more
The words of one respondent are still ringing in my ears;
"I always look over my shoulder imagining that some guys in suits will burst into the room the next minute and arrest me. The information you reveal here is just too dangerous."
It seems that a whooping 70 per cent of the people who regularly visit Kumekucha are too frightened to leave a comment because they are aware that ip addresses can very easily be traced.
Even more interesting is the fact that even some Kenyans in the diasporas fear to be associated with Kumekucha because they will have to return home at some point.
Read more
Government Receives Resounding Defeat In New Constituencies Bill
But What About The 50 Seats For Women?
The fact that the government of national unity had a closed-door meeting immediately after receiving a terrible defeat in a crucial bill that was supposed to pave way for the addition of new constituencies speaks volumes.
It confirms that the new constituencies (40 had been planned) were a crucial part of President Kibaki's re-election plan. Remember Hon Martha Karua's words at an unguarded moment, she said; "new constituencies are a must!"
It now emerges that the government's strategy was to sugar-coat the new constituencies bill with the rider of 50 new seats for women. It was a good idea on paper—the operative word here being "on paper." I keep on saying that politics is does not work with good on paper ideas and I keep asking who is the President's political strategist? Do they really know what they are doing?
The reasoning was that being so close to the polls MPs would not dare risk antagonizing the electorate by rejecting something as popular as 50 new seats in parliament for women. It was a terrible miscalculation.
Read more
The fact that the government of national unity had a closed-door meeting immediately after receiving a terrible defeat in a crucial bill that was supposed to pave way for the addition of new constituencies speaks volumes.
It confirms that the new constituencies (40 had been planned) were a crucial part of President Kibaki's re-election plan. Remember Hon Martha Karua's words at an unguarded moment, she said; "new constituencies are a must!"
It now emerges that the government's strategy was to sugar-coat the new constituencies bill with the rider of 50 new seats for women. It was a good idea on paper—the operative word here being "on paper." I keep on saying that politics is does not work with good on paper ideas and I keep asking who is the President's political strategist? Do they really know what they are doing?
The reasoning was that being so close to the polls MPs would not dare risk antagonizing the electorate by rejecting something as popular as 50 new seats in parliament for women. It was a terrible miscalculation.
Read more
Old Semi-Illiterate Miji Kenda Man Reveals New Evidence About Tom Mboya And Political Assassinations In Kenya
I recently met an old man from Mombasa who proudly kept on reminding me that he was from the Mijikenda community, the guys who never take things lying down. On discovering that I was doing some research on what kind of impact the issue of Tom Mboya's assassination would have on the electorate on the ground this December, he started telling me a very fascinating stuf.
He started by declaring that corruption WILL NEVER end in Kenya.
Why, I asked?
"Do you know a man called Murungaru?"
"The former Minister, now banned from enetering the UK?"
"Yes, that is the one. You know as late as 2002, I used to see the man frequently in Mombasa around the Pembe ya Ndovu (that is the important landmark of Elephant tasks along Moi Avenue in Mombasa) area. You know what he was doing? Hawking medicine to pharmacists. He was always sweating and wiping the sweat under his spectavles. Where is that man today? Is he still hawking dawa?"
"No," I replied totally fascinated and engrossed. "He is a very rich man."
"Since independence the government has gotten rid of anybody who has dared stand in the way of the corrupt ways of powerful individuals within those governments. The man you are talking about, was...
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He started by declaring that corruption WILL NEVER end in Kenya.
Why, I asked?
"Do you know a man called Murungaru?"
"The former Minister, now banned from enetering the UK?"
"Yes, that is the one. You know as late as 2002, I used to see the man frequently in Mombasa around the Pembe ya Ndovu (that is the important landmark of Elephant tasks along Moi Avenue in Mombasa) area. You know what he was doing? Hawking medicine to pharmacists. He was always sweating and wiping the sweat under his spectavles. Where is that man today? Is he still hawking dawa?"
"No," I replied totally fascinated and engrossed. "He is a very rich man."
"Since independence the government has gotten rid of anybody who has dared stand in the way of the corrupt ways of powerful individuals within those governments. The man you are talking about, was...
Read more
What's Really Going On At Equity Bank?
In my days as a journalist working for various publications, my specialty was business analysis and reporting. I have no problems reading a balance sheet (especially between the lines).
However the events of yesterday and today seem to suggest that I have gotten a little rusty. Some guy now says that I should stick to what I do best these days—political propaganda. That gave me a laugh because the man knows that if what I was carrying here was mere propaganda, this blog would not have half the audience that it does.
Anyway, I am not perfect and before I answer him and others in this blog, I will do some digging on Equity Bank and get back to all you good folks. My gut feeling is that this bank is still OK but let me gather the evidence and facts to back that, if any.
Read more
However the events of yesterday and today seem to suggest that I have gotten a little rusty. Some guy now says that I should stick to what I do best these days—political propaganda. That gave me a laugh because the man knows that if what I was carrying here was mere propaganda, this blog would not have half the audience that it does.
Anyway, I am not perfect and before I answer him and others in this blog, I will do some digging on Equity Bank and get back to all you good folks. My gut feeling is that this bank is still OK but let me gather the evidence and facts to back that, if any.
Read more
So You Want To Know What Really Goes On Inside Political Parties In Kenya?
Here is a leaked document on confidential discussions and resolutions passed by a leading Kenyan political party during one of its’ meetings.
Read and digest and realize why they say that politics is a dirty game (with the old folks who are there now). The whole lot are the same and the only way forward is to send them all home packing.
----------------------
11th LDP NEB meeting held on July 1, 2003
A part from the official meeting held, a brainstorm was conducted on a brief research paper presented by the chairman. It touched on how the LDP should be strengthened. It was recommended from the debate:
1. LDP must continuously show it is the one pushing for a constitutional reform while NAK is against constitutional reform as Kanu was depicted in the past.
2. LDP must explore all avenues of fruitful engagement with Kanu. Efforts must be made to reverse the nasty merger experience between Kanu and NDP, LDP should help Kanu look good among members of the public.
3. LDP must be shown as pro-people and for reforms whereas the government must be painted as anti-change.
4. The government must be isolated and shown as a Mt. Kenya backed government without national appeal.
Read more
Read and digest and realize why they say that politics is a dirty game (with the old folks who are there now). The whole lot are the same and the only way forward is to send them all home packing.
----------------------
11th LDP NEB meeting held on July 1, 2003
A part from the official meeting held, a brainstorm was conducted on a brief research paper presented by the chairman. It touched on how the LDP should be strengthened. It was recommended from the debate:
1. LDP must continuously show it is the one pushing for a constitutional reform while NAK is against constitutional reform as Kanu was depicted in the past.
2. LDP must explore all avenues of fruitful engagement with Kanu. Efforts must be made to reverse the nasty merger experience between Kanu and NDP, LDP should help Kanu look good among members of the public.
3. LDP must be shown as pro-people and for reforms whereas the government must be painted as anti-change.
4. The government must be isolated and shown as a Mt. Kenya backed government without national appeal.
Read more
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Great Irreparable Damage The Media Bill Has Done To Kibaki's Re-election Campaign
archive
Wako Finally Admits The Obvious
Even as members of Kenya’s fourth estate staged a dramatic demonstration in Nairobi this afternoon, while symbolically gagged with tape and cloth, serious questions are being asked in relation to the folly of the whole exercise of the infamous Media Bill.
After days in which AG Amos Wako claimed he was studying the media bill he has finally come out and admitted that it is fatally flawed, and he will accordingly advice the president not to sign it.
Firstly the AG who knows a lot more law than Kumekucha did not need so many days to find the obvious. I would have saved him a lot of reading had he asked me because I would have told him straight up that it was flawed and the reasons why.
But then that was not the real issue here, my friends. What was going on was lots of consultations behind the scenes with the powers that be who finally gave him permission to announce the obvious. The truth is that many flawed bills have been passed by parliament and signed into laws in the past, including the last...
Read more
Wako Finally Admits The Obvious
Even as members of Kenya’s fourth estate staged a dramatic demonstration in Nairobi this afternoon, while symbolically gagged with tape and cloth, serious questions are being asked in relation to the folly of the whole exercise of the infamous Media Bill.
After days in which AG Amos Wako claimed he was studying the media bill he has finally come out and admitted that it is fatally flawed, and he will accordingly advice the president not to sign it.
Firstly the AG who knows a lot more law than Kumekucha did not need so many days to find the obvious. I would have saved him a lot of reading had he asked me because I would have told him straight up that it was flawed and the reasons why.
But then that was not the real issue here, my friends. What was going on was lots of consultations behind the scenes with the powers that be who finally gave him permission to announce the obvious. The truth is that many flawed bills have been passed by parliament and signed into laws in the past, including the last...
