The kicking and screaming is over and the political elite settling for the local tribunal option secure in the knowledge that their scalps are safe. But not so fast, time is ticking and this post-election issue may not prove as easy as other occasions when they selfishly gang to feather their nests.
The ICC has certified that Kenya is a JUDICIALLY FAILED STATE. And without plastic patriotic blinkers they are spot on. Waki the Kenyan must have seen it coming. No wonder the Hague noose tightens with every passing day. In one week, the MPs have breathed fire and brimstone and promptly followed it with full pack of ice all in equal measure. Well, scoundrels manifest themselves in all shapes and sizes.
Our legal scoundrels must be rubbing their hands in glee in salivating at the impending fat cheques and crowded diaries. Our poor and tattered constitution will soon be the subject of merciless shredding as these mercenaries invent legal loopholes to derail Hague Express. Make no mistake, all the present political heat with commensurate light have eyes singularly trained on the predictable and abused gift of presidential clemency to murderers. And towards that end, Kibaki will not disappoint lest he risks exposing the nasty contents of the political can.
The PEV was no ordinary bloat on our national fabric. The MPs are only cheating themselves by thumbing their chests in minting shortcuts that will only succeed in unwittingly watering impunity. Thank God Waki’s Hague option insulates us from being help as a collective collateral and hostage in the MPs' murderous schemes to swim in our blood.
No therapyspeak
But the MPs are not alone. They are in good company of many Kenyans weaned on impunity must be sheepishly smiling ear to ear brandishing hollow sovereignty as they bend over once more for the MPs’ ultimate ride to self-preservation. At least Waki gave us Annan and his team of EMINENT PERSONS who must earn their labels.
It is no time for THERAPYSPEAK. Our Mps are as guilty as sin itself. They are running roughshod exploiting the chronic lack of leadership within our shores. The present lot have disabused us of any hope in the so-called younger generation of leaders. The little devils are fast overtaking king Lucifer in all matters abominable and scandalous to the national good.
Democracy is one word that has been used and abused with equal zeal. The MPs may form all the available committees they wish to buy time but they better they are only fooling themselves. All the gimmicks to derail the Hague Express will not deter the locomotive from ultimately leaving station Nairobi for Holland. It may take long but it will surely head carrying fully-paid passengers. It remains a matter of when and not if.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Inside Story Behind Strange Killing At Sarit Centre
Kumekucha exclusive
A couple of weeks ago a man walked up to an ATM machine at Sarit Centre did his business and emerged. Seconds later another man stepped forward and shot him at point blank range. It was clear from the way he was shot that the idea was to make sure he died.
What followed was puzzling. A section of the media reported the incident and even added the critical bit of information that the man had some information on police extra-judicial killings.
Then suddenly the story vanished and nobody seemed to follow up what would appear to be a very big story.
Today I reveal the inside details behind the killing and exactly what happened.
The name of the deceased was Constable Kirinya and he was a driver at the Eagle Squad - a sister squad of Kwekwe which it has been whispered have been given express orders "from above" to execute anyone they IMAGINE is linked or sympathetic to Mungiki.
Constable Kirinya and his team arrested a notorious drug baron from Mombasa, who had Sh4m in cash and drugs of an unknown value. It happened that the drug baron was known to some senior cops - two of them being Nairobi Provincial Police Officer, Njue Njagi, and his deputy, Julius Ndegwa. Insiders say Njue and Ndegwa called for the suspect and shared the loot. Eagle Squad officers who had arrested the drug baron were given Sh200,000 each.
But Con Kirinya declined to take the money. He was given an immediate transfer to the North Eastern province to languish there as is the usual practice. He refused to take the transfer and fled to a foreign embassy in Kampala with the help of some influential friends. He promised to spill the beans of how Eagle arrested young men from their homes or places of work and executed them in cold blood under the guise of fighting Mungiki (as reported here in Kumekucha). He would have given critical details on how many young men had been killed and where their bodies were secretly discarded by the police. He promised the embassy he would reveal how Eagle had turned out to be an execution and extortion squad. The squad's officers are said to be targeting rich young men - whom they threaten to kill if they are not given a certain amount of money. Some end up being killed even after paying a hefty ransom.
Eagle Squad has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Families of young men (mostly Kikuyu) who disappeared without trace from July last year have been up in arms and human rights bodies, led by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, have stepped in the open and accused the Squad of arresting more than 5,000 young men who ended up disappearing without trace. Some of them were traced to morgues in many parts of the country with bullet holes while other bodies were found dumped in forests. Majority disappeared without trace.
The embassy said it was interested in the juicy dossier. Constable Kirinya said he would first return to Kenya to arrange for his family's relocation to Kampala pending relocation to the US. All this time, alarmed senior policemen had instructed top marksmen to hunt down Constable Kirinya and ensure he was dead meat and did not “sing” on Eagle's killing machine.
The cops who were tracking him down got wind he was in Nairobi and they trailed him to Sarit Centre where they shot him dead and made the scene of crime to look like he was killed by thugs.
The tragedy is, the mainstream media got wind of the killing but were silenced by the mighty and powerful Maj Gen Ali not to publish the story. It's not known why the embassy involved never went public after their informer was eliminated.
The 10 Most honest cities in the world
Select Free delivery DVD movies
A couple of weeks ago a man walked up to an ATM machine at Sarit Centre did his business and emerged. Seconds later another man stepped forward and shot him at point blank range. It was clear from the way he was shot that the idea was to make sure he died.
What followed was puzzling. A section of the media reported the incident and even added the critical bit of information that the man had some information on police extra-judicial killings.
Then suddenly the story vanished and nobody seemed to follow up what would appear to be a very big story.
Today I reveal the inside details behind the killing and exactly what happened.
The name of the deceased was Constable Kirinya and he was a driver at the Eagle Squad - a sister squad of Kwekwe which it has been whispered have been given express orders "from above" to execute anyone they IMAGINE is linked or sympathetic to Mungiki.
Constable Kirinya and his team arrested a notorious drug baron from Mombasa, who had Sh4m in cash and drugs of an unknown value. It happened that the drug baron was known to some senior cops - two of them being Nairobi Provincial Police Officer, Njue Njagi, and his deputy, Julius Ndegwa. Insiders say Njue and Ndegwa called for the suspect and shared the loot. Eagle Squad officers who had arrested the drug baron were given Sh200,000 each.
But Con Kirinya declined to take the money. He was given an immediate transfer to the North Eastern province to languish there as is the usual practice. He refused to take the transfer and fled to a foreign embassy in Kampala with the help of some influential friends. He promised to spill the beans of how Eagle arrested young men from their homes or places of work and executed them in cold blood under the guise of fighting Mungiki (as reported here in Kumekucha). He would have given critical details on how many young men had been killed and where their bodies were secretly discarded by the police. He promised the embassy he would reveal how Eagle had turned out to be an execution and extortion squad. The squad's officers are said to be targeting rich young men - whom they threaten to kill if they are not given a certain amount of money. Some end up being killed even after paying a hefty ransom.
Eagle Squad has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Families of young men (mostly Kikuyu) who disappeared without trace from July last year have been up in arms and human rights bodies, led by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, have stepped in the open and accused the Squad of arresting more than 5,000 young men who ended up disappearing without trace. Some of them were traced to morgues in many parts of the country with bullet holes while other bodies were found dumped in forests. Majority disappeared without trace.
The embassy said it was interested in the juicy dossier. Constable Kirinya said he would first return to Kenya to arrange for his family's relocation to Kampala pending relocation to the US. All this time, alarmed senior policemen had instructed top marksmen to hunt down Constable Kirinya and ensure he was dead meat and did not “sing” on Eagle's killing machine.
The cops who were tracking him down got wind he was in Nairobi and they trailed him to Sarit Centre where they shot him dead and made the scene of crime to look like he was killed by thugs.
The tragedy is, the mainstream media got wind of the killing but were silenced by the mighty and powerful Maj Gen Ali not to publish the story. It's not known why the embassy involved never went public after their informer was eliminated.
The 10 Most honest cities in the world
Select Free delivery DVD movies
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Waki List Touches President Kibaki
There are one or two fake Waki lists already doing the rounds on the web. However the list which I have verified from at least two independent sources to be the real list is the kind of list that no Kenyan will sleep easy after reading the names on it (see details below on how you can get the genuine Waki list).
I keep wondering what Raila’s game plan is telling the public lies that the government is unanimous in implementing the Waki report.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The Waki list will wipe off ODM from the face of the earth. And PNU as well. But what is more is that it touches the president very closely indeed. So close that I am just wondering what is going to happen. (more on that later).
Little wonder that all of a sudden there is no partisan politics, no presidential campaigns for 2012, absolutely nothing else but the Waki Report. Out of the blue it is now the sole agenda in Kenyan politics. Scrolling down the Waki list it is easy to understand why.
Actually the season for lawyers is here and this one is going to be BIG. These are the chaps who will reap maximum from the whole thing. I am reliably informed that some clients have been advised that there are grounds for defence of the perpetrators of the murder and mayhem based on extreme provocation of being cheated out of an election. Eti when this is combined with cumulative historical injustices and the long history of impunity in this country, “any head can snap.” Oh boy!!! Some lawyers!!! This is a fabulous sob story with some truth in it, but it has absolutely no place in law. The retaliation of a provoked person should be what any reasonable person would do. Would a reasonable person lock up screaming women and children in a church and burn them alive?
Of course this is all about playing to the gallery with International press TV cameras rolling and cameras flashing and you can be sure that there will be plenty of that. Lawyers must already be rubbing their hands in glee and anticipation. Nothing to do with getting your client acquitted of some very serious charges.
Now this guy Emilio Stanley, is the kind of guy that is never moved by anything. Those who know him well say he cares about nothing, except his own self preservation. And this has been proved time and again. Now the question I want to ask; does he care about persons who are very close to him named in the Waki report? I am assured that he does NOT. And that those people despite being extremely close to the president, will probably find themselves carrying their own crosses.
