I miss Lucy.
No, I'm not crazy. It's just that when I look at Michelle Obama I sometimes wonder why Kenyans are okay with a situation where our first lady doesn't ever come out to say jambo to us. Wouldn't it be nice if she walked down the street every two or three months to tell us what's going on with her? I'd like to know that the nation's first lady is okay and that she's happy. Knowing that makes all of us feel good about the state of affairs in the State House, in Muthaiga and back in Nyeri.
Lucy, I hope to see you somewhere in Nairobi soon.
Having said that, I have to wonder why Kenyans, especially the press, never scrutinize the wives of the men who want to lead us. What, for instance, did we know about Mrs. Musyoka? And what did we know about Mrs. Ruto? Tell me what we knew about Mrs. Mudavadi? Granted we knew a lot about Lucy, but that was only because we'd come to fall in love with her dramatic ways in her husband's first term. By the time Kibaki was sworn in in that secretive ceremony at the lawns of the State House, we all knew exactly what we were getting. Another turbulent term. But Lucy has behaved herself. She's allowed the President and the Premier to grapple with the myriad problems facing this nation without distractions. So I think we need to clap for her.
In 2012, here is what I'll be looking for in a first lady. It's wise to throw this out there so we can start watching the wives of the men who want to lead us.
1. A photogenic woman. Once we elect a President, we are stuck with the man for years. At the very least, the woman he presents as the mother of the nation needs to be beautiful, and must look sweet in pictures. A tired, mean face is fodder for comedians and fireside prattles, but it eventually depresses the nation. So beauty is a critical factor.
2. A Godly Woman. I know somebody is getting ready to jump me for not placing this factor first. The reason is simple. When you meet somebody for the first time, what you instantly see is their looks. Matter of fact, most people judge us by their first impression of us. Given that state of affairs, a potential first lady must prove to us, after we've determined that she's cute, that she loves her God. If a first lady is prayerful, it's a good indicator that her husband is too.
3. A Simple Woman. Remember Imelda Marcos? Three hundred pairs of shoes! Remember Sarah Palin? U.S. $150,000 in stylish clothes and a hairdo. Talk of frugality. The point is...a woman who has the guts to dress like Cleopatra or Cindy Crawford at a time when most Kenyans are struggling is probably going to become a fashion statement in the State House. Is that what we want? The time to scrutinize their wardrobe is now.
4. A Single Wife. This is not something most women have control over, but as a nation we must insist that our presidents have one wife. I'm not saying this because of the Lucy-Mary wars. I'm just suggesting that as a Christian nation we need to be true to the biblical principle of one man one wife. In any case, there is no provision for a first and second lady in our constitution. A man with two wives must be disqualified. Period.
5. Well Educated. Having a ding dong as a first lady can be a traumatic experience. Whenever there are state visits, our Head of State is "required" to be accompanied by his wife. Now just imagine our ding dong first lady in Paris with Carla Bruni, or in the States with the stylish Michelle Obama, or in Uganda with the well traveled Janet Museveni. Get my point? We can't afford to embarrass Kenya, so let's avoid presidential candidates with wives who think South America is the bottom half of the United States.
I need not go on. Obviously there are other crucial factors to consider. Let's hear them from you.
In the mean time, I hope that when First Lady Lucy Kibaki steps out to greet the nation we will all accord her the respect and the adulation she deserves.
Monday, December 01, 2008
The Aids Scourge
Our society is afflicted with the scourge of Aids and other diseases that owe their origin to promiscuity. Yet the cry is not, “How can we stop promiscuity?” but rather, “How can we cure Aids?”
Aids is a disease that has basically ravaged the society to the very core of the family. Many a family has been brought to their wits end by the crippling effects of this formidable scourge.
With fathers and mothers succumbing to Aids,thousands of children are left parentless.It is estimated that there will be 54 million Aids orphans in Africa by 2010.
As if the pain of being left parentless is not enough, the children are faced with the stark reality of survival— fending for themselves!
A large percentage of them drop out of school and resort to menial jobs to assuage their economic misery. What is more, some girls plunge headlong into the dizzying world of unexpurgated prostitution ending up with the dreaded HIV virus.
Many new cases of HIV infections and Aids deaths are reported daily. With overawed emotion, thousands watch as their beloved die in pain and anguish.
In Africa it is estimated that there are 30 million people living with the virus. This fact clearly traverses the lengths of all imaginable reality.It flies in the face of all the Aids awareness programs that have been mooted and undertaken.