Read more
ODM "Entrepreneur" Cashes In
archive
As we all said here months ago, the two major ODM-Kenya presidential hopefuls have now officially parted ways. The sickening plastic, forced smiles, as they held hands, fooling the public that ODM was united have finally come to an end and the truth as we always knew it has been revealed for all to see.
Kalonzo Musyoka has remained with ODM-Kenya while Raila Odinga has purchased the first Orange Democratic Party to be registered for an unspecified amount of Kenya shillings. Both parties (seller and buyer of ODM) have of course denied that any money exchanged hands, but that one will be very difficult even for a hungry crocodile along that banks of Tana River to swallow.
It is highly unlikely that Raila has paid anything below...
Read more
As we all said here months ago, the two major ODM-Kenya presidential hopefuls have now officially parted ways. The sickening plastic, forced smiles, as they held hands, fooling the public that ODM was united have finally come to an end and the truth as we always knew it has been revealed for all to see.
Kalonzo Musyoka has remained with ODM-Kenya while Raila Odinga has purchased the first Orange Democratic Party to be registered for an unspecified amount of Kenya shillings. Both parties (seller and buyer of ODM) have of course denied that any money exchanged hands, but that one will be very difficult even for a hungry crocodile along that banks of Tana River to swallow.
It is highly unlikely that Raila has paid anything below...
Read more
Why It Is Not Too Difficult To Figure Out Who Killed Mboya
archive
Tom Mboya and Jaramogi ginga Odinga were NOT friends. Yes, I know you saw him in the video clips that I placed in yesterday's Mboya post attending the funeral, but the truth is that the two were sworn enemies.
In fact in a way it is probably this bitter rivalry that cost Mboya his life in that this brilliant politician did not see the fact that immediately he eliminated Jaramogi Oginga Odinga from the political scene, it would put his own life in grave danger.
It was probably one of the few times when Mboya was so obsessed with a political enemy that he placed his better judgement aside.
Mboya's biographer David Goldsworthy puts it thus;
"Tom Mboya fought the arduous power struggle of 1964-66 with masterful technique and a quite chilling implacability...
Read more
Tom Mboya and Jaramogi ginga Odinga were NOT friends. Yes, I know you saw him in the video clips that I placed in yesterday's Mboya post attending the funeral, but the truth is that the two were sworn enemies.
In fact in a way it is probably this bitter rivalry that cost Mboya his life in that this brilliant politician did not see the fact that immediately he eliminated Jaramogi Oginga Odinga from the political scene, it would put his own life in grave danger.
It was probably one of the few times when Mboya was so obsessed with a political enemy that he placed his better judgement aside.
Mboya's biographer David Goldsworthy puts it thus;
"Tom Mboya fought the arduous power struggle of 1964-66 with masterful technique and a quite chilling implacability...
Read more
Who Wants To Kill Equity Bank?
archive
Even as the price of Equity Bank shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange appears to be recovering over the last few days, somebody is forwarding nasty emails warning Kenyans to stay away from the bank.
The reason I find this interesting is that I have carefully studied the growth of Equity right from the time it was launched as a building society in the Moi days. I correctly predicting that they would one day be very big, because they did the opposite of what other banks were doing at the time and targeted the ordinary mwananchi. As you read this, the bank has got over one million account-holders, a record in Kenya.
The way to analyze a company is to look at how it makes its' money. As a rule I will never invest in a business that I do not understand. Equity's major profit generator is small loans to ordinary folks. If you understand the principal of compounded interest you will quickly realize just how wildly profitable this activity can be.
So the foundations of Equity are basically sound...
Read more
Even as the price of Equity Bank shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange appears to be recovering over the last few days, somebody is forwarding nasty emails warning Kenyans to stay away from the bank.
The reason I find this interesting is that I have carefully studied the growth of Equity right from the time it was launched as a building society in the Moi days. I correctly predicting that they would one day be very big, because they did the opposite of what other banks were doing at the time and targeted the ordinary mwananchi. As you read this, the bank has got over one million account-holders, a record in Kenya.
The way to analyze a company is to look at how it makes its' money. As a rule I will never invest in a business that I do not understand. Equity's major profit generator is small loans to ordinary folks. If you understand the principal of compounded interest you will quickly realize just how wildly profitable this activity can be.
So the foundations of Equity are basically sound...
Read more
Uchumi Supermarkets In Trouble Again
archive
Uchumi Supermarkets is in trouble again and I am really not surprised. Rather than repeat the remarks I made months ago, I will re-publish the entire post here complete with the date;
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Business Special: More Trouble Ahead For Uchumi
In all the hype being generated by the media and show of goodwill towards the Uchumi Supermarkets rescue efforts, alarm bells are beginning to ring loudly in my ears.
I really started to get nervous when I heard about the latest move by the new supermarket chain management to raise extra funds from shareholders. In the plan, shareholders will lend a minimum of Kshs 10,000 each to Uchumi. In fact the plan was to initially get a minimum of Kshs 100,000 from each shareholder. Shareholders quite rightly pointed out that this was too much for most of them.
What is going on here?
Read more
Uchumi Supermarkets is in trouble again and I am really not surprised. Rather than repeat the remarks I made months ago, I will re-publish the entire post here complete with the date;
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Business Special: More Trouble Ahead For Uchumi
In all the hype being generated by the media and show of goodwill towards the Uchumi Supermarkets rescue efforts, alarm bells are beginning to ring loudly in my ears.
I really started to get nervous when I heard about the latest move by the new supermarket chain management to raise extra funds from shareholders. In the plan, shareholders will lend a minimum of Kshs 10,000 each to Uchumi. In fact the plan was to initially get a minimum of Kshs 100,000 from each shareholder. Shareholders quite rightly pointed out that this was too much for most of them.
What is going on here?
Read more
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tom Mboya’s Birthday: A Mere Coincidence?
Here is something really shocking, when you think about what has been happening in this blog over the last few houyrs.
In a few hours time it will be August 15th. Tom Mboya’s birthday.
Had this Kenyan hero lived he would have been 77, a year older than President Kibaki and 3 years younger than Vice President Moody Awori.
If it were possible for people to celebrate their birthdays in the grave, this birthday would have been the happiest and most memorable for TJ, as his friends called him. What would have made him happiest is that his younger son (just 21 months old when he was gunned down in Nairobi that fateful July lunch time in 1969, has come of age and shown the same courage he himself showed in challenging the mighty British government. A government that just 5 years earlier in 1952, had crushed the Mau Mau land uprising with such ruthlessness that somebody would have to be out of their minds to dare challenge them.
Tom would also have no doubt been deeply intrigued that...
Read more
Incase you missed it, read the open letter from Marianne Briner to Njoroge Mungai.
In a few hours time it will be August 15th. Tom Mboya’s birthday.
Had this Kenyan hero lived he would have been 77, a year older than President Kibaki and 3 years younger than Vice President Moody Awori.
If it were possible for people to celebrate their birthdays in the grave, this birthday would have been the happiest and most memorable for TJ, as his friends called him. What would have made him happiest is that his younger son (just 21 months old when he was gunned down in Nairobi that fateful July lunch time in 1969, has come of age and shown the same courage he himself showed in challenging the mighty British government. A government that just 5 years earlier in 1952, had crushed the Mau Mau land uprising with such ruthlessness that somebody would have to be out of their minds to dare challenge them.
Tom would also have no doubt been deeply intrigued that...
Read more
Incase you missed it, read the open letter from Marianne Briner to Njoroge Mungai.
Nation Published Sunday’s Headline Today, Two Days Later
Is it the influence of this blog, or is it mere coincidence?
I complained here about how the newspapers have put commercial interests ahead of everything and pushed news on the Kakamega landslide aside in favor of political features.
Read more
I complained here about how the newspapers have put commercial interests ahead of everything and pushed news on the Kakamega landslide aside in favor of political features.
Read more
The Cracked Pot
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always Delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot Arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing Home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and Miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it Spoke to the woman one day by the stream "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your
house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on Your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted Flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, You water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to Decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this Beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws We each have that make our lives together so very interesting and Rewarding.
you've just got to take each person for what they are and look for The good in them.
SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember To smell the flowers on your side of the path!
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing Home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and Miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it Spoke to the woman one day by the stream "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your
house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on Your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted Flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, You water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to Decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this Beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws We each have that make our lives together so very interesting and Rewarding.
you've just got to take each person for what they are and look for The good in them.
SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember To smell the flowers on your side of the path!
Next Kamukunji MP May Be Decided by Influential Foreigners
Countdown to the Mother of All General Elections In Kenya: 2007
One of the parliamentary seats in the country that is bound to be the most hotly contested is the Kamukunji seat in Nairobi. Already the field is overcrowded with prominent personalities like lawyer Patrice Lumumba and popular evangelist and presidential hopeful, Pius Muiru announcing their candidature.