But Emilio himself is mentioned in the Waki report (and not on the list of names). The Waki report clearly documents a meeting that took place in State House with the dreaded Mungiki. Little wonder that Alfred “cobra squad” Mutua was quick to spin a yarn as unbelievable as the ones he spins in the high budget Cobra Squad TV drama series that my 5 tear old grandson finds a hilarious unbelievable comedy that he will never be caught watching. Mutua’s yarn was some long story about the dates and the meeting being mentioned. It is something that seemed to confuse even him as he told it to the press during his weekly briefings. So maybe Emilio should look into his bag of tricks for something to enable him to go for a third term in office. Otherwise the Hague beckons for sure because that State House meeting cannot be explained away just like that. Emilio will find himself alongside one Charles “cut off women’s breasts and other atrocities” Taylor of Liberia.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter. Simple instructions are also given on how you can get the full list in your email in-box today.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
I keep wondering what Raila’s game plan is telling the public lies that the government is unanimous in implementing the Waki report.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The Waki list will wipe off ODM from the face of the earth. And PNU as well. But what is more is that it touches the president very closely indeed. So close that I am just wondering what is going to happen. (more on that later).
Little wonder that all of a sudden there is no partisan politics, no presidential campaigns for 2012, absolutely nothing else but the Waki Report. Out of the blue it is now the sole agenda in Kenyan politics. Scrolling down the Waki list it is easy to understand why.
Actually the season for lawyers is here and this one is going to be BIG. These are the chaps who will reap maximum from the whole thing. I am reliably informed that some clients have been advised that there are grounds for defence of the perpetrators of the murder and mayhem based on extreme provocation of being cheated out of an election. Eti when this is combined with cumulative historical injustices and the long history of impunity in this country, “any head can snap.” Oh boy!!! Some lawyers!!! This is a fabulous sob story with some truth in it, but it has absolutely no place in law. The retaliation of a provoked person should be what any reasonable person would do. Would a reasonable person lock up screaming women and children in a church and burn them alive?
Of course this is all about playing to the gallery with International press TV cameras rolling and cameras flashing and you can be sure that there will be plenty of that. Lawyers must already be rubbing their hands in glee and anticipation. Nothing to do with getting your client acquitted of some very serious charges.
Now this guy Emilio Stanley, is the kind of guy that is never moved by anything. Those who know him well say he cares about nothing, except his own self preservation. And this has been proved time and again. Now the question I want to ask; does he care about persons who are very close to him named in the Waki report? I am assured that he does NOT. And that those people despite being extremely close to the president, will probably find themselves carrying their own crosses.
But Emilio himself is mentioned in the Waki report (and not on the list of names). The Waki report clearly documents a meeting that took place in State House with the dreaded Mungiki. Little wonder that Alfred “cobra squad” Mutua was quick to spin a yarn as unbelievable as the ones he spins in the high budget Cobra Squad TV drama series that my 5 tear old grandson finds a hilarious unbelievable comedy that he will never be caught watching. Mutua’s yarn was some long story about the dates and the meeting being mentioned. It is something that seemed to confuse even him as he told it to the press during his weekly briefings. So maybe Emilio should look into his bag of tricks for something to enable him to go for a third term in office. Otherwise the Hague beckons for sure because that State House meeting cannot be explained away just like that. Emilio will find himself alongside one Charles “cut off women’s breasts and other atrocities” Taylor of Liberia.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter. Simple instructions are also given on how you can get the full list in your email in-box today.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Acting Now to Save Future from Ruined Past
As a Markov chain, Kenya’s future can only be saved and shaped by the present actions. Only a conscious and decisive move to shame our past which is singularly defined by IMPUNITY can free us from the bondage of living a national lie whose pillars are DECEPTION and FRAUD. Waki’s report offers the perfect launching pad towards reclaiming the Kenya we want. It may not be perfect but that is no excuse to give murderers and scoundrels a free pass to continue lording over us.
There two types of leaders. The TRUE leaders who lead from the front and by example and then the PRETENDERS whose stand on weighty matters leaves them pander to the whims of their sectarian supporters. True, leaders must be sensitive to those who elected them BUT there comes a time in when challenges demand both symbolic and actual LEADERSHIP to shape a country and her destiny.
Waki is no fool to have taken the controversial and emotive Hague option. Unlike Kriegler before him he a Kenyan well versed with our weird and selfish political actions. The good Judge cleverly slummed the door shut on all escape routes leaving the scoundrels foaming at the mouth gasping for breathe lakini wapi? There is no free lunch and if the prize for reclaiming Kenya starts with the scalps of the 10 names in the envelope handed to Anna so be it.
We must banish the cheap and hollow gimmicks to don deceptive patriotic garbs by branding the international community neo-colonialists. If anything were it not for the same donors we would be having no country called Kenya to defend. They saved us from own murderous ourselves and in return they have the right to demand accountability for all our primitive ways to hack and burn fellow human country men and women.
Isle of turmoil
Make no mistake by mourning louder than the bereaved. Waki report made very WEIGHTY allegations that will see the political landscape change forever. Ruto and Uhuru may be the juicy preface to the report but the chapter indicting State House as the address where attacks were organized makes very chilling confirmation of what has been hitherto street wisdom. It is sacrilegious to imagine the seat of power being transformed into evil headquarters painted red with citizens’ blood.
Resourceful Kenyans will peddle all forms of gimmicks including forgiveness clothed in religion but no way. A time has come when Kenya must walk the talk and take that PAINFUL decision to denounce the national lie and facade of peace we shamelessly cheat ourselves to be enjoying. The bubble is burst and no hollow chorus ISLE OF PEACE IN A SEA OF CHAOS will wash.
Waki is no Einstein but in one smart stroke he outwitted the political class by handing us a national lifeline. There are no two ways about it: we either seize life jacket of drown in our own blood. No more plastering of the septic wound. Only the radical surgery will save the limb and body. That is the only guarantee for the first step to a great leap in breaking from the ruinous past defined by IMPUNITY.
No time to entertain apologetic theories of building on an infant democracy. It is no rocket science to understand that those who experiment with disasters never live to tell the story.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter. Simple instructions are also given on how you can get the full list in your email in-box today.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
There two types of leaders. The TRUE leaders who lead from the front and by example and then the PRETENDERS whose stand on weighty matters leaves them pander to the whims of their sectarian supporters. True, leaders must be sensitive to those who elected them BUT there comes a time in when challenges demand both symbolic and actual LEADERSHIP to shape a country and her destiny.
Waki is no fool to have taken the controversial and emotive Hague option. Unlike Kriegler before him he a Kenyan well versed with our weird and selfish political actions. The good Judge cleverly slummed the door shut on all escape routes leaving the scoundrels foaming at the mouth gasping for breathe lakini wapi? There is no free lunch and if the prize for reclaiming Kenya starts with the scalps of the 10 names in the envelope handed to Anna so be it.
We must banish the cheap and hollow gimmicks to don deceptive patriotic garbs by branding the international community neo-colonialists. If anything were it not for the same donors we would be having no country called Kenya to defend. They saved us from own murderous ourselves and in return they have the right to demand accountability for all our primitive ways to hack and burn fellow human country men and women.
Isle of turmoil
Make no mistake by mourning louder than the bereaved. Waki report made very WEIGHTY allegations that will see the political landscape change forever. Ruto and Uhuru may be the juicy preface to the report but the chapter indicting State House as the address where attacks were organized makes very chilling confirmation of what has been hitherto street wisdom. It is sacrilegious to imagine the seat of power being transformed into evil headquarters painted red with citizens’ blood.
Resourceful Kenyans will peddle all forms of gimmicks including forgiveness clothed in religion but no way. A time has come when Kenya must walk the talk and take that PAINFUL decision to denounce the national lie and facade of peace we shamelessly cheat ourselves to be enjoying. The bubble is burst and no hollow chorus ISLE OF PEACE IN A SEA OF CHAOS will wash.
Waki is no Einstein but in one smart stroke he outwitted the political class by handing us a national lifeline. There are no two ways about it: we either seize life jacket of drown in our own blood. No more plastering of the septic wound. Only the radical surgery will save the limb and body. That is the only guarantee for the first step to a great leap in breaking from the ruinous past defined by IMPUNITY.
No time to entertain apologetic theories of building on an infant democracy. It is no rocket science to understand that those who experiment with disasters never live to tell the story.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter. Simple instructions are also given on how you can get the full list in your email in-box today.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
To All The Kumekucha Pioneers
I am about to make a very important post but I am waiting for some information.
As I am sitting here my mind cannot help going back to the beginning of Kumekucha and I think now is as a good a time as any to pay tribute to the pioneers. Those guys who came here when it was lonely and quiet. When there was an average of only one post every 10 days or so. The days following the launch in May 2005, when I wondered whether Kumekucha would come to anything.
---------------------------
Published earlier today: Why has Raila veered off so badly?
---------------------------
The first person who showed their face here was a man who had a strange way with words and his name signified problems. Taabu (what is in a name but a cluster of letters put together for identification purposes?) was a great encouragement in the early days quite often being the only commentator. I must say that kept me going. Thanks mate. I will always owe you a beverage of your choice and more.
Next came Phil. The man who seemed to be so well informed (mostly about one political party). But the reason why I have always loved him so much is that unlike so many commentators here who have hidden agendas this brave man always spelled out his stand right from day one. We all know Phil is ODM but we love him still. Even those of us who are not ODM. Kudos, the captain's man.