If anything , the pessimistic statistics on Aids are unnerving.Nothing less than this.
Take for instance the recent Aids data in Malawi.It is said that seventy percent of its workforce is infected with the deadly virus.
And without batting an eye , seventy thousand teachers die of Aids yearly in the same country. In Zimbabwe one person in five is infected with the dreaded disease. Similarly in many third world countries such is the tune and song.
Looking at the society one would not fail to see where we have compromised our ideals at the expense of precious lives.
Many Aids awareness campaigns and strategies are put in place but the stark truth is growing dimmer and darker by the day. But instead of trying to patch up our tattered morality, the hue and cry is about getting a cure for Aids.
Nowadays we hear of ‘free love’ and the resulting children as ‘love children’.Sexual experimentation is only wrong today if people do not ‘love’ one another.We hear so often , ‘We love each other , don’t we? That’s all that matters.’
Many people engage in such a liaison with impunity and of such there’s been an alarming spate.
Who can deny that many sexually transmitted diseases, Aids included, arise from this profligate indiscretion? Who can deny that behaviour of this nature is rife in this present day and age?
We also hear of ‘nyumba ndogo’[a man’s mistress] in Tanzania. This is so common place that even the young know what it entails when you talk of it.
Most men go to these mistresses for sexual release which , as many are heard saying ,they don’t get from their wives.
One would rightly expect that with the ever rising rate of Aids infections , the case of ‘mistresses’ would be ‘burnt to a frazzle’. But this is not the case.
Aids, which is no respecter of persons, uses this open door [one of the many doors] to wreck havoc on people’s lives. Infact it would be preposterous for anyone to think that he can hold hot coal to his bosom and not be burnt.
Besides,disorderly houses[brothels] are a common sight in many cities.Here women can be hired for sexual pleasure.
Women of different sizes and ages driven by their different problems parade themselves to attract the ogling eye of many a prurient man for a quickie before he heads home.
Women do it for money ; men do it to satiate their insatiable appetites[or so it is said].
What do they end up with most of the time? Aids. Even if they use a sheath [condom] it goes wrong sometimes.
Furthermore, there is a sad ring to the whole shooting match. The practice of prostitution goes well below the norms of society.
This is gross moral turpitude!
Sadly enough, countless numbers of girls of school going age are hooked in this inglorious vice. And countless numbers of these girls are dying of Aids each passing day.
Lives that have not been lived to the full are suddenly nipped in the bud. All their aspirations and ambitions go up in smoke.
Aids denies them the chance ‘to make a dent in the universe’.
To add more doom and gloom to this already dark picture, we hear of teachers who have sexual relations with their students.This clearly flies in the face of the teaching profession conduct and ethics.
This behaviour is diabolical and socially unacceptable. Moreover, it doesn’t help check the spread of HIV Aids but rather propagates the scourge.
Randy teachers who instigate such liaisons leave indelible marks in the lives of their mates –the young students.These may be pregnancy, Stds or even worse, Aids.
In view of these many doorways to Aids and more yet, we need to redress how we approach the fight against this pandemic.
Fighting against Aids is not an end in itself .We must fight the core: promiscuity. Please don’t get me wrong. Trying to get the cure and anti-retrovirals is not wasted energy. Not in a million years.
But after all illusions of the truth are driven away and the truth is left shining bright, the snag still remains :does it really make sense to get anti-retrovirals for a few[because too expensive] while tens of thousands are infected daily?
People need to be hit where it matters –stop your immorality! -if any realistic end is to be realised.From there work our way up the ranks of prevention and…..cure. If the cents are taken care of, the shillings will definitely take care of themselves.
Promiscuity and immorality have to be taken for what they are; evil, unacceptable and deterrent in the fight against Aids. Period.
To sum up, can we expect to extricate ourselves from this menace if promiscuity and immorality are still a principal part of our moral fabric? If we do, then it’s like expecting a snow ball to survive in hell.
Driving a Point Home – home-style!
Aids is a disease that has basically ravaged the society to the very core of the family. Many a family has been brought to their wits end by the crippling effects of this formidable scourge.
With fathers and mothers succumbing to Aids,thousands of children are left parentless.It is estimated that there will be 54 million Aids orphans in Africa by 2010.
As if the pain of being left parentless is not enough, the children are faced with the stark reality of survival— fending for themselves!