Word on the ground is that it will be easier for Mount Kenya to throw itself into Lake Victoria than it would be for the incumbent Norman Nyagah to win re-election. It is even said that currently he is not able to access his office in the constituency where his CDF cheque book is locked up and is therefore unable to put the idle funds to use, a major bone of contention most of his constituents seem to have with him.
Ironically this was Tom Mboya's old parliamentary seat. The seat he defended in his entire lifetime and resisted all pressure to join the mass exodus to rural seats. Still plenty has changed here since 1969. Probably the biggest change which is bound to influence the election outcome is the influx of foreigners in the expansive Eastleigh estate, which is part of the constituency. Most of these foreigners are of Somali origin and the Kenyan immigration has always had a very difficult time differentiating the local Somali from the foreign Somali. This serious problem was highlighted in the 80s when foreign Somalis pausing as Kenyans forced the British government to reverse an old standing visa...
Read more
One of the parliamentary seats in the country that is bound to be the most hotly contested is the Kamukunji seat in Nairobi. Already the field is overcrowded with prominent personalities like lawyer Patrice Lumumba and popular evangelist and presidential hopeful, Pius Muiru announcing their candidature.
Word on the ground is that it will be easier for Mount Kenya to throw itself into Lake Victoria than it would be for the incumbent Norman Nyagah to win re-election. It is even said that currently he is not able to access his office in the constituency where his CDF cheque book is locked up and is therefore unable to put the idle funds to use, a major bone of contention most of his constituents seem to have with him.
Ironically this was Tom Mboya's old parliamentary seat. The seat he defended in his entire lifetime and resisted all pressure to join the mass exodus to rural seats. Still plenty has changed here since 1969. Probably the biggest change which is bound to influence the election outcome is the influx of foreigners in the expansive Eastleigh estate, which is part of the constituency. Most of these foreigners are of Somali origin and the Kenyan immigration has always had a very difficult time differentiating the local Somali from the foreign Somali. This serious problem was highlighted in the 80s when foreign Somalis pausing as Kenyans forced the British government to reverse an old standing visa...
Read more
Monday, August 13, 2007
Open Letter From Marianne Briner To Dr Njoroge Mungai
August 13, 2007
Dear Njoroge,
I have decided to write this Open Letter to you after I had read in Kumekucha the very moving letter Tom Mboya’s son, Lucas, has published asking to assist in solving the murder of his father.
Here also your name came up together with Njonjo, Koinange and Moi, a.o..
And that’s when I started wondering what to do and came up with the idea of writing to you directly asking you to tell the world what you know about this and other cases like J.M. Kariuki and Dr. Robert Ouko etc.
Please understand me, I do not want to join those implicating you – but I would like to offer you to come out to say what you know.
Do this for yourself and for the benefit of Kenya – the country you have been proud to have been able to assist to lead into a better future after Independence, first as Minister for Health and then Foreign Affairs.
I have seen the interview you gave to the Stanford University remembering your accomplishments. There is a lot to be proud of - but there is also a lot to regret……..
You have reached the twilight of your years – we both have – but I want to remember you as the caring man I once loved. A man who listened to the problems of the people in his constituency to whom you had reserved each Friday when the Parliament was closed. I have seen them waiting in front of your office with the deep assurance of your help.
And I have watched with admiration how patiently you were then listening to their problems and how happy you have been if and when you were able to help……
I have seen the way you have treated your employees and farm workers – with patience and respect.
And exactly mainly all this had been the main reason why I felt in love with you.
I also remember what you told me about Dr. Ouko: that it was you who convinced President Kenyatta to appoint him Minister for Economy because you had realized his qualities during his time in Arusha.
A feeling which was mutual, as Dr. Ouko once told me when we were driving back from Kisumu to Nairobi. He wanted to follow your example when he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1979 because he always admired your style and your achievements.
I then also remember what you wrote to me once after Dr. Ouko was killed: ‘You and Dr. Ouko should have never gotten involved in the Molasses Plant – a project tainted and doomed by too many politicians ……’ – I have read all your sadness about his death in these few lines because Kenya had lost another of its great sons……..
But I do not only want to talk about the past – and a very dark period in Kenya’s history.
The real reason for this Letter is to look into the future and to try to find a better life for all its people.
So somebody has come up with the idea of arranging a so-called Roundtable Discussion …….. and here is my challenge to you:
Would you be willing to chair and also host it (and maybe even helping in covering its expenses) ? Place and date could be discussed, but it should be outside Kenya since some of its participants are living abroad.
My proposal was Switzerland and I would be willing to organize it. What do you think ?
Somebody has called me ‘A master of foreign politics and propaganda’ – although I was laughing when reading it, I admit I also have been honored by it. But I would more than willingly be pleased to pass this title to you.
So – please – agree to my proposal. Do it in the memory of the love we once shared, do it for the admiration and love my daughter still holds for you – but most of all, do it for the Children of Kenya so they can have a better and brighter future ……… and then, last but not least, do it for yourself……….
You know my email-address and phone number ……….
Awaiting your reply,
With all my love,
Marianne
Read the statement from Lucas Mboya that started it all.
Dear Njoroge,
I have decided to write this Open Letter to you after I had read in Kumekucha the very moving letter Tom Mboya’s son, Lucas, has published asking to assist in solving the murder of his father.
Here also your name came up together with Njonjo, Koinange and Moi, a.o..
And that’s when I started wondering what to do and came up with the idea of writing to you directly asking you to tell the world what you know about this and other cases like J.M. Kariuki and Dr. Robert Ouko etc.
Please understand me, I do not want to join those implicating you – but I would like to offer you to come out to say what you know.
Do this for yourself and for the benefit of Kenya – the country you have been proud to have been able to assist to lead into a better future after Independence, first as Minister for Health and then Foreign Affairs.
I have seen the interview you gave to the Stanford University remembering your accomplishments. There is a lot to be proud of - but there is also a lot to regret……..
You have reached the twilight of your years – we both have – but I want to remember you as the caring man I once loved. A man who listened to the problems of the people in his constituency to whom you had reserved each Friday when the Parliament was closed. I have seen them waiting in front of your office with the deep assurance of your help.
And I have watched with admiration how patiently you were then listening to their problems and how happy you have been if and when you were able to help……
I have seen the way you have treated your employees and farm workers – with patience and respect.
And exactly mainly all this had been the main reason why I felt in love with you.
I also remember what you told me about Dr. Ouko: that it was you who convinced President Kenyatta to appoint him Minister for Economy because you had realized his qualities during his time in Arusha.
A feeling which was mutual, as Dr. Ouko once told me when we were driving back from Kisumu to Nairobi. He wanted to follow your example when he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1979 because he always admired your style and your achievements.
I then also remember what you wrote to me once after Dr. Ouko was killed: ‘You and Dr. Ouko should have never gotten involved in the Molasses Plant – a project tainted and doomed by too many politicians ……’ – I have read all your sadness about his death in these few lines because Kenya had lost another of its great sons……..
But I do not only want to talk about the past – and a very dark period in Kenya’s history.
The real reason for this Letter is to look into the future and to try to find a better life for all its people.
So somebody has come up with the idea of arranging a so-called Roundtable Discussion …….. and here is my challenge to you:
Would you be willing to chair and also host it (and maybe even helping in covering its expenses) ? Place and date could be discussed, but it should be outside Kenya since some of its participants are living abroad.
My proposal was Switzerland and I would be willing to organize it. What do you think ?
Somebody has called me ‘A master of foreign politics and propaganda’ – although I was laughing when reading it, I admit I also have been honored by it. But I would more than willingly be pleased to pass this title to you.
So – please – agree to my proposal. Do it in the memory of the love we once shared, do it for the admiration and love my daughter still holds for you – but most of all, do it for the Children of Kenya so they can have a better and brighter future ……… and then, last but not least, do it for yourself……….
You know my email-address and phone number ……….
Awaiting your reply,
With all my love,
Marianne
Read the statement from Lucas Mboya that started it all.
Traffic Increasing Secrets For Your Web Site
kumekucha blog article directory
By Faith McCoy
For your website or blog to be viable, make more money, and sell more products, you need traffic. The problem is that most folks have no idea of the basics involved in generating traffic.
The basics start with you ensuring that your site has been indexed with the major search engines like Google. Yahoo and MSN. Most sites with little or no traffic have NOT been indexed. And yet it is so easy to get indexed. Being indexed means that somebody using keyword phrases at a search engine will be able to find your site.
Simply having links pointing to your site from high ranked article directory sites and blogs will get you indexed very quickly as well as generate tremendous traffic in your direction. The right way to make this happen is to write articles and post them at those article directories with resource boxes at the bottom containing links pointing to your site. It is that simple.
Folks online are always looking for useful content to re-post at their site which means that if your articles are good, they will tend to get re-posted much more widely and quickly which will create even more traffic and even more links pointing to your site.