Next two guys arrived almost at the same time. Luke and Vikii. I stand to be corrected but I believe Luke came slightly earlier. Vikii was always controversial from day one and that controversy helped attract scores of new readers to Kumekucha. Vikii is the only man I know who can insult you and you find it funny. The thing with Luke is that we seemed to agree on many things and sometimes he made me laugh sana. Like the time he used to start or finish all his posts by reminiscing on Kenya’s meteoric economic growth which was happening as Kenyans starved and were worse off (Remember?)
Finally I cannot forget the first lady who checked into Kumekucha. Her name was Sayra and for a long time she was still too shy to post any comment but we exchanged emails. I panicked when she made her maiden comment because it was an attack on Vicky, a man known never to take a rebuke lying down. His reaction to Sayra’s maiden comment was predictable. I was sad knowing that she would never return. Luckily the girl has a thick skin and these days she is pretty active on this blog. I hasten to add that Proud Kikuyu Woman (PKW) was active making comments before Sayra made her maiden one. She started off as proud (certain tribe) woman. Thanks girl. I have not forgotten you, although we have never agreed on anything, even very mundane things like colours.
There. If I have left out anybody my sincere apologies. As always I am ready to be corrected.
But for now my fellow Kenyans, those are the people who helped Kumekucha survive the early lonely days. I will forever be grateful to them. Three cheers for Taabu, Phil, Luke, Vicky, Sayra and PKW…
…and of course all the early day anons.
I would never have reached this small distance without you guys.
P.S. We have scores of very good people these days. I don’t want any of them to feel left out. You make kumekucha what it is and I love you all… even when I don’t agree with the great love for four letter words a few of you have.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
As I am sitting here my mind cannot help going back to the beginning of Kumekucha and I think now is as a good a time as any to pay tribute to the pioneers. Those guys who came here when it was lonely and quiet. When there was an average of only one post every 10 days or so. The days following the launch in May 2005, when I wondered whether Kumekucha would come to anything.
---------------------------
Published earlier today: Why has Raila veered off so badly?
---------------------------
The first person who showed their face here was a man who had a strange way with words and his name signified problems. Taabu (what is in a name but a cluster of letters put together for identification purposes?) was a great encouragement in the early days quite often being the only commentator. I must say that kept me going. Thanks mate. I will always owe you a beverage of your choice and more.
Next came Phil. The man who seemed to be so well informed (mostly about one political party). But the reason why I have always loved him so much is that unlike so many commentators here who have hidden agendas this brave man always spelled out his stand right from day one. We all know Phil is ODM but we love him still. Even those of us who are not ODM. Kudos, the captain's man.
Next two guys arrived almost at the same time. Luke and Vikii. I stand to be corrected but I believe Luke came slightly earlier. Vikii was always controversial from day one and that controversy helped attract scores of new readers to Kumekucha. Vikii is the only man I know who can insult you and you find it funny. The thing with Luke is that we seemed to agree on many things and sometimes he made me laugh sana. Like the time he used to start or finish all his posts by reminiscing on Kenya’s meteoric economic growth which was happening as Kenyans starved and were worse off (Remember?)
Finally I cannot forget the first lady who checked into Kumekucha. Her name was Sayra and for a long time she was still too shy to post any comment but we exchanged emails. I panicked when she made her maiden comment because it was an attack on Vicky, a man known never to take a rebuke lying down. His reaction to Sayra’s maiden comment was predictable. I was sad knowing that she would never return. Luckily the girl has a thick skin and these days she is pretty active on this blog. I hasten to add that Proud Kikuyu Woman (PKW) was active making comments before Sayra made her maiden one. She started off as proud (certain tribe) woman. Thanks girl. I have not forgotten you, although we have never agreed on anything, even very mundane things like colours.
There. If I have left out anybody my sincere apologies. As always I am ready to be corrected.
But for now my fellow Kenyans, those are the people who helped Kumekucha survive the early lonely days. I will forever be grateful to them. Three cheers for Taabu, Phil, Luke, Vicky, Sayra and PKW…
…and of course all the early day anons.
I would never have reached this small distance without you guys.
P.S. We have scores of very good people these days. I don’t want any of them to feel left out. You make kumekucha what it is and I love you all… even when I don’t agree with the great love for four letter words a few of you have.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Ban any art made in the name of Barack Obama
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Monday, November 17, 2008
Why Has Raila Veered Off So Badly?
I am baffled.
I want to speak in very raw terms here because I think something has gone gravely wrong. I watched the Prime Minister speak at the Safari Park Hotel yesterday, literally fortifying his stance that the Waki Report be implemented to a T. As I watched, I had to scratch my head in amazement at what the man's strategy is. Where is he going with this fervent call to implement a report that his support base in the Rift Valley is vociferously opposed to? And when that full implementation takes place, where will he find new allies to help him realize his lifelong dream of being president of Kenya? Does he intend to revert to the painful old alliances that have been fraught with jealousy, treachery and outright betrayal?
The way I see it, there are two sides to the Waki Report. There's the political side. And there's the legal side. Prime Minister Odinga is obviously winning the legal side handsomely, and in the process he is driving his supporters away. Because he is driving his supporters away in the Rift Valley and elsewhere, he is losing the political side of this equation in a spectacular way. For a politician of his stature, that is an astounding failure. Many ardent followers of this man have been with him because they saw in him someone who had his ear on the ground, who detected the direction of the political winds, who knew when to make tactical retreats. What has gone wrong? Is it the men and women around him who have insulated him from the groundswell of opposition to his leadership style? Has the power of his office suddenly blinded him?
I'm disturbed that it turns out to be President Kibaki who now calls for forgiveness and reconciliation. This was a matter the Prime Minister would have had more moral authority to call for than the president. But since this is something I've championed in the past, I salute President Kibaki for going in that direction. Indeed, I maintain that it's the only viable way to deal with the disunity occasioned by the failed elections of 2007.
But it's never too late.
The Prime Minister is an intelligent man who understands the power of perception. Our Rift Valley brothers and sisters are not defending one of their own because they think anybody is guilty, they are reacting to the perception that since becoming Prime Minister Raila has not seemed very attentive to their issues. Incidentally, vast swathes of Luo Nyanza voters feel the exact same way as their Rift Valley counterparts. If this trend crosses over to Western Province and the Coast, tell me where the Prime Minister will get his votes from in 2012. An alliance with Martha Karua? Maybe Uhuru? My God! Maybe it's because of the possibility of this scenario playing out that the Luo Council of Elders called on the PM to rethink his strategy. I concur.
I'm aware that I'll be called a tribalist for addressing this issue as I have. But I go off on the premise that six out of eight provinces voted for the Prime Minister. What that means is that more than half the nation is looking up to him for direction, inspiration and an understanding of where this nation is going. Advocating that we turn over our sons to the Hague is not how to play this game. A local tribunal is the way to go. It strengthens our faith in our nascent institutions and affirms our hard-won independence. The kind of blackmail the European Union wants to subject our country to is unacceptable. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we're no longer a colony. We have to come to a point where we say no to the monies they give us, because they are using those funds to blackmail us. How low can they sink?
Mr. Prime Minister, the time to hit a U-turn is now. I've spoken candidly because this is a time for a brother to whisper to a brother that the zipper of his pants are down. I hope you pull that zipper up before the children come storming into the living room and chuckling at the peeping sight of your red undergarments.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
I want to speak in very raw terms here because I think something has gone gravely wrong. I watched the Prime Minister speak at the Safari Park Hotel yesterday, literally fortifying his stance that the Waki Report be implemented to a T. As I watched, I had to scratch my head in amazement at what the man's strategy is. Where is he going with this fervent call to implement a report that his support base in the Rift Valley is vociferously opposed to? And when that full implementation takes place, where will he find new allies to help him realize his lifelong dream of being president of Kenya? Does he intend to revert to the painful old alliances that have been fraught with jealousy, treachery and outright betrayal?
The way I see it, there are two sides to the Waki Report. There's the political side. And there's the legal side. Prime Minister Odinga is obviously winning the legal side handsomely, and in the process he is driving his supporters away. Because he is driving his supporters away in the Rift Valley and elsewhere, he is losing the political side of this equation in a spectacular way. For a politician of his stature, that is an astounding failure. Many ardent followers of this man have been with him because they saw in him someone who had his ear on the ground, who detected the direction of the political winds, who knew when to make tactical retreats. What has gone wrong? Is it the men and women around him who have insulated him from the groundswell of opposition to his leadership style? Has the power of his office suddenly blinded him?
I'm disturbed that it turns out to be President Kibaki who now calls for forgiveness and reconciliation. This was a matter the Prime Minister would have had more moral authority to call for than the president. But since this is something I've championed in the past, I salute President Kibaki for going in that direction. Indeed, I maintain that it's the only viable way to deal with the disunity occasioned by the failed elections of 2007.
But it's never too late.
The Prime Minister is an intelligent man who understands the power of perception. Our Rift Valley brothers and sisters are not defending one of their own because they think anybody is guilty, they are reacting to the perception that since becoming Prime Minister Raila has not seemed very attentive to their issues. Incidentally, vast swathes of Luo Nyanza voters feel the exact same way as their Rift Valley counterparts. If this trend crosses over to Western Province and the Coast, tell me where the Prime Minister will get his votes from in 2012. An alliance with Martha Karua? Maybe Uhuru? My God! Maybe it's because of the possibility of this scenario playing out that the Luo Council of Elders called on the PM to rethink his strategy. I concur.
I'm aware that I'll be called a tribalist for addressing this issue as I have. But I go off on the premise that six out of eight provinces voted for the Prime Minister. What that means is that more than half the nation is looking up to him for direction, inspiration and an understanding of where this nation is going. Advocating that we turn over our sons to the Hague is not how to play this game. A local tribunal is the way to go. It strengthens our faith in our nascent institutions and affirms our hard-won independence. The kind of blackmail the European Union wants to subject our country to is unacceptable. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we're no longer a colony. We have to come to a point where we say no to the monies they give us, because they are using those funds to blackmail us. How low can they sink?