A large percentage of them drop out of school and resort to menial jobs to assuage their economic misery. What is more, some girls plunge headlong into the dizzying world of unexpurgated prostitution ending up with the dreaded HIV virus.
Many new cases of HIV infections and Aids deaths are reported daily. With overawed emotion, thousands watch as their beloved die in pain and anguish.
In Africa it is estimated that there are 30 million people living with the virus. This fact clearly traverses the lengths of all imaginable reality.It flies in the face of all the Aids awareness programs that have been mooted and undertaken.
If anything , the pessimistic statistics on Aids are unnerving.Nothing less than this.
Take for instance the recent Aids data in Malawi.It is said that seventy percent of its workforce is infected with the deadly virus.
And without batting an eye , seventy thousand teachers die of Aids yearly in the same country. In Zimbabwe one person in five is infected with the dreaded disease. Similarly in many third world countries such is the tune and song.
Looking at the society one would not fail to see where we have compromised our ideals at the expense of precious lives.
Many Aids awareness campaigns and strategies are put in place but the stark truth is growing dimmer and darker by the day. But instead of trying to patch up our tattered morality, the hue and cry is about getting a cure for Aids.
Nowadays we hear of ‘free love’ and the resulting children as ‘love children’.Sexual experimentation is only wrong today if people do not ‘love’ one another.We hear so often , ‘We love each other , don’t we? That’s all that matters.’
Many people engage in such a liaison with impunity and of such there’s been an alarming spate.
Who can deny that many sexually transmitted diseases, Aids included, arise from this profligate indiscretion? Who can deny that behaviour of this nature is rife in this present day and age?
We also hear of ‘nyumba ndogo’[a man’s mistress] in Tanzania. This is so common place that even the young know what it entails when you talk of it.
Most men go to these mistresses for sexual release which , as many are heard saying ,they don’t get from their wives.
One would rightly expect that with the ever rising rate of Aids infections , the case of ‘mistresses’ would be ‘burnt to a frazzle’. But this is not the case.
Aids, which is no respecter of persons, uses this open door [one of the many doors] to wreck havoc on people’s lives. Infact it would be preposterous for anyone to think that he can hold hot coal to his bosom and not be burnt.
Besides,disorderly houses[brothels] are a common sight in many cities.Here women can be hired for sexual pleasure.
Women of different sizes and ages driven by their different problems parade themselves to attract the ogling eye of many a prurient man for a quickie before he heads home.
Women do it for money ; men do it to satiate their insatiable appetites[or so it is said].
What do they end up with most of the time? Aids. Even if they use a sheath [condom] it goes wrong sometimes.
Furthermore, there is a sad ring to the whole shooting match. The practice of prostitution goes well below the norms of society.
This is gross moral turpitude!
Sadly enough, countless numbers of girls of school going age are hooked in this inglorious vice. And countless numbers of these girls are dying of Aids each passing day.
Lives that have not been lived to the full are suddenly nipped in the bud. All their aspirations and ambitions go up in smoke.
Aids denies them the chance ‘to make a dent in the universe’.
To add more doom and gloom to this already dark picture, we hear of teachers who have sexual relations with their students.This clearly flies in the face of the teaching profession conduct and ethics.
This behaviour is diabolical and socially unacceptable. Moreover, it doesn’t help check the spread of HIV Aids but rather propagates the scourge.
Randy teachers who instigate such liaisons leave indelible marks in the lives of their mates –the young students.These may be pregnancy, Stds or even worse, Aids.
In view of these many doorways to Aids and more yet, we need to redress how we approach the fight against this pandemic.
Fighting against Aids is not an end in itself .We must fight the core: promiscuity. Please don’t get me wrong. Trying to get the cure and anti-retrovirals is not wasted energy. Not in a million years.
But after all illusions of the truth are driven away and the truth is left shining bright, the snag still remains :does it really make sense to get anti-retrovirals for a few[because too expensive] while tens of thousands are infected daily?
People need to be hit where it matters –stop your immorality! -if any realistic end is to be realised.From there work our way up the ranks of prevention and…..cure. If the cents are taken care of, the shillings will definitely take care of themselves.
Promiscuity and immorality have to be taken for what they are; evil, unacceptable and deterrent in the fight against Aids. Period.
To sum up, can we expect to extricate ourselves from this menace if promiscuity and immorality are still a principal part of our moral fabric? If we do, then it’s like expecting a snow ball to survive in hell.
Driving a Point Home – home-style!
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