The other basic rule to always remember if you want to increase traffic, is that content is truly king. The better quality the content, the higher the traffic and the more successful your site will be. The same old offline rule where the content of a magazine or newspaper decides how many copies they end up selling also applies online.
Did you know that headlines can make the difference between a supermarket tabloid selling a few hundred copies and a million copies? The same applies to the headlines you select for your online content.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Discover more traffic and ghost writer secrets. Or get a glimpse into the way a real professional online ghost writer works.
Other articles in this blog article directory;
Article on resume/CV writing
On writing and self publishing books
Term Life Insurance Mystery That Is Well Hidden And The Most Valuable Business Tip You Will Ever Read
By Faith McCoy
For your website or blog to be viable, make more money, and sell more products, you need traffic. The problem is that most folks have no idea of the basics involved in generating traffic.
The basics start with you ensuring that your site has been indexed with the major search engines like Google. Yahoo and MSN. Most sites with little or no traffic have NOT been indexed. And yet it is so easy to get indexed. Being indexed means that somebody using keyword phrases at a search engine will be able to find your site.
Simply having links pointing to your site from high ranked article directory sites and blogs will get you indexed very quickly as well as generate tremendous traffic in your direction. The right way to make this happen is to write articles and post them at those article directories with resource boxes at the bottom containing links pointing to your site. It is that simple.
Folks online are always looking for useful content to re-post at their site which means that if your articles are good, they will tend to get re-posted much more widely and quickly which will create even more traffic and even more links pointing to your site.
The other basic rule to always remember if you want to increase traffic, is that content is truly king. The better quality the content, the higher the traffic and the more successful your site will be. The same old offline rule where the content of a magazine or newspaper decides how many copies they end up selling also applies online.
Did you know that headlines can make the difference between a supermarket tabloid selling a few hundred copies and a million copies? The same applies to the headlines you select for your online content.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Discover more traffic and ghost writer secrets. Or get a glimpse into the way a real professional online ghost writer works.
Other articles in this blog article directory;
Article on resume/CV writing
On writing and self publishing books
Term Life Insurance Mystery That Is Well Hidden And The Most Valuable Business Tip You Will Ever Read
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Voters Not Happy With Kibaki In Nyeri
archive
I have just had a rather fascinating discussion with a Kenyan who hails from Nyeri.
He got very upset when I jokingly declared that folks in Nyeri must be having it good just now.
The stories he told me shocked me and I half suspected that they may not all be truthful, although deep inside I suspect it is all true.
There was a time not too long ago when Nyeri was the bread basket of Central province. Folks were doing very well in this town. Now what has happened in the rest of the country has not spared Nyeri. People are desperate and ordinary folks are sleeping hungry. The rich tycoons in Nyeri are getting richer by the day, but the ordinary folks are getting poorer by the minute.
Little wonder that the political temperatures in the place are extremely high as was witnessed by recent Narc-Kenya branch elections.
Read more
I have just had a rather fascinating discussion with a Kenyan who hails from Nyeri.
He got very upset when I jokingly declared that folks in Nyeri must be having it good just now.
The stories he told me shocked me and I half suspected that they may not all be truthful, although deep inside I suspect it is all true.
There was a time not too long ago when Nyeri was the bread basket of Central province. Folks were doing very well in this town. Now what has happened in the rest of the country has not spared Nyeri. People are desperate and ordinary folks are sleeping hungry. The rich tycoons in Nyeri are getting richer by the day, but the ordinary folks are getting poorer by the minute.
Little wonder that the political temperatures in the place are extremely high as was witnessed by recent Narc-Kenya branch elections.
Read more
News Media Too Commercial As Major Mud Slide Is Shoved Aside In Favor Of Political Features
archive
The commercial pressures our press are experiencing just now with the rapidly diminishing disposable income around these days, was clearly evident in today’s newspaper.
Yesterday there was a very serious landslide somewhere in Western province where some people have estimated the death toll to be over 50 people. The main newspapers ignored mostly ignored this big news on their front pages. The simple reason being (terrible as it is) it just won’t sell newspapers.
Read full story of mudslide...
Read more
The commercial pressures our press are experiencing just now with the rapidly diminishing disposable income around these days, was clearly evident in today’s newspaper.
Yesterday there was a very serious landslide somewhere in Western province where some people have estimated the death toll to be over 50 people. The main newspapers ignored mostly ignored this big news on their front pages. The simple reason being (terrible as it is) it just won’t sell newspapers.
Read full story of mudslide...
Read more
Pain Of Having A Luo Presidency
archive
Guest post By Jerry Okungu Maputo, Mozambique
Jim Hayo has been my good friend for many years. He is fun to be with particularly when one feels a bit under the weather. In his moments of excitement Jim Hayo can be extremely funny and entertaining.
A few years ago, soon after the 2002 elections, I met Hayo and a few of my friends at a night spot. True to his character, he took the center stage to give us a few sideshows besides what took us there. He started talking about life after death. He also intimated to us that he was a firm believer in reincarnation. Fortunately, the four of us around his table were all Luos therefore we easily followed the sequence of his jokes.
Hayo confessed to us that he was a very happy man. He was happy because he had come to terms with the reality of his condition! We got a little concerned and uneasy! What condition was he talking about? Did he have the big one? Two ladies sitting next to us were even more agitated.
We held our breath.
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Guest post By Jerry Okungu Maputo, Mozambique
Jim Hayo has been my good friend for many years. He is fun to be with particularly when one feels a bit under the weather. In his moments of excitement Jim Hayo can be extremely funny and entertaining.
A few years ago, soon after the 2002 elections, I met Hayo and a few of my friends at a night spot. True to his character, he took the center stage to give us a few sideshows besides what took us there. He started talking about life after death. He also intimated to us that he was a firm believer in reincarnation. Fortunately, the four of us around his table were all Luos therefore we easily followed the sequence of his jokes.
Hayo confessed to us that he was a very happy man. He was happy because he had come to terms with the reality of his condition! We got a little concerned and uneasy! What condition was he talking about? Did he have the big one? Two ladies sitting next to us were even more agitated.
We held our breath.
Read more
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Jomo Kenyatta Planted Seeds Of Tribalism: History Has All The Evidence
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The Kenyatta administration clearly did the most damage in dividing the country along tribal lines and destroying all the national unity that had been achieved in the run up to independence. The historical evidence is there for all to see.
Did you know that for instance that President Kibaki used to represent a Nairobi constituency in parliament? I believe it was what we know today as Makadara constituency.
Tom Mboya also represented a Nairobi constituency. The manner in which the Kenyatta kitchen cabinet/mafia destroyed his political base in Nairobi, along tribal lines, made many Nairobi politicians at the time very nervous and many opted for the safety of their tribal seats back in the rural area. Mwai Kibaki was just one of them.
This single factor had a major effect in ensuring that tribal politics was forever entrenched in Kenya.
It is interesting that people like Njoroge Mungai stuck to Nairobi constituencies, although his situation was unique in that Nairobi's Dagoretti constituency is part of the greater Kiambu district where Mungai and the entire kitchen cabinet hailed from. So technically-speaking it was a rural seat and probably still is when you compare it to all the other parliamentary seats in Nairobi.
It was this kind of politics, pioneered by President Kenyatta's inner circle that destroyed situations like what had been witnessed in 1957 when during the first elections in Kenya...
Read more
The Kenyatta administration clearly did the most damage in dividing the country along tribal lines and destroying all the national unity that had been achieved in the run up to independence. The historical evidence is there for all to see.
Did you know that for instance that President Kibaki used to represent a Nairobi constituency in parliament? I believe it was what we know today as Makadara constituency.
Tom Mboya also represented a Nairobi constituency. The manner in which the Kenyatta kitchen cabinet/mafia destroyed his political base in Nairobi, along tribal lines, made many Nairobi politicians at the time very nervous and many opted for the safety of their tribal seats back in the rural area. Mwai Kibaki was just one of them.
This single factor had a major effect in ensuring that tribal politics was forever entrenched in Kenya.
It is interesting that people like Njoroge Mungai stuck to Nairobi constituencies, although his situation was unique in that Nairobi's Dagoretti constituency is part of the greater Kiambu district where Mungai and the entire kitchen cabinet hailed from. So technically-speaking it was a rural seat and probably still is when you compare it to all the other parliamentary seats in Nairobi.
It was this kind of politics, pioneered by President Kenyatta's inner circle that destroyed situations like what had been witnessed in 1957 when during the first elections in Kenya...
Read more
Did A Murderer End Up As Prosecutor For The Murder He Ordered?
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If what the son of Tom Mboya said in his statement first released in this blog yesterday is true (heavily quoting evidence gathered by David Goldsworthy in his book Tom Mboya: The Man Kenya Wanted To Forget, then it means that a person involved with the murder (and probably a suspect) of Tom Mboya was the chief prosecutor in a case to try the man who pulled the trigger on the gun that felled this Kenyan hero.
Now that is justice for you, Kenyan-style.