Mr. Prime Minister, the time to hit a U-turn is now. I've spoken candidly because this is a time for a brother to whisper to a brother that the zipper of his pants are down. I hope you pull that zipper up before the children come storming into the living room and chuckling at the peeping sight of your red undergarments.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Value Of A Headstrong, Stubborn Opinionated President
Headstrong, stubborn, opinionated.
Are those the qualities you would want in your president? Are there benefits in having such a man sitting in State house or is it a recipe for disaster and the possible shut down of a nation? Well, think about it as you read on.
Former United States ambassador to Kenya Smith Hempstone (now deceased) worked tirelessly to help Kenyans get rid of the dictatorial Moi regime in the 1980s. It is no secret that the lovable “nyama choma ambassadeur” overstepped his mark as a diplomat in this country many times. I mean how does a peaceful protest march in the city against the Moi regime end up at the US embassy, with wananchi demanding that the ambassador address them?
Still in my book extreme times call for extreme measures and may history never forget to record the contributions of this white bearded burly man in the long road Kenyans have walked towards freedom and justice.
My apologies for getting emotionally carried away with Hempstone, but what I wanted to say was that one of Hempstone’s noble initiatives was to unite the then opposition to field a single candidate against President Moi in the initial multi-party elections of the 1990s. His efforts were always frustrated by headstrong politicians who believed that they would go it alone and beat Moi and his well oiled machinery single-handedly. One name in particular kept on popping up in Hempstone’s lips as a major stumbling block to any semblance of opposition unity. That name was Mwai Kibaki.
Fast forward to 2005 and the historic referendum. After years in the dark, many Kenyans were beginning to get a glimpse into the character of this Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Numerous people advised him to save the country from chaos and call off the referendum. He stubbornly refused insisting that he was winning and the Yes, banana vote would carry the day.
Fast forward to 2008 and somebody suggested that Barack Obama may have an outside chance of winning the US presidency. Insiders say that the president almost had a fit. He who had started going to the United States in the 1950s surely knew that country very well and there was no chance, even if every American fell dead of a black man being elected president. Of course the careful damage control that has been played out recently including those silly stories of how Kibaki gave Obama’s dad a job may fool some Kenyans as it is designed to do.
By the way one of the favourite means by which the president dismisses views and opinions that do not go down well with him is by calling people “young man.” You will remember in the run up to the 2007 elections Lucy Kibaki talked about a young man causing the president sleepless nights. She was simply echoing what was being discussed in private. In my view both Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga are NOT young men. If they are then Jimmy Kibaki must be a toddler.
Indeed through out the long political career of Mwai Kibaki he has been a lone ranger in the way he plays his politics. Lone rangers are impossible to advice and are set in their ways (whether they work or not). That character in the president is about to earn him yet another place in the history books for the wrong reasons. Legal experts say that there is more that enough evidence to prosecute Mwai Kibaki when he leaves office for various crimes. In sharp contrast Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, that perfected Machiavellian master of the political game was a listener and listened to everybody. That is the secret behind his long survival. And what is more he covered his legal backside admirably. The man must have read Mario Puzo’s classic, The Godfather, several times. I mean he was very careful whom he gave orders to and of course he signed nothing. The result is that nobody can pin him down for any of his many sins against the Kenyan people let alone prosecute him successfully.
Mwai Kibaki is a whole different kettle of fish. The when-I-was-lecturing-in-Makerere President has been way too careless. So careless that his handlers are having sleepless nights now wondering how they can scheme a peaceful retirement for the man under whose watch the country sunk into tribal chaos and its’ deepest crisis ever.
Take it from me, if that man lives long enough, prepare yourself to see him in images transmitted all over the world, surrounded by a battery of lawyers facing serious charges but still as headstrong as ever as to how his legal defence should be handled. And he may just be right once again. The way he was right about Obama, the referendum and how Kenyans can never elect a “Jaruo young man” as president... even if the incumbent fell asleep in State House and forgot there was an election until the last 3 months or so.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Are those the qualities you would want in your president? Are there benefits in having such a man sitting in State house or is it a recipe for disaster and the possible shut down of a nation? Well, think about it as you read on.
Former United States ambassador to Kenya Smith Hempstone (now deceased) worked tirelessly to help Kenyans get rid of the dictatorial Moi regime in the 1980s. It is no secret that the lovable “nyama choma ambassadeur” overstepped his mark as a diplomat in this country many times. I mean how does a peaceful protest march in the city against the Moi regime end up at the US embassy, with wananchi demanding that the ambassador address them?
Still in my book extreme times call for extreme measures and may history never forget to record the contributions of this white bearded burly man in the long road Kenyans have walked towards freedom and justice.
My apologies for getting emotionally carried away with Hempstone, but what I wanted to say was that one of Hempstone’s noble initiatives was to unite the then opposition to field a single candidate against President Moi in the initial multi-party elections of the 1990s. His efforts were always frustrated by headstrong politicians who believed that they would go it alone and beat Moi and his well oiled machinery single-handedly. One name in particular kept on popping up in Hempstone’s lips as a major stumbling block to any semblance of opposition unity. That name was Mwai Kibaki.
Fast forward to 2005 and the historic referendum. After years in the dark, many Kenyans were beginning to get a glimpse into the character of this Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Numerous people advised him to save the country from chaos and call off the referendum. He stubbornly refused insisting that he was winning and the Yes, banana vote would carry the day.
Fast forward to 2008 and somebody suggested that Barack Obama may have an outside chance of winning the US presidency. Insiders say that the president almost had a fit. He who had started going to the United States in the 1950s surely knew that country very well and there was no chance, even if every American fell dead of a black man being elected president. Of course the careful damage control that has been played out recently including those silly stories of how Kibaki gave Obama’s dad a job may fool some Kenyans as it is designed to do.
By the way one of the favourite means by which the president dismisses views and opinions that do not go down well with him is by calling people “young man.” You will remember in the run up to the 2007 elections Lucy Kibaki talked about a young man causing the president sleepless nights. She was simply echoing what was being discussed in private. In my view both Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga are NOT young men. If they are then Jimmy Kibaki must be a toddler.
Indeed through out the long political career of Mwai Kibaki he has been a lone ranger in the way he plays his politics. Lone rangers are impossible to advice and are set in their ways (whether they work or not). That character in the president is about to earn him yet another place in the history books for the wrong reasons. Legal experts say that there is more that enough evidence to prosecute Mwai Kibaki when he leaves office for various crimes. In sharp contrast Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, that perfected Machiavellian master of the political game was a listener and listened to everybody. That is the secret behind his long survival. And what is more he covered his legal backside admirably. The man must have read Mario Puzo’s classic, The Godfather, several times. I mean he was very careful whom he gave orders to and of course he signed nothing. The result is that nobody can pin him down for any of his many sins against the Kenyan people let alone prosecute him successfully.
Mwai Kibaki is a whole different kettle of fish. The when-I-was-lecturing-in-Makerere President has been way too careless. So careless that his handlers are having sleepless nights now wondering how they can scheme a peaceful retirement for the man under whose watch the country sunk into tribal chaos and its’ deepest crisis ever.
Take it from me, if that man lives long enough, prepare yourself to see him in images transmitted all over the world, surrounded by a battery of lawyers facing serious charges but still as headstrong as ever as to how his legal defence should be handled. And he may just be right once again. The way he was right about Obama, the referendum and how Kenyans can never elect a “Jaruo young man” as president... even if the incumbent fell asleep in State House and forgot there was an election until the last 3 months or so.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is described in detail in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
N.B. Due to unavoidable circumstances to do with the gravity of the matter we regret to inform our readers that the Waki list is NOT available in Kumekucha Confidential. However the latest Confidential issue gives you clear instructions on how you can still obtain the list directly sent to your email in-box. ENJOY.
Swahili Fashion Week Ends as East African Women Go Nude
Miriam Makeba- A Tribute to Mama Africa
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
A Cry Of Concern From A Kumekucha Reader Who Wanted To Help
Dear Kumekucha readers,
I am mad at the Kenyan leadership. They have failed us and we as a nation should look up to new untainted leaders.
I was in Kenya and voted, however, as everybody now knows it was the most polarized election in our short life as a nation.
Following the post election violence my friends here in Japan contributed money and clothes and food for the IDPs. We sent a container of goods to Kenya at the end of April and to date it has not been cleared to be delivered to our unfortunate brothers and sisters.
If the government cannot let her citizens participate in helping bridge the great divide that visited our land and also to help soothe and heal the wounds then they have no business asking for forgiveness for the said perpetrators of the evil our nation went through.
Who will listen to our brothers and sisters' cries.
Concerned George.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is published in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget. A Tribute
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
I am mad at the Kenyan leadership. They have failed us and we as a nation should look up to new untainted leaders.
I was in Kenya and voted, however, as everybody now knows it was the most polarized election in our short life as a nation.
Following the post election violence my friends here in Japan contributed money and clothes and food for the IDPs. We sent a container of goods to Kenya at the end of April and to date it has not been cleared to be delivered to our unfortunate brothers and sisters.
If the government cannot let her citizens participate in helping bridge the great divide that visited our land and also to help soothe and heal the wounds then they have no business asking for forgiveness for the said perpetrators of the evil our nation went through.
Who will listen to our brothers and sisters' cries.
Concerned George.
------------------------------------
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is published in Kumekucha Confidential our FREE weekly email newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:-
kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget. A Tribute
Order now online, Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi
Friday, November 14, 2008
Kumekucha Gets Waki List
It is the oldest trick in the book, although I can already see all my lawyer friends violently resisting my use of the word "trick."
The way it works is that as all eyes are focused on a particular part of the legal contract like the amount of cash that you will get paid, a killer clause is sneaked in somewhere in the middle. At a place where you are bound to scheme through without really “seeing” it. You hurriedly sign, little knowing that you have just signed your own death warrant. That is the reason why we are always told repeatedly; “read the small print.”