Read full statement by Lucas Mboya.
If what the son of Tom Mboya said in his statement first released in this blog yesterday is true (heavily quoting evidence gathered by David Goldsworthy in his book Tom Mboya: The Man Kenya Wanted To Forget, then it means that a person involved with the murder (and probably a suspect) of Tom Mboya was the chief prosecutor in a case to try the man who pulled the trigger on the gun that felled this Kenyan hero.
Now that is justice for you, Kenyan-style.
Read full statement by Lucas Mboya.
How Cabinet Ministers In Kenya Use Email
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Many Kenyan voters who are now fairly familiar with mobile phones (many of them are more complex to operate than a simple email address) have no idea how most of their respected elected leaders operate with the most important communication and information tool of this century—the Internet.
This is what happens in some of your cabinet minister's offices.
Minister walks into the office (usually at 3pm or 4pm after a long leisurely 5 course lunch at some hotel at the expense of the tax payer of course) and secretary hands him a print out of an email that has arrived for his attention.
Minister writes down reply in long hand in broken English and the sort of grammar that a Standard Two pupil would correct.
Hands over the scrap of paper to his overworked secretary who types in the message in some semblance of the English language and opens the minister's email account and sends back the reply. Secretary checks if the Minister has received any new mail. Sees a cheeky email from a "young woman admirer" from K-street. Makes her day as she reads it slowly savoring every detail and wonders whether it is worth the risk forwarding...
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Many Kenyan voters who are now fairly familiar with mobile phones (many of them are more complex to operate than a simple email address) have no idea how most of their respected elected leaders operate with the most important communication and information tool of this century—the Internet.
This is what happens in some of your cabinet minister's offices.
Minister walks into the office (usually at 3pm or 4pm after a long leisurely 5 course lunch at some hotel at the expense of the tax payer of course) and secretary hands him a print out of an email that has arrived for his attention.
Minister writes down reply in long hand in broken English and the sort of grammar that a Standard Two pupil would correct.
Hands over the scrap of paper to his overworked secretary who types in the message in some semblance of the English language and opens the minister's email account and sends back the reply. Secretary checks if the Minister has received any new mail. Sees a cheeky email from a "young woman admirer" from K-street. Makes her day as she reads it slowly savoring every detail and wonders whether it is worth the risk forwarding...
Read more
Kenneth Matiba's Presidential Campaign In 1992: What Can It Teach Kenyans For 2007?
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I am a voracious reader despite my rather hectic schedule. Currently I am reading the much acclaimed David Halberstam book; The Reckoning (published in 1986) which details the war between Detroit's Ford Motor Company and Japan's Nissan.
Throughout my career as a jua kali entrepreneur cum writer, I have tried to model a lot of what I have done while closely studying the life of Henry Ford, the man who changed the world forever with his mass-produced cars. So the guy is no stranger to me. However in my reading today I came across some telling statistics about the man that I would like to share with you.
The main reason behind Ford's wealth that transformed a penniless kid starting out with less than a dollar in his pocket to a multi-millionaire was the Model T Ford and the modern concept of mass production. Ford ended up selling 15,456,868 units of the Model T. When he started manufacturing, it took him 12 and a half hours to produce one unit of the car. His ambition was to produce one car every minute, a goal that he managed to achieve after 12 years. By 1925 he was producing one car every 10 seconds.
My point is that whatever the human brain sets out to achieve it can achieve.
What has been occupying my brain a lot for a number years now is...
Read more
I am a voracious reader despite my rather hectic schedule. Currently I am reading the much acclaimed David Halberstam book; The Reckoning (published in 1986) which details the war between Detroit's Ford Motor Company and Japan's Nissan.
Throughout my career as a jua kali entrepreneur cum writer, I have tried to model a lot of what I have done while closely studying the life of Henry Ford, the man who changed the world forever with his mass-produced cars. So the guy is no stranger to me. However in my reading today I came across some telling statistics about the man that I would like to share with you.
The main reason behind Ford's wealth that transformed a penniless kid starting out with less than a dollar in his pocket to a multi-millionaire was the Model T Ford and the modern concept of mass production. Ford ended up selling 15,456,868 units of the Model T. When he started manufacturing, it took him 12 and a half hours to produce one unit of the car. His ambition was to produce one car every minute, a goal that he managed to achieve after 12 years. By 1925 he was producing one car every 10 seconds.
My point is that whatever the human brain sets out to achieve it can achieve.
What has been occupying my brain a lot for a number years now is...
Read more
Friday, August 10, 2007
Mboya Son's Statement Today: Why Solving This Murder Is The Starting Point For A New Kenya
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There is something very important that I would like to clarify.
Firstly, to make my point clearer, I will be forced to reveal one of my secret weapons. Although, as I have said here very often in the past, Mrs Kumekucha hates politics with a capital "H", I usually use her to gauge the response of the Kikuyu community to various hot political issues. And it has proved to be very accurate because true enough her exact honest reaction is exactly what I will end up encountering here in this blog and elsewhere from other members of the community.
Today I was very nice to her and did a few things that I knew usually make her happy and put her in a good mood (I really love the woman to bits, even after 20 plus years). Then I presented to her the long revealing letter from Tom Mboya's son (published here) about his father's killers.
Her first response surprised me; "Is this a strategy to help...
Read more
There is something very important that I would like to clarify.
Firstly, to make my point clearer, I will be forced to reveal one of my secret weapons. Although, as I have said here very often in the past, Mrs Kumekucha hates politics with a capital "H", I usually use her to gauge the response of the Kikuyu community to various hot political issues. And it has proved to be very accurate because true enough her exact honest reaction is exactly what I will end up encountering here in this blog and elsewhere from other members of the community.
Today I was very nice to her and did a few things that I knew usually make her happy and put her in a good mood (I really love the woman to bits, even after 20 plus years). Then I presented to her the long revealing letter from Tom Mboya's son (published here) about his father's killers.
Her first response surprised me; "Is this a strategy to help...
Read more
Kumekucha's Obsession With Tom Mboya
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I must admit that I went through the same path of discovery that Lucas went through discovering about this great man, Joseph Odhiambo Thomas Mboya. I was a five years 6 months and 6 days old youngster living in Kakamega when he was gunned down. My father was at the Kisumu show when news of Mboya's shooting in Nairobi came through and a policeman colleague who happened to be a Luo cruelly quipped to him; "That was long overdue." Meaning that he had been a hunted man for a long time.
Today I launch a campaign to generate support from Kenyans to demand that the government opens an investigation into the manner in which the issue of Tom Mboya's murder was handled and to reveal to Kenyans the identity of "the big man" mentioned in the trial of Nahashon Njenga, the man said to have pulled the trigger on the gun that felled Mboya.
The president himself knows a lot because although...
Read more
I must admit that I went through the same path of discovery that Lucas went through discovering about this great man, Joseph Odhiambo Thomas Mboya. I was a five years 6 months and 6 days old youngster living in Kakamega when he was gunned down. My father was at the Kisumu show when news of Mboya's shooting in Nairobi came through and a policeman colleague who happened to be a Luo cruelly quipped to him; "That was long overdue." Meaning that he had been a hunted man for a long time.
Today I launch a campaign to generate support from Kenyans to demand that the government opens an investigation into the manner in which the issue of Tom Mboya's murder was handled and to reveal to Kenyans the identity of "the big man" mentioned in the trial of Nahashon Njenga, the man said to have pulled the trigger on the gun that felled Mboya.
The president himself knows a lot because although...
Read more
9th Parliament Gives Kenyans Yet Another Reason To Vote The Whole Lot Out Of Parliament
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The amazingly greedy and corrupt 9th parliament has given Kenyan voters yet another reason to vote it out en masse. It emerges that the parliamentarians were already drawing on allowances that had not yet been passed in the house.
Read the details of this hard-to-believe but true tale now!
Despite all the explanations we are getting from people like Finance Minister Amos Kimunya (hardly a neutral judge in this issue because he is amongst those who have enjoyed the illegal perks) there is no other word to describe what our legislators have been doing other than "theft." And on a grand scale.
Stealing is taking that which does not belong to you. And even when thieves return what the have stolen, they are still called thieves. All this time, not a single MP stood up and blew the whistle on what was happening. Instead they all kept right on drawing and enjoying the money that was not theirs.
I appeal to all Kenyans of good will that we use our voters cards to send the thieves home. No wonder they were all so keen on passing the media bill, they obviously have plenty to hide and what we know is just a tip of the iceberg.
Read more
The amazingly greedy and corrupt 9th parliament has given Kenyan voters yet another reason to vote it out en masse. It emerges that the parliamentarians were already drawing on allowances that had not yet been passed in the house.
Read the details of this hard-to-believe but true tale now!
Despite all the explanations we are getting from people like Finance Minister Amos Kimunya (hardly a neutral judge in this issue because he is amongst those who have enjoyed the illegal perks) there is no other word to describe what our legislators have been doing other than "theft." And on a grand scale.