Well earlier this year, the political class, some of the smartest, most evil guys in the land hurriedly signed the so-called Anan document without reading it properly. Well, they did read it very carefully, but only that part that talked about who would be in State House and who would wield what power. The assumption was that it was business as usual and that whoever occupied State House would as always do what they wanted to do.
Actually I am reliably informed that the fate of Kenya’s political class was sealed the minute we invited the African Union into Kenya to help sort out the post-election violence mess. The minute those guys came into the picture the whole matter moved into the jurisdiction of International courts and that now dreaded place where long suffering Kenyans may just begin to see justice—the Hague.
But nobody should bring out the Champaign yet, let alone the glasses. The political class as always have a game plan to ride out this crisis. The idea seems to pretend to accept all the recommendations of the Waki report, get a local tribunal in place and then do everything to influence that tribunal. This is Kenya where files disappear and evidence and witnesses vanish into thin air. Due process of course demands that you prove a person guilty and that can be a very tricky thing indeed, even when a person’s guilt is so obvious. Just ask the legal experts who were trying to get at the infamous Chicago crime lord, Al Capone.
The saddest bit in all this is that people died. Mostly innocent Kenyans. But who cares?
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is published in Kumekucha Confidential our weekly email newsletter. If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:- kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Bodies of post-election violence victims piled up at a Mortuary: Their blood is crying out from the ground. Will they ever get justice?
A tribute to Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order now online.
The way it works is that as all eyes are focused on a particular part of the legal contract like the amount of cash that you will get paid, a killer clause is sneaked in somewhere in the middle. At a place where you are bound to scheme through without really “seeing” it. You hurriedly sign, little knowing that you have just signed your own death warrant. That is the reason why we are always told repeatedly; “read the small print.”
Well earlier this year, the political class, some of the smartest, most evil guys in the land hurriedly signed the so-called Anan document without reading it properly. Well, they did read it very carefully, but only that part that talked about who would be in State House and who would wield what power. The assumption was that it was business as usual and that whoever occupied State House would as always do what they wanted to do.
Actually I am reliably informed that the fate of Kenya’s political class was sealed the minute we invited the African Union into Kenya to help sort out the post-election violence mess. The minute those guys came into the picture the whole matter moved into the jurisdiction of International courts and that now dreaded place where long suffering Kenyans may just begin to see justice—the Hague.
But nobody should bring out the Champaign yet, let alone the glasses. The political class as always have a game plan to ride out this crisis. The idea seems to pretend to accept all the recommendations of the Waki report, get a local tribunal in place and then do everything to influence that tribunal. This is Kenya where files disappear and evidence and witnesses vanish into thin air. Due process of course demands that you prove a person guilty and that can be a very tricky thing indeed, even when a person’s guilt is so obvious. Just ask the legal experts who were trying to get at the infamous Chicago crime lord, Al Capone.
The saddest bit in all this is that people died. Mostly innocent Kenyans. But who cares?
Kumekucha has obtained the full list of names in the secret envelope handed over to Kofi Anan. The list is published in Kumekucha Confidential our weekly email newsletter. If you are not a subscriber yet, subscribe now by sending an email to:- kumekucha-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Bodies of post-election violence victims piled up at a Mortuary: Their blood is crying out from the ground. Will they ever get justice?
A tribute to Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order now online.
Why This Drive To Surrender Our Sovereignty?
Forgive me for being naive, but I thought Kenya was a sovereign nation. After years of white rule, our founding fathers fought hard, shed a lot of blood and did away with certain comforts,whatever little they had, so that they'd replace white rule with black rule in Kenya. In 1963 President Jomo Kenyatta and his colleagues achieved that feat for us all. Every year we come together to celebrate the turn of events that placed us squarely in charge of our destiny...for better for worse.
At this point, we are going through one of the most challenging times in Kenya. With the Waki Report causing increasing anxiety in the nation, there have been loud calls by sober and thoughtful Kenyans to turn over our destiny and place it in the hands of the ICC. Just like the IMF and the World Bank, which have perfected the art of control of Africa's emerging economies and the Continent's people, the ICC is now being courted to do what the Westerners think the dumb Africans can't do for themselves.
And we are cheering!
I've always said we need homegrown solutions to our problems. We need solutions that are a reflection of our troubled political history, that respect our dignity as people with brains, and places us in equal footing with out Western brothers. Can anybody look me in the eye and tell me that the judge at the ICC will better accomplish this than our own judges? What makes him more qualified than our guys here? Is it the color of his skin?
Once again I'm aware of the unpopularity of what I'm saying here, but I reject this headlong plunge in the direction of placing the destiny of my nation in the hands of foreigners. Let me explain. Are we now happy that yesterday nearly twenty five ambassadors took to the hills to tell our leaders how to run Kenya? Are we excited that some Western security officials may jet in here to arrest our native sons? Where is our self-respect?
No, I don't condone what our leaders did. I don't condone the fact the elections were stolen, that the ECK is still playing games, that the constitution has not been brought in compliance with the prevailing realities in Kenya, that the question of land distribution is not being handled. But even in the face of all that, I can't surrender my dignity by calling on foreigners to help me figure out justice in my own land. I don't pretend to have the answers, but I know that if we soberly put our minds to it, we can come up with mutually acceptable ways to handle Waki and the future.
I commend the Cabinet for going easy on this matter yesterday. I may not see eye to eye with President Kibaki and all the men who planned the murder of Kenyans, but I must stand by my President to defend the right of this nation in deciding what's best for Kenya. If we carry out a nonpartisan investigation and find out which people actually funded and abetted the violence, let's crucify those people right here. That's what Independence means, folks.
Uhuru.
Jamhuri.
Tell me where I'm going wrong, my fellow countrymen.
Let the ambassadors shut up. Let's figure out how we can best handle this matter as Kenyans.
A tribute to Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order now online.
At this point, we are going through one of the most challenging times in Kenya. With the Waki Report causing increasing anxiety in the nation, there have been loud calls by sober and thoughtful Kenyans to turn over our destiny and place it in the hands of the ICC. Just like the IMF and the World Bank, which have perfected the art of control of Africa's emerging economies and the Continent's people, the ICC is now being courted to do what the Westerners think the dumb Africans can't do for themselves.
And we are cheering!
I've always said we need homegrown solutions to our problems. We need solutions that are a reflection of our troubled political history, that respect our dignity as people with brains, and places us in equal footing with out Western brothers. Can anybody look me in the eye and tell me that the judge at the ICC will better accomplish this than our own judges? What makes him more qualified than our guys here? Is it the color of his skin?
Once again I'm aware of the unpopularity of what I'm saying here, but I reject this headlong plunge in the direction of placing the destiny of my nation in the hands of foreigners. Let me explain. Are we now happy that yesterday nearly twenty five ambassadors took to the hills to tell our leaders how to run Kenya? Are we excited that some Western security officials may jet in here to arrest our native sons? Where is our self-respect?
No, I don't condone what our leaders did. I don't condone the fact the elections were stolen, that the ECK is still playing games, that the constitution has not been brought in compliance with the prevailing realities in Kenya, that the question of land distribution is not being handled. But even in the face of all that, I can't surrender my dignity by calling on foreigners to help me figure out justice in my own land. I don't pretend to have the answers, but I know that if we soberly put our minds to it, we can come up with mutually acceptable ways to handle Waki and the future.
I commend the Cabinet for going easy on this matter yesterday. I may not see eye to eye with President Kibaki and all the men who planned the murder of Kenyans, but I must stand by my President to defend the right of this nation in deciding what's best for Kenya. If we carry out a nonpartisan investigation and find out which people actually funded and abetted the violence, let's crucify those people right here. That's what Independence means, folks.
Uhuru.
Jamhuri.
Tell me where I'm going wrong, my fellow countrymen.
Let the ambassadors shut up. Let's figure out how we can best handle this matter as Kenyans.
A tribute to Miriam Makeba- The departed songbird Africa will never forget
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order now online.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Cheap, Safe Option: Kibaki for Local Tribunal
Unlike Justices Kriegler and Akiwumi before him, Waki knew better the naivety of entrusting the hyenas to guard the choicest of steak. He fully understood the deceptive ways of Kenyan leaders and you can imagine the fate of the secret envelope and its contents if he was naive . The secret envelope has totally rattled the powerful leaving them no option but to manufacture legal loopholes to save their scalps. And true to form and tradition Kibaki will fall for the cheap solution that leaves his DECEPTIVE hands strengthened in offering clemency to murderers.
Kenyan political class may have the monopoly to rape Kenya but one thing is certain, the Waki report will not be theirs to decapitate. Waki knew them inside out and there is absolutely nothing they can do to reverse the process and verdict. Annan will have to do what the world expects him to do to earn his EMINENT PERSON label. He must fill the void left by the chronic lack of leadership that has sees a president stay mum when during serial self-inflicted crises (PEV, arms/pirates etc) only to emerge from his slumber and declare an Obama holiday with political expediency top on his agenda.
The adage THE GUILTY ARE ALWAYS AFRAID has never proved so apt. Why then all these political heat when nobody knows the content of the envelope handed to Annan? Waki has stirred the political hornet’s nest. They have been left to do what they are best at in drumming TRIBAL support ala Kimunya.
Uhuru may been a late convert to seeking Justice but he is fooling nobody. You don’t make history in abandoning your office as leader of official opposition to neatly place your headon the chopping block. Political favours have sell-by date and Jomo Junior knows what Emilio will do. Even Njenga Karume now has the guts and temerity demand implementation of Waki report. Please tell me another believable gimmick.
Kenyans are no fools and Waki didn’t mention TRIBES but specific people whom his committee felt had cases to answer. Sirma’s outburst ‘you are either with us or against us’ may have made him sound intellectual but only to himself. If Ruto is innocent he has nothing to fear and he is better advised to free his conscience by clearing his name at the earliest opportunity.