Stealing is taking that which does not belong to you. And even when thieves return what the have stolen, they are still called thieves. All this time, not a single MP stood up and blew the whistle on what was happening. Instead they all kept right on drawing and enjoying the money that was not theirs.
I appeal to all Kenyans of good will that we use our voters cards to send the thieves home. No wonder they were all so keen on passing the media bill, they obviously have plenty to hide and what we know is just a tip of the iceberg.
Read more
I Never Said That Kalamari Was Porn Poster
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Most folks are harassed for time and that is why people usually quickly skim through articles rather than read them. This habit is rampant online and that is why so many readers of this house never were angry at the controversial tongue-in-the-cheek post in this blog appealing for former cabinet minister incharge of internal security Chris Murungaru to be re-instated to the cabinet.
It is also the same reason why many readers seem to think that I have accussed Kalmari of being the porn poster who has been a pest in this blog I DID NOT say anything of the sort.
All I did was ask him to stop harassing our dear friend, Sue. Twice Kalamari has made comments that cannot be judged to be...
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Most folks are harassed for time and that is why people usually quickly skim through articles rather than read them. This habit is rampant online and that is why so many readers of this house never were angry at the controversial tongue-in-the-cheek post in this blog appealing for former cabinet minister incharge of internal security Chris Murungaru to be re-instated to the cabinet.
It is also the same reason why many readers seem to think that I have accussed Kalmari of being the porn poster who has been a pest in this blog I DID NOT say anything of the sort.
All I did was ask him to stop harassing our dear friend, Sue. Twice Kalamari has made comments that cannot be judged to be...
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Goodbye Masai Mara Part 3: President's Son Wanted To View Grabbed Land
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In yet another detailed letter written to the Attorney General Amos Wako on 12th May 2006, which is in my possession a former judge lists various concerns over the grabbing of the land within the world famous Masai Mara game reserve. The judge goes on to mention the names of persons close to the family of President Kibaki whom attempts have been made to co-opt in the development of the land in a clever strategy by the alleged land grabber to ensure that he is untouchable and that he has some "insurance" against losing his grabbed "investment".
Shockingly at one point in the letter the judge says,
"I had mentioned that people like Mr. David Kibaki, My Jimmy Michuki and Mr Stanley Murage have been...
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In yet another detailed letter written to the Attorney General Amos Wako on 12th May 2006, which is in my possession a former judge lists various concerns over the grabbing of the land within the world famous Masai Mara game reserve. The judge goes on to mention the names of persons close to the family of President Kibaki whom attempts have been made to co-opt in the development of the land in a clever strategy by the alleged land grabber to ensure that he is untouchable and that he has some "insurance" against losing his grabbed "investment".
Shockingly at one point in the letter the judge says,
"I had mentioned that people like Mr. David Kibaki, My Jimmy Michuki and Mr Stanley Murage have been...
Read more
Kumekucha Joins Hands With Kenya Online Directory To Help Kenyans Reduce Stress With Barter Trade
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Helping To Maliza Your Stress
Kenyans are going through some very hard times and so Kumekucha, the most read Kenyan political and news blog, has come up with an ingenious way to maliza stress for you. We've launched the exciting new Kumekucha's Badilisha Market, in conjunction with the Kenya Online Directory whose chief objective is to help maliza your stress by enabling you to easily acquire what you don't have without parting with any cash.
You don't need cash to get what you want. Has it crossed your mind that you have something that you don't need which you can easily exchange for something you want? Or that you can even exchange your skills and services for whatever it is you want? Barter conserves cash and can give you what you want at a great discount and with no cash!!.
Even people in business going through a lean period can indulge in...
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Helping To Maliza Your Stress
Kenyans are going through some very hard times and so Kumekucha, the most read Kenyan political and news blog, has come up with an ingenious way to maliza stress for you. We've launched the exciting new Kumekucha's Badilisha Market, in conjunction with the Kenya Online Directory whose chief objective is to help maliza your stress by enabling you to easily acquire what you don't have without parting with any cash.
You don't need cash to get what you want. Has it crossed your mind that you have something that you don't need which you can easily exchange for something you want? Or that you can even exchange your skills and services for whatever it is you want? Barter conserves cash and can give you what you want at a great discount and with no cash!!.
Even people in business going through a lean period can indulge in...
Read more
Tom Mboya’s Son Now Says Father’s Real Killer Is Alive
Kumekucha Stop Press: Breaking News
One of Tom Mboya’s surviving sons has broken his many years of silence this morning and released a statement that will no doubt send shock waves across the country and beyond.
Ironically his father was slain at the age of 39 and it is at that age that Lucas Mboya has broken his long silence to demand justice for the heinous assassination of his father.
Here is his letter to Kumekucha followed by the statement in full in the next post;
Jambo.
My name is Lucas Mboya.
I have been visiting this blog since i came across it a year or so ago while
searching some documents on my father. I am impressed with the quality of the
dialogue and it would appear that the people who frequent it are well informed and
opinionated. I dont agree with all I find but that’s healthy.
Nevertheless I have not come across anyone who has such determination to keep in esteem the name of my father, Tom Mboya. As such I am indebted. That will not make me agree with your principles and or ideas but certainly I take seriously your position and that of your regular commentators.
I have attached a letter from myself on circumstances that I believe led to the death of My father. This has left me angry, frustrated and bitter. It would appear that successive Governments in Kenya are either too incompetent, ignorant, unwilling or afraid of doing 'justice' to the murder of Tom Mboya. The trial that was should go down in history as a sham. A complete farce of judicial procedure.
But that unfortunately is what Kenyans have come to expect from their judiciary.
I commiserate with the family of the late Pinto, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko and many others where state complicity was obvious in their deaths yet judicial proceedings as usual were inadequate.
I am a very very very angry man.
Regards Lucas Mboya
One of Tom Mboya’s surviving sons has broken his many years of silence this morning and released a statement that will no doubt send shock waves across the country and beyond.
Ironically his father was slain at the age of 39 and it is at that age that Lucas Mboya has broken his long silence to demand justice for the heinous assassination of his father.
Here is his letter to Kumekucha followed by the statement in full in the next post;
Jambo.
My name is Lucas Mboya.
I have been visiting this blog since i came across it a year or so ago while
searching some documents on my father. I am impressed with the quality of the
dialogue and it would appear that the people who frequent it are well informed and
opinionated. I dont agree with all I find but that’s healthy.
Nevertheless I have not come across anyone who has such determination to keep in esteem the name of my father, Tom Mboya. As such I am indebted. That will not make me agree with your principles and or ideas but certainly I take seriously your position and that of your regular commentators.
I have attached a letter from myself on circumstances that I believe led to the death of My father. This has left me angry, frustrated and bitter. It would appear that successive Governments in Kenya are either too incompetent, ignorant, unwilling or afraid of doing 'justice' to the murder of Tom Mboya. The trial that was should go down in history as a sham. A complete farce of judicial procedure.
But that unfortunately is what Kenyans have come to expect from their judiciary.
I commiserate with the family of the late Pinto, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko and many others where state complicity was obvious in their deaths yet judicial proceedings as usual were inadequate.
I am a very very very angry man.
Regards Lucas Mboya
Tom Mboya's Son Breaks Silence: 39 =Time for the truth!
Kumekucha STOP PRESS: BREAKING NEWS
Whoever killed Mboya made one mistake. They should have killed me too because If I can expose them I will, be they dead or alive. And I do believe that the real architect of Mboyas’ murder is alive and well.
Whoever killed Mboya made one mistake. They should have killed me too because If I can expose them I will, be they dead or alive. And I do believe that the real architect of Mboyas’ murder is alive and well.
My name is Lucas Mboya. I am 39 years old. My father, the late, great, Thomas Joseph Mboya, died violently at 39 years old. My late brother Peter Mboya, died violently at the age of 39 years old. (10 months apart). If there is some jinx that prevents a Mboya man from passing 40 years old. Let me take this opportunity to get a load off my chest.
When my late father died I was I had been on God’s good earth for 21 months.
As I grew up I had to grope my way around trying to find out who my father was and why he had been killed. Answers I got ranged from ‘he was a criminal and CIA agent’, to ‘he was next in line for the Presidency’, which I do now believe was the case.
What I would like to do now is explore the real reason why Tom Mboya was killed and by whom. I will for legal reasons make many references to a book, ‘Tom Mboya, The Man Kenya Wanted to Forget”, David Goldsworthy.
My goal is to first get Kenyans to understand that I believe my fathers’ death was the point in Kenyas’ history that the two most influential tribes parted, both publicly and permanently and this acrimony has been the root cause of most of the political problems Kenya has had to date. Additionally, I do believe that without a genuine ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ in place Kenyans will never breach the tribalism gap that has been entrenched in our psyche.