Bondage of impunity
Waki’s noose is tightening. The good Judge has proved an a competent driver to Hague Express. The political class may enjoy the charade in buying time but this matter is one that has been cast far and wide. Pseudo patriots will foam at the mouth shouting sovereignty oblivious the fact that the same international they now derive snatched Kenya from the jaws of the near-Armageddon.
Ours is a country crying and begging for HONEST leadership bereft of cronyism and fraud. Kenya is yearning to be freed from the bondage of IMPUNITY. Make no mistake! Kibaki is no fool to implement Waki’s report that correctly identified State House address as the venture of planning of the massacres. He knows better than put a gun to his own head.
Meanwhile Kibaki’s 'SMART' apologists arel calculatively corrupting Obama’s virtues by asking us to borrow his inspiration. Give it to them for meticulously peddling such lies oblivious of how they conveniently and shamelessly mask over the common thread running through our locally minted yet stillborn YOTE YAWEZEKANA and the exotic YES WE CAN.
But again you don’t mention bones where old people are lest you unwittingly invite a curse for reminding them of their imminent demise. Well, no amount of political posturing will ground Hague Express which in the fullness of will be packed by fully-paid passengers.
A tribute to Miriam Makeba
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Kenyan political class may have the monopoly to rape Kenya but one thing is certain, the Waki report will not be theirs to decapitate. Waki knew them inside out and there is absolutely nothing they can do to reverse the process and verdict. Annan will have to do what the world expects him to do to earn his EMINENT PERSON label. He must fill the void left by the chronic lack of leadership that has sees a president stay mum when during serial self-inflicted crises (PEV, arms/pirates etc) only to emerge from his slumber and declare an Obama holiday with political expediency top on his agenda.
The adage THE GUILTY ARE ALWAYS AFRAID has never proved so apt. Why then all these political heat when nobody knows the content of the envelope handed to Annan? Waki has stirred the political hornet’s nest. They have been left to do what they are best at in drumming TRIBAL support ala Kimunya.
Uhuru may been a late convert to seeking Justice but he is fooling nobody. You don’t make history in abandoning your office as leader of official opposition to neatly place your headon the chopping block. Political favours have sell-by date and Jomo Junior knows what Emilio will do. Even Njenga Karume now has the guts and temerity demand implementation of Waki report. Please tell me another believable gimmick.
Kenyans are no fools and Waki didn’t mention TRIBES but specific people whom his committee felt had cases to answer. Sirma’s outburst ‘you are either with us or against us’ may have made him sound intellectual but only to himself. If Ruto is innocent he has nothing to fear and he is better advised to free his conscience by clearing his name at the earliest opportunity.
Bondage of impunity
Waki’s noose is tightening. The good Judge has proved an a competent driver to Hague Express. The political class may enjoy the charade in buying time but this matter is one that has been cast far and wide. Pseudo patriots will foam at the mouth shouting sovereignty oblivious the fact that the same international they now derive snatched Kenya from the jaws of the near-Armageddon.
Ours is a country crying and begging for HONEST leadership bereft of cronyism and fraud. Kenya is yearning to be freed from the bondage of IMPUNITY. Make no mistake! Kibaki is no fool to implement Waki’s report that correctly identified State House address as the venture of planning of the massacres. He knows better than put a gun to his own head.
Meanwhile Kibaki’s 'SMART' apologists arel calculatively corrupting Obama’s virtues by asking us to borrow his inspiration. Give it to them for meticulously peddling such lies oblivious of how they conveniently and shamelessly mask over the common thread running through our locally minted yet stillborn YOTE YAWEZEKANA and the exotic YES WE CAN.
But again you don’t mention bones where old people are lest you unwittingly invite a curse for reminding them of their imminent demise. Well, no amount of political posturing will ground Hague Express which in the fullness of will be packed by fully-paid passengers.
A tribute to Miriam Makeba
Free DVD movies delivered to you anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Can We Do An "Obama" In Kenya?
It is interesting that at a time when I am grieving so much over personal issues and what would have been, my mind goes back to that great friend of mine that I always talk about here. His name was "G" and those who have been on Kumekucha long enough know that he hailed from Luo Nyanza (although that was never an issue in our friendship, not even for a half a minute) and you also know that a lone gunman walked into his Nairobi office one evening in 2005 and pumped bullets into him.
Well, G had a striking resemblance to President elect Barack Obama. The way he talked, the shape of his head, the looks, even the smile etc. The only big difference was that my friend was very much on the dark side.
As I write this I wonder what he would have said about the Obama revolution in the United States. He was a skeptic, my friend and I watched as he struggled to look at things positively from the moment he discovered how important one's mental attitude is when somebody is seeking good results in anything.
Still he would have no doubt pointed to the enormous task the son of Kogello has before him. I can almost hear him laugh and say “Chris, our brother has been fed a suicide pass, why lie.” In rugby a suicide pass is where you hold onto the ball until your most brutal opponents are right next to your team mate and then you toss the ball to him. What happens next is painful but highly predictable and expected.
In other words the world is too messed up for even President Obama to do much to reverse the fortunes. The poor guy has been given the instruments of power in a house that is already burning down... fast.
But what is really in my mind today is how you and I can do an Obama on the current political class right here in Kenya. I mean haven't we just had enough of these guys even as they play out that circus over the Waki report? I know I have, so much so that I find it difficult these days to sit down and write any serious analysis of Kenyan politics, because it will always involve those selfish, self serving hyenas in sheep's clothing. And I am talking right across the political divide.
Well for those interested in dreaming with me please feel free to join in (you will remember that Obama's march to the White House started as a hilarious dream and that in this very blog, yours truly was laughed off for suggesting that the upstart would ever win the democratic nomination, let alone a ticket to the White House).
One key thing that will be required will be cash. And lots of it. There is no way you can run a decent campaign for State House without lots of cash. Now here we can borrow a leaf from Obama's magical fund raising machine. It was mostly done on the World Wide Web using viral marketing techniques and the huge fortunes were mostly raised in $20s and even lower denominations and contributions from ordinary folks.
Can the same be done in Kenya? Can just 10 million of the estimated over 15 million Kenyans roughly aged between 18 and 35 years old raise an average of Kshs 100 each? That will give our campaign kitty some serious cash would it not?
But there are other more urgent questions to ask. Are Kenyans even ready to do an Obama in the land where Obama originated from?
Free DVDs delivered to your door-step anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Well, G had a striking resemblance to President elect Barack Obama. The way he talked, the shape of his head, the looks, even the smile etc. The only big difference was that my friend was very much on the dark side.
As I write this I wonder what he would have said about the Obama revolution in the United States. He was a skeptic, my friend and I watched as he struggled to look at things positively from the moment he discovered how important one's mental attitude is when somebody is seeking good results in anything.
Still he would have no doubt pointed to the enormous task the son of Kogello has before him. I can almost hear him laugh and say “Chris, our brother has been fed a suicide pass, why lie.” In rugby a suicide pass is where you hold onto the ball until your most brutal opponents are right next to your team mate and then you toss the ball to him. What happens next is painful but highly predictable and expected.
In other words the world is too messed up for even President Obama to do much to reverse the fortunes. The poor guy has been given the instruments of power in a house that is already burning down... fast.
But what is really in my mind today is how you and I can do an Obama on the current political class right here in Kenya. I mean haven't we just had enough of these guys even as they play out that circus over the Waki report? I know I have, so much so that I find it difficult these days to sit down and write any serious analysis of Kenyan politics, because it will always involve those selfish, self serving hyenas in sheep's clothing. And I am talking right across the political divide.
Well for those interested in dreaming with me please feel free to join in (you will remember that Obama's march to the White House started as a hilarious dream and that in this very blog, yours truly was laughed off for suggesting that the upstart would ever win the democratic nomination, let alone a ticket to the White House).
One key thing that will be required will be cash. And lots of it. There is no way you can run a decent campaign for State House without lots of cash. Now here we can borrow a leaf from Obama's magical fund raising machine. It was mostly done on the World Wide Web using viral marketing techniques and the huge fortunes were mostly raised in $20s and even lower denominations and contributions from ordinary folks.
Can the same be done in Kenya? Can just 10 million of the estimated over 15 million Kenyans roughly aged between 18 and 35 years old raise an average of Kshs 100 each? That will give our campaign kitty some serious cash would it not?
But there are other more urgent questions to ask. Are Kenyans even ready to do an Obama in the land where Obama originated from?
Free DVDs delivered to your door-step anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Abracadabra, Let There be Lights in Kogelo
With lightening speed, Obama’s ancestral home at Kogelo in Siaya was fully connected to the national electricity grid in two days. And that came after Kenyans were granted an Obama holiday last Thursday while the Americans who elected him had no such luxuries. Either its the paradox of a so-called working nation in love with RECESS or the smart scoundrels grieving with king size tears and louder than the bereaved to mask their hitherto disdain.
Well, either way the true face of deception never fails to embarrass. Welcome to African brand of leadership of personal whims selfishly played to gain political scores at whatever cost. No prize is big enough to catch an eye when expediency rules supreme.
To hell with informed leadership from in front and by example. Mediocrity is our forte while integrity remains an alien virtue these shores of ours. We are led by the leash using outdated whims of yore. Anything unfamiliar is shunned and new ideas are summarily dismissed with the wave dinosaur hands struggling to steady the wheels. What is more, the leaders can chose their actions at any tangent well secure in the knowledge that their kinsmen will foam at the mouth trying to sanitize the rot on their behalf. In the process the country suffocates from official rigidity and becomes too intoxicated with the fumes of moral decay. The free fall towards self-destruction has been so effortlessly
Leaves you wondering what bleak fates await thousand of villages which don’t have their won Obama. So resources are there aplenty and can be SELECTIVELY deployed at the flash of a finger. And that proves the perils of personalized rule legalized in IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY. In the whole game Kenyans remain helpless collateral in the political chess board.
Kibaki seems to be on an ego trip to turn Kenyans into torches to light his Christmas tree. Kenyatta and Moi may have found it difficult to conceptualize what it takes to serve neither the commensurate responsibility demanded of the same service. But Kibaki perfection of penchant for contempt to all Kenyans is inexcusable in this age and time.
Forget about the nostalgic fad of being a scholar of yore. The present leadership simply acts on sectarian whims bereft of any intellectual spine. And as for the street rants that intellectuals don’t make good politicians you can as well go ahead and tell than to the birds so that they fly high in the skies.
Leadership from the rear
We need leaders with the mien and capacity to inspire and not promise miracles. Leaders with quality housed in the box above their shoulders who leave their names in history books as builders and custodians of durable institutions that remain the bedrock of a nation’s present and future prosperity in all spheres towards sustainable stability.
Smart leaders exploit crises to shape and make history. Formulating sound policies that outlive their reign is what uniquely defines them. Focused hope is a bankable virtue that once successfully sold to a populace gains a momentum of its own for the long term good. Instead what we have flying around us are jingoists who won’t miss an opportunity to populate any opening with their TRIBESMEN with no regard to equity and fairness.
While Einstein may have preferred imagination to knowledge, Kenyan leaders are very keen to demonstrate their lack thereof of both. The only commodity they sell and dispense in abundance is fertile and creative mind to fleece and rape Kenya to the bone. Our national sense of success is so impaired so much so that without opulence, you stand accused of laziness and failing to make hay when the sun shines.
One only hopes and prays that maybe someday soon Kibaki will shuffle in shame when he miraculously rediscovers that what is housed in his head is a brain meant to be used. Predictably, Emilio's apologists will readily jump to his defense with such cheap take as promoting tourism or creating a plastic higher pedestal of fake statesmanship or any such hollow derivatives for that matter. Well, we cannot stop them from cheering on the nude king.
DVDs cheap, delivered to your door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Well, either way the true face of deception never fails to embarrass. Welcome to African brand of leadership of personal whims selfishly played to gain political scores at whatever cost. No prize is big enough to catch an eye when expediency rules supreme.
To hell with informed leadership from in front and by example. Mediocrity is our forte while integrity remains an alien virtue these shores of ours. We are led by the leash using outdated whims of yore. Anything unfamiliar is shunned and new ideas are summarily dismissed with the wave dinosaur hands struggling to steady the wheels. What is more, the leaders can chose their actions at any tangent well secure in the knowledge that their kinsmen will foam at the mouth trying to sanitize the rot on their behalf. In the process the country suffocates from official rigidity and becomes too intoxicated with the fumes of moral decay. The free fall towards self-destruction has been so effortlessly
Leaves you wondering what bleak fates await thousand of villages which don’t have their won Obama. So resources are there aplenty and can be SELECTIVELY deployed at the flash of a finger. And that proves the perils of personalized rule legalized in IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY. In the whole game Kenyans remain helpless collateral in the political chess board.
Kibaki seems to be on an ego trip to turn Kenyans into torches to light his Christmas tree. Kenyatta and Moi may have found it difficult to conceptualize what it takes to serve neither the commensurate responsibility demanded of the same service. But Kibaki perfection of penchant for contempt to all Kenyans is inexcusable in this age and time.
Forget about the nostalgic fad of being a scholar of yore. The present leadership simply acts on sectarian whims bereft of any intellectual spine. And as for the street rants that intellectuals don’t make good politicians you can as well go ahead and tell than to the birds so that they fly high in the skies.
Leadership from the rear
We need leaders with the mien and capacity to inspire and not promise miracles. Leaders with quality housed in the box above their shoulders who leave their names in history books as builders and custodians of durable institutions that remain the bedrock of a nation’s present and future prosperity in all spheres towards sustainable stability.
Smart leaders exploit crises to shape and make history. Formulating sound policies that outlive their reign is what uniquely defines them. Focused hope is a bankable virtue that once successfully sold to a populace gains a momentum of its own for the long term good. Instead what we have flying around us are jingoists who won’t miss an opportunity to populate any opening with their TRIBESMEN with no regard to equity and fairness.
While Einstein may have preferred imagination to knowledge, Kenyan leaders are very keen to demonstrate their lack thereof of both. The only commodity they sell and dispense in abundance is fertile and creative mind to fleece and rape Kenya to the bone. Our national sense of success is so impaired so much so that without opulence, you stand accused of laziness and failing to make hay when the sun shines.
One only hopes and prays that maybe someday soon Kibaki will shuffle in shame when he miraculously rediscovers that what is housed in his head is a brain meant to be used. Predictably, Emilio's apologists will readily jump to his defense with such cheap take as promoting tourism or creating a plastic higher pedestal of fake statesmanship or any such hollow derivatives for that matter. Well, we cannot stop them from cheering on the nude king.
DVDs cheap, delivered to your door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Waki's Is A Hit Job
About four months ago I called upon our political leaders to initiate measures to bring Kenyans to the Uhuru Park with the sole purpose of spearheading a national forgiveness campaign. The way I envisioned it, this would have been a time and a place where people who were massively wronged would look deep in their hearts and utter those difficult words: I Forgive You. Okay, I know you're about to say...how can you forgive a person who has not asked for forgiveness or even acknowledged their wrongdoing?
You have a point.
But this is eleven months since the debacle that was our elections and look at where things are going. We have a man named Waki, who has produced a report that suggests some prominent Kenyans decided to suddenly start planning to kill and maim other Kenyans. This is incredulous coming from a man of this judge's stature. Has Waki ever heard of the shameful distribution of land in Kenya? Has he ever heard of the blatant tribalism that characterised Kibaki's first term? Has he said anything about Kivuitu and gang? And has he bothered to warn the country of the potential bloodletting that may follow the full implementation of his report?
Here is where I come down on this matter. We have to see the Waki Report as nothing but a carefully packaged hit job. I don't know who's name appears on it, but I know for a fact that the blame for the events of December and January lie squarely with President Kibaki. This is the man Kenyans elected to protect them and ensure the security of the nation. Where was he when, as is widely reported, a meeting of a known gang was held in the State House, ostensibly to plan how to deny Hon. Odinga the presidency and terrorize Kenyans? Where was he when the Kalenjin warriors were organizing themselves into a force that would later kill many innocent Kenyans and destroy property worth millions of shillings? Indeed, where was the commander-in-chief when the forces he controlled killed and maimed people in Kisumu, Naivasha and Nakuru? Don't you think Waki should have probed these issues?
Like I said last week, we Kenyans created the situation we went through and must find ways to correct it. We don't need Kofi Annan and the U.S. ambassador, or anybody else for that matter, to tell us how, when and at what pace to do things. Had it not been for the troika that comprised Kibaki, Renneberger and Kofi, Raila Odinga would today be president and Kenya would have been the better off for it. So when Waki zeroes in on some two months worth of events and asks us to punish people who did things within that narrow window, conveniently ignoring years of injustices on Kenyans, he's asking us to practically succumb to the whims of those who have perfected the art of manipulation.
We will not do it.
Fellow Kenyans, time is rapidly running out. We can still save the nation we all love while we still can. Forgiveness. Atonement. That's the answer. The alternative is this misguided call for justice, which if you ask me looks a lot like revenge. State-sponsored revenge. What I find very disturbing is that pastors from various churches are also preaching this brand of justice! Can they look Kenyans in the eye and tell us where they've been for forty five years while the nation was descending into the mess we are in today? Can they look us in the eye and tell us why the Kenyan youth who participated in the demonstrations are guilty while men like Kibaki and Kivuitu are not?
I have to end this piece with a warning today: There can be no justice that the Kikuyu see as just while the Kalenjin see as a witch-hunt. There can be no justice that the Luo see as serving the interests of one community and not Kenya as a nation. And there can be no justice where the interests of Kenya are decided in foreign capitals. That's the raw truth.
There is a better way to have a fresh start. Let's go to Uhuru Park. Let's ask Kenyans to bury the hatchet. You'll all be surprised how much Kenyans are longing for that day.
The day of atonement.
Select the latest DVD Movies, delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
You have a point.
But this is eleven months since the debacle that was our elections and look at where things are going. We have a man named Waki, who has produced a report that suggests some prominent Kenyans decided to suddenly start planning to kill and maim other Kenyans. This is incredulous coming from a man of this judge's stature. Has Waki ever heard of the shameful distribution of land in Kenya? Has he ever heard of the blatant tribalism that characterised Kibaki's first term? Has he said anything about Kivuitu and gang? And has he bothered to warn the country of the potential bloodletting that may follow the full implementation of his report?
Here is where I come down on this matter. We have to see the Waki Report as nothing but a carefully packaged hit job. I don't know who's name appears on it, but I know for a fact that the blame for the events of December and January lie squarely with President Kibaki. This is the man Kenyans elected to protect them and ensure the security of the nation. Where was he when, as is widely reported, a meeting of a known gang was held in the State House, ostensibly to plan how to deny Hon. Odinga the presidency and terrorize Kenyans? Where was he when the Kalenjin warriors were organizing themselves into a force that would later kill many innocent Kenyans and destroy property worth millions of shillings? Indeed, where was the commander-in-chief when the forces he controlled killed and maimed people in Kisumu, Naivasha and Nakuru? Don't you think Waki should have probed these issues?
Like I said last week, we Kenyans created the situation we went through and must find ways to correct it. We don't need Kofi Annan and the U.S. ambassador, or anybody else for that matter, to tell us how, when and at what pace to do things. Had it not been for the troika that comprised Kibaki, Renneberger and Kofi, Raila Odinga would today be president and Kenya would have been the better off for it. So when Waki zeroes in on some two months worth of events and asks us to punish people who did things within that narrow window, conveniently ignoring years of injustices on Kenyans, he's asking us to practically succumb to the whims of those who have perfected the art of manipulation.
We will not do it.
Fellow Kenyans, time is rapidly running out. We can still save the nation we all love while we still can. Forgiveness. Atonement. That's the answer. The alternative is this misguided call for justice, which if you ask me looks a lot like revenge. State-sponsored revenge. What I find very disturbing is that pastors from various churches are also preaching this brand of justice! Can they look Kenyans in the eye and tell us where they've been for forty five years while the nation was descending into the mess we are in today? Can they look us in the eye and tell us why the Kenyan youth who participated in the demonstrations are guilty while men like Kibaki and Kivuitu are not?
I have to end this piece with a warning today: There can be no justice that the Kikuyu see as just while the Kalenjin see as a witch-hunt. There can be no justice that the Luo see as serving the interests of one community and not Kenya as a nation. And there can be no justice where the interests of Kenya are decided in foreign capitals. That's the raw truth.
There is a better way to have a fresh start. Let's go to Uhuru Park. Let's ask Kenyans to bury the hatchet. You'll all be surprised how much Kenyans are longing for that day.
The day of atonement.
Select the latest DVD Movies, delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Lost My Mind
It's like I don’t care anymore … feels like am somewhere past redemption line, where nothing matters besides been alive. But I know why, its coz I lost my mind. I was to go and seek help but somewhere on my way there I turned and went back to the stage into a matatu back home coz I lost my mind.
Was to go to school but I went on a drinking spree with my buddies where we drunk and enjoyed all my school fees. When I went back home to my parents after all the money was over and I was totally broke with only ten shillings in my hand … I was told to look for a job coz they were done with me. But I know why I did all that; its coz I lost my mind kitambo.
Years later I went to school. As a matter of fact I never did any school work. The time around the exam period I would somehow get access to exams … but at the end of it all I still failed my exams. But then I know why, a lost mind can’t pass exams. But because I had to feel good about myself I somehow managed to get papers that showed I passed my exams. I approached a few loosers here and there and at the end of it I had my ‘good’ papers. But I know why, even them loosers lost their minds a long time ago.
Back in my village we sat next to the hut talking politics and how we need different leaders and how our lives would be the best with good leaders. How we will turn to be good business people and have a lot of money. How our village that is full of huts will turn to be a big estate if one of our own will be in parliament. At the same time we hating on those in parliament and of coz with good reasons. But somehow 10yrs down the road, we still at the same place. But I know why; we lost our minds a long time ago.
Couple of years later on am the fortunate one to represent my village in parliament. But first things first … my family and I move from the bad surrounding (where I have grown up and lived for like the last 40yrs) to a posh estate in Nairobi. Collected as much as I could for myself while in office and before I knew it another general election was around the corner. To save my ass because I knew my people back in the village will replace me … I take a few kids to school for free and build a big social hall and put entertainment equipment they have not seen and some lies here and there. And of coz am back in parliament. But I know why this happened; we all lost our minds decades ago.
In my day to day hassles, I made many friends. Some very close friends … may be too close. Others very good advisers and business partners. Others are more than friends, much more than friends. But somewhere down the road I screwed up and they don’t wanna talk to me or have anything to do with me. What they don’t understand is that I lost my mind and am struggling to have it back.
I have done many other nasty things but you all know why.
The good news is I want my mind back for the sake of my family and my country. All these selfish years have done me no good. Things have gotten much worse and they eating me too. I don’t want my children growing up in this kind of environment. A decaying social environment … a false political environment … a low economic environment.
This time around I will seek help coz I need it badly … I will not shy away afraid of what others will say or think. I will think of my family and the kind of influence I want them to have. For the sake of my kids and my other half I will do all to get better.
Select the latest DVD Movies, delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Was to go to school but I went on a drinking spree with my buddies where we drunk and enjoyed all my school fees. When I went back home to my parents after all the money was over and I was totally broke with only ten shillings in my hand … I was told to look for a job coz they were done with me. But I know why I did all that; its coz I lost my mind kitambo.
Years later I went to school. As a matter of fact I never did any school work. The time around the exam period I would somehow get access to exams … but at the end of it all I still failed my exams. But then I know why, a lost mind can’t pass exams. But because I had to feel good about myself I somehow managed to get papers that showed I passed my exams. I approached a few loosers here and there and at the end of it I had my ‘good’ papers. But I know why, even them loosers lost their minds a long time ago.
Back in my village we sat next to the hut talking politics and how we need different leaders and how our lives would be the best with good leaders. How we will turn to be good business people and have a lot of money. How our village that is full of huts will turn to be a big estate if one of our own will be in parliament. At the same time we hating on those in parliament and of coz with good reasons. But somehow 10yrs down the road, we still at the same place. But I know why; we lost our minds a long time ago.
Couple of years later on am the fortunate one to represent my village in parliament. But first things first … my family and I move from the bad surrounding (where I have grown up and lived for like the last 40yrs) to a posh estate in Nairobi. Collected as much as I could for myself while in office and before I knew it another general election was around the corner. To save my ass because I knew my people back in the village will replace me … I take a few kids to school for free and build a big social hall and put entertainment equipment they have not seen and some lies here and there. And of coz am back in parliament. But I know why this happened; we all lost our minds decades ago.
In my day to day hassles, I made many friends. Some very close friends … may be too close. Others very good advisers and business partners. Others are more than friends, much more than friends. But somewhere down the road I screwed up and they don’t wanna talk to me or have anything to do with me. What they don’t understand is that I lost my mind and am struggling to have it back.
I have done many other nasty things but you all know why.
The good news is I want my mind back for the sake of my family and my country. All these selfish years have done me no good. Things have gotten much worse and they eating me too. I don’t want my children growing up in this kind of environment. A decaying social environment … a false political environment … a low economic environment.
This time around I will seek help coz I need it badly … I will not shy away afraid of what others will say or think. I will think of my family and the kind of influence I want them to have. For the sake of my kids and my other half I will do all to get better.
Select the latest DVD Movies, delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
A Year Quickly Gone By
Well, the past 12 months have no doubt etched themselves in the minds of many and will remain permanent bitter/sweet memories.
At a glance and not necessarily mentioning all worthy events
Political Leadership
From the recent historic election of Barrack Obama as the first African-American President of USA, voted for by over 64.6 million against McCain's 56.9 million in a record turnout, winning 349 electoral votes against McCain's 163 and major wins generally for all Americans who want change and believe that "yes they can" have change.
On our own home front, in reverse chronology we have seen politicians and leaders flip flop over the Waki report and the dispensation of justice for victims of political violence.
Then there is still the issue or glaring absence of a clear statement on the hijacked ship and its cargo
Prior to that we had a Kriegler report that tried very hard to tell us in legal or official terms what we already knew and further on went to recommend and tabulate what we had all asked for many times before since 2000. Side note: I remember once being told that a consultant is the best job one can hope for. Step 1 client approaches consultant (of course with prodding from consultant) and explains problem, consultant writes it down, client approves and pays for the information. Step 2, client lists possible solutions to problem, consultant writes report, client visibly impressed approves and pays for it. Step 3, client recommends workable implementation schedule, consultant documents as before and client pays. finally step 4 client implements solutions to problems under the "watchful eye" of consultant and yet again pays for the services. step 5 consultant identifies some flaws in the process and we begin at step 1. Now please note I have nothing but respect for consultants adn the vast experience and knowledge that can be tapped into to arrive speedily at workable solutions, but there are times when we need to look internally for the consultant.
We have also seen the 10th parliament exercise muscle and "discipline" an "errant" Min. of Finance. Needless to mention that another commission with a "strict timeline of 1 month" is still yet to table the results of its findings 5 months down and still counting. I have no idea what this commission will learn, and the impact of its findings considering that parliament more or less impeached the former minister.
Recall also revisiting the Mau forest saga and the long term socio-economic and environmental impact vis a vis the short term gratification of some dubious leadership attempting to capitalise largely on community ignorance for political mileage
Then there was the song and dance of protocol, with grown men behaving like elementary school children trying to be first on the queue, complete with bands of supporters.
This of course was brought on by the historic Peace Accord that created the position of a Prime Minister in a brokered negotiation pitting the three or is it four intransigent musketeers from each "aggrieved" camp disputing or supporting the 2007 elections outcome.
And of course the unresolved but finally accepted "as is" 2007 elections fiasco
Financial
On the money scene so far we have to contend with the true dealings of the Grand Regency saga
And earlier on the Safaricom IPO and the fate of those whose deposits are yet to be refunded and those whose investment has perhaps not gone as expected so far.
More details on financial matters are best found at bankelele blogspot which does an excellent round up of the local financial scene
Social Scene
The most significant issues on the social scene are first of all the continued anguish and double or even triple tragedy of IDPs i.e.
i) the inability for IDPs to re-integrate. even todate there are reports that all is not going well with the resettlement of IDPs, notwithstanding the fact that a few unscrupulous individuals have tried to make capital of true IDPs plight, many IDPs are not safe to return and be re-assimilated back into the communities that they have lived in for a long time.
ii) dealing with and living with the trauma of atrocities visited on them every cycle of violence that peaks during elections and the unresolved underlying issues and causes.
iii) the inability or impotence of leadership to firmly and decisively deal with the criminals sponsoring, supporting and organizing ethnic and political violence and discrimination both past and current
the second social issue is the exponentially increasing recalcitrance by irresponsible persons in positions of authority as well as their influence/stranglehold on institutions resulting in rampant culture of impunity that has now overtaken the already entrenched and deeply rooted culture of corruption .
the third issue is the re-emergence of a deadly ethnic bigotry and intolerance that is both unbelievable in its stupidity and outrageous in how far, deep and fast its spreading unabated