Its’ no secret that Kenya politics is not about policies, but about tribes and communities. As a result rampant corruption abounds. It is simply not possible to deal with corruption without dealing first with tribalism. Tribalism feeds corruption.
Lets’ also understand that appreciation of ones tribe and customs is right and important. What is wrong is assuming that because ones tribe is different, that therefore ones tribe or community is better, or has rights that others should not enjoy. The saying from “animal farm’, ‘ all animals are equal but some are more equal than others’ comes to mind.
I also intend to make a formal request to the Kenya Government and the Chief Justice in particular to give me and make public the transcripts of the trial of one, Nahashon Njenga who was accused and sentenced to death for the murder of Tom Mboya. This I believe is my God given right. I am Mboya’s his son and I want to know what happened and if I feel justice was not done, then I have the right to pursue whatever justice I can get in any manner that I can get it under Kenyan and International Law.
Whoever killed Mboya made one mistake. They should have killed me too because If I can expose them I will, be they dead or alive. And I do believe that the real architect of Mboyas’ murder is alive and well. By the time you finish reading this piece I am sure that not only will you understand who I am talking about but you will be able to join the dots and see why I believe this man (and others) were responsible.
In Goldworthy’s book, his chapter on ‘The Politics of Survival’ He says:
‘At any rate, by late 1967 the new factional lines were clearly visible: so much so that talk of ‘Kanu’ A and ‘Kanu B’ was becoming quite common. On one side ‘Kanu A’ was the formidable coalition which we have referred to so far as the inner group, but which was variously know as the ‘Kikuyu group’, the ‘Gatundu group’, the ‘Court’: Mungai, Njonjo and Koinange, all very close to the President and with them Moi (vice president since early1967 in succession to Murumbi) and somewhat less powerful Kukuyu such as Gichuru, Kiano and Kibaki (though on issues of economic policy Kibaki and others usually stood with Mboya)…………………………….On the other side was Mboya. He too had his multi tribal supporting group which at ministerial level included Ngala (Giriama), Ayodo (Luo), Sagini (Kisii), Otiende (luyha), Nyagah (Embu) and Eliud Mwendwa (Kamba). In general he had the backing of the Kanu Luo, the anti-Ngei Kamba, the pro Ngala Coastals, and MP’s from the North East. All told there were perhaps 60 of the 158 Members. A third group, including at ministerial level Argwings Kodhek and Angaine was generally seen as neutral……….
“The Gatundu group’s jealousy and fear of Mboya emerged with extreme clarity at a private meeting of the full Kanu parliamentary group in March 1968, the first time the issue was directly joined in such a large gathering and in the presence of Kenyatta himself. Subsequent leaked accounts had it that it was the Attorney General who led the attack…….Njonjo delivered an address full of aspersions against Mboya’s ambitions and his American connections. Mboya argued back strongly. Then there was a crucial intervention on Mboya’s side by Bruce McKenzie – a man uniquely placed in more ways than one, not one of the Kikuyu group but certainly enjoying its confidence. He reminded Kenyatta of the story of the monarch ‘whose kingdom prospered while his able son did everything but which fell into disarray after the king disposed of him when jealous courtiers spread lies about him and his ambitions. In this case Mzee listened and the attack failed.’
It is clear from this incident that there was a cabal in Government that were determined to see Mboya out at any cost, led by Njonjo.
The Government at this stage (1967) set up a committee with Kenyatta’s approval to propose a succession formula to replace the existing one under which if the President died in office the Assembly would elect a successor for the balance of his term (this formula had ironically been drafted by Mboya and Njonjo in 1964).
According to Goldsworthy, the Gatundu group now feared that ‘if Mboya were given an opening under ….(these) arrangements he could mesmerize parliament and ensure his own election’.
He continues ‘Accordingly in March the Government introduced a constitutional amendment bill providing that if the President died, the vice President would automatically succeed him for the rest of his term.. Mboya’s position was saved, however by the genuine anger and resentment of almost all of the back-bench MP’s at this further erosion of parliamentary power. Confronted by their flat refusal to pass the bill, the government – meaning essentially the Gatundu group – presented in April a revised version under which the vice president would succeed for six months after which there would be a national election.
‘In May, while this was being debated Kenyatta suffered a mild stroke. Thereupon Njonjo and Moi, without consulting Cabinet hurriedly put up a third version whose effect was to retain the six-month interim president but to reduce his powers in certain areas. Obviously with this further watering-down they hoped for quick Parliamentary approval. Still concerned above all to block Mboya, they however added a completely new clause raising the minimum age of Presidential candidates from thirty five to forty (Mboya was thirty nine). And again here they miscalculated.
Ministers and MP’s of almost all persuasions were angry at so blatant a manouevre; and the Assembly refused once again to be taken for granted. Moreover Kenyatta soon recovered, and was incensed to find his close lieutenants apparently assuming him as good as dead and busily ensuring their own security. He intervened personally to withdraw the bill and in a turbulent cabinet meeting – in which, it is said, ‘Kenyatta told off Moi and Njonjo is scorching terms’ a fourth and final version was worked out’.
From these accounts and from discussions with friends and relatives who were mature at the time I have concluded that clearly, Njonjo, Koinange and Mungai were determined to get my father out of the way of Presidential succession and were becoming more and more desperate by the day especially as Kenyatta’s health faltered. Moi as Vice President was the pawn they would use to thus consolidate themselves in case of Kenyatta’s demise.
My father I believe was interested in power. But not for the reasons the others wanted the same.
Goldworthy says ‘Mboya felt, then, growing dissatisfactions with the international development effort, and more especially with the economic behaviour of the Western powers. To this should probably be added a disenchantment with the attitudes and behaviour of African ruling groups themselves. Mboya certainly felt that policy – making and administrative elites should be properly paid for their leadership role; but massive and rapid capital accumulation through the opportunistic fusing of political, administrative, and business roles was a different matter. It must have appeared to him as a perversion of the whole developmental purpose, and as something of a betrayal of the ideas he had tried to work out for Kenya and Africa. As Gertzel puts it,
“Mboya stood essentially for a rational economic development as opposed to any short-term policies that might benefit one group at the future expense of the country as a whole. He argued explicitly for broad limits of planning within which the politics of influence must be contained…. It implied a challenge to any one group that wanted immediate benefits at the cost of future development, and was likely in particular to arouse opposition from a burgeoning economic class” .
And again ‘Of course he was ambitious to get and keep power; and it was surely true that Mboya, perhaps more than any other member of the Governing elite, sought to use power in the social interest’.
To me it is clear that a rift had emerged between Mboya and the Gatundu group led by Njonjo based on their fear and jealousy of him and the fact that they saw power as a means to rapid financial accumulation which was against Mboya’s ideals. Such a person would not do as a President in their eyes.
Goldworthy says the final straw was when it became clear to the Gatundu group that without Mboya (Odinga was already out) they would not be able to keep anything in Nyanza (this despite the fact that they had already attacked and decimated all of Mboya’s power bases).
They clearly thought that Mboya was a walkover and their demonstration of power would bring him in line. They were gravely mistaken. Mboya’s attitude was one of indifference when it came to issues of Kanu’s political prowess in Nyanza. As such;
‘In May 1969 a by election was held in Gem constituency to elect a successor to Argwings Kodhek who had been killed in a car accident. Gem had been that rarity, a Kanu held seat in Central Nyanza. Mboya both as party Secretary-General and as the sole remaining Luo minister at the highest level was naturally expected to spearhead the Governments campaign on behalf of it’s Luo candidate. But this time he stayed right out of it, and it fell upon Mungai to lead Kanu’s campaign. Mboya’s unspoken message seemed to be: let them see what they can do without me.
Kanu’s candidate was crushed. In the view of some, this incident was for the inner group the final straw: the factor which hardened them against Mboya once and for all’.
In the final anaylsis. Mboya was murdered and he had seen it coming. But he was not prepared to compromise on his ideals.
Who had the motive to murder him?
Who had the capacity to do it?
Who had the ability to cover it up?
In mboya’s trial, my understanding is that the prosecution failed to follow up on an allegation made by a senior Police officer to the effect that when they were interrogating Njenga he had said, ‘why ask me, why not ask the big man’? the prosecution failed to follow this in the trial. In addition I understand that the family lawyer, one Fritz De Souza was not allowed to cross examine the suspect? Why would this be so? Does it make sense? unless there was a deliberate attempt by the powers at the time to avoid that question.
Yours sincerely
Lucas Mboya
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Sexual Harassment Is A Criminal Offence And Why Porn Poster Needs Professional Help
archive
The net can be a dangerous place. It is fairly easy for anybody to fall into the trap of porn addiction and by extension sex addiction.
A professional has presented me with a fascinating profile of the porn poster who has been at work in this blog. I must admit that at first I assumed that he was a serious agent of certain interests out to ruin this blog and everything that we have built here. However it is rapidly emerging that it is somebody who badly needs professional help.
Sex and porn addiction, I was shocked to discover, many times affects people who have serious sexual deficiencies so that they quickly reach a point where they are not able to have normal sex without the help of hard drugs or certain sexual enhancing and libido boosting aids.
Read more
The net can be a dangerous place. It is fairly easy for anybody to fall into the trap of porn addiction and by extension sex addiction.
A professional has presented me with a fascinating profile of the porn poster who has been at work in this blog. I must admit that at first I assumed that he was a serious agent of certain interests out to ruin this blog and everything that we have built here. However it is rapidly emerging that it is somebody who badly needs professional help.
Sex and porn addiction, I was shocked to discover, many times affects people who have serious sexual deficiencies so that they quickly reach a point where they are not able to have normal sex without the help of hard drugs or certain sexual enhancing and libido boosting aids.
Read more
Why All MPs Must Go Without Exception
archive
In our ongoing campaign to rid the august house of the entire 9th parliament team that has brought the nation on the brink of a major crisis, some have suggested that we spare some of the MPs while others have talked about the need for a smooth handover.
I appreciate this input from my brothers and sisters and value and respect your rights to your views and opinions. However I feel it is necessary to highlight a few reasons why both these two suggestions may not be in the best interests of Kenya and Kenyans just now.
Firstly there is no issue of a smooth handover, since this arises where some good work was being done, hence the need for some continuity. We all know that very little was being done. Whatever the achievements of the 9th parliament (and I find it extremely difficult to find them) they were too little too late. We must raise performance standards to a new level and to do that we cannot afford to praise the mediocrity and filth of the 9th parliament.
Secondly this fear of handing over parliament to some inexperienced Kenyans is a myth and was the same fear that many had when Kenya got her independence in the 1960s. Very inexperienced people then like Mwai Kibaki, Daniel Moi and Tom Mboya and others took over...
Read more
In our ongoing campaign to rid the august house of the entire 9th parliament team that has brought the nation on the brink of a major crisis, some have suggested that we spare some of the MPs while others have talked about the need for a smooth handover.
I appreciate this input from my brothers and sisters and value and respect your rights to your views and opinions. However I feel it is necessary to highlight a few reasons why both these two suggestions may not be in the best interests of Kenya and Kenyans just now.
Firstly there is no issue of a smooth handover, since this arises where some good work was being done, hence the need for some continuity. We all know that very little was being done. Whatever the achievements of the 9th parliament (and I find it extremely difficult to find them) they were too little too late. We must raise performance standards to a new level and to do that we cannot afford to praise the mediocrity and filth of the 9th parliament.
Secondly this fear of handing over parliament to some inexperienced Kenyans is a myth and was the same fear that many had when Kenya got her independence in the 1960s. Very inexperienced people then like Mwai Kibaki, Daniel Moi and Tom Mboya and others took over...
Read more
Goodbye Masai Mara Part 2
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What Happens If Masai Mara Land Grabbing Continues?
I have in my possession a pile of documents as solid proof of what you are about to read. They tell a very sad story that should alarm every Kenyan. Today I continue with Part 2 of this series, which I started yesterday. Today I publish a letter from a company called Olkiombo Ltd. Which owns a lodge within the land that has been grabbed.
The letter reveals just a tip of the iceberg of a complex scheme to ensure that public land within the world famous Masai Mara game reserve remains in the name of an individual. Tomorrow I will name more names but in the letter I publish today the names of former powerful minister Chris Murungaru is mentioned as well as that of Kiraitu Murungi. According to the letter sent to the AG, the two were...
Read more
What Happens If Masai Mara Land Grabbing Continues?
I have in my possession a pile of documents as solid proof of what you are about to read. They tell a very sad story that should alarm every Kenyan. Today I continue with Part 2 of this series, which I started yesterday. Today I publish a letter from a company called Olkiombo Ltd. Which owns a lodge within the land that has been grabbed.
The letter reveals just a tip of the iceberg of a complex scheme to ensure that public land within the world famous Masai Mara game reserve remains in the name of an individual. Tomorrow I will name more names but in the letter I publish today the names of former powerful minister Chris Murungaru is mentioned as well as that of Kiraitu Murungi. According to the letter sent to the AG, the two were...
Read more
Letter To The AG On Masai Mara Land Grabbing And DPP Keriako Tobiko
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OLKIOMBO LIMITED
P.O. BOX 40587
NAIROBI
3rd February 2006
The Honourable,
The Attorney General
Attorney General
Chambers
P.O. Box 40112
Nairobi.
Dear Sir,
Re: CMCCRC 2157/03 TRAGIC TURN: MR. KERIAKO TOBIKO ; DEPUTY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
We are the majority shareholders of Olkiombo Limited which owns a Tourist Lodge (the Lodge) in Maasai Mara National Reserve (the Reserve) grabbed in circumstances stated as fraudulent by Commissioner of Lands in letter No. 224086 of 6.10.00 (A). Olkiombo’s ownership is by Grant No.4453 of 19.1.90 (B) accepted in HCCC. No 5014 of 1990 (C).
Land Reference No. 13325 was granted to us through a lawful process of setting apart the land. The law says on subsequent adjudication of any such area, the person for whose use and occupation it was set apart must be recorded as owner of the same.
The lodge was fraudulently grabbed as was some 4000 acres of the Reserve (the grabbed land) without any attempt to adjudicate either the grabbed land or the lodge area. A resolution of County Council (Council) dated 12.7. 05 (D) shows the grabbed land is 9 kilometres inside the Reserve and is within Lodge’s exclusivity area.
The grabber is...
Read more
OLKIOMBO LIMITED
P.O. BOX 40587
NAIROBI
3rd February 2006
The Honourable,
The Attorney General
Attorney General
Chambers
P.O. Box 40112
Nairobi.
Dear Sir,
Re: CMCCRC 2157/03 TRAGIC TURN: MR. KERIAKO TOBIKO ; DEPUTY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
We are the majority shareholders of Olkiombo Limited which owns a Tourist Lodge (the Lodge) in Maasai Mara National Reserve (the Reserve) grabbed in circumstances stated as fraudulent by Commissioner of Lands in letter No. 224086 of 6.10.00 (A). Olkiombo’s ownership is by Grant No.4453 of 19.1.90 (B) accepted in HCCC. No 5014 of 1990 (C).
Land Reference No. 13325 was granted to us through a lawful process of setting apart the land. The law says on subsequent adjudication of any such area, the person for whose use and occupation it was set apart must be recorded as owner of the same.
The lodge was fraudulently grabbed as was some 4000 acres of the Reserve (the grabbed land) without any attempt to adjudicate either the grabbed land or the lodge area. A resolution of County Council (Council) dated 12.7. 05 (D) shows the grabbed land is 9 kilometres inside the Reserve and is within Lodge’s exclusivity area.
The grabber is...
Read more
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Why We Must Vote Out The Entire 9th Parliament
archive
A new survey shows that 90 per cent of the current MPs will Not retain their seats. I say that this is not good enough. All Kenyans should rally behind a campaign to ensure that we vote out the entire lot (100%) come this December.
I will give just 3 solid reasons;
i) While the rest of the poverty stricken country starved, this parliament not only passed hefty remunerations allowances and benefits for themselves (including free house grants), but they went ahead and enjoyed it oblivious of what was happening in the rest of the country. Meanwhile ordinary Kenyans have seen unprecedented price hikes of many basic food commodities and some of these hikes have been engineered by greedy businessmen who have manipulated the distribution of products like sugar and have pocketed certain legislators to ensure that their evil plans to fleece the ordinary Kenyans go through. As I write this most Kenyans can no longer afford a soothing cup of tea of nothing else at the end of a long hard day. No single MP even one day offered not to receive their huge immoral salary in protest...
Read more
Somebody is waiting to exchange something valuable for your skills which you take for granted. Do barter trade at this popular Kenyan site.
A new survey shows that 90 per cent of the current MPs will Not retain their seats. I say that this is not good enough. All Kenyans should rally behind a campaign to ensure that we vote out the entire lot (100%) come this December.
I will give just 3 solid reasons;
i) While the rest of the poverty stricken country starved, this parliament not only passed hefty remunerations allowances and benefits for themselves (including free house grants), but they went ahead and enjoyed it oblivious of what was happening in the rest of the country. Meanwhile ordinary Kenyans have seen unprecedented price hikes of many basic food commodities and some of these hikes have been engineered by greedy businessmen who have manipulated the distribution of products like sugar and have pocketed certain legislators to ensure that their evil plans to fleece the ordinary Kenyans go through. As I write this most Kenyans can no longer afford a soothing cup of tea of nothing else at the end of a long hard day. No single MP even one day offered not to receive their huge immoral salary in protest...
Read more
Somebody is waiting to exchange something valuable for your skills which you take for granted. Do barter trade at this popular Kenyan site.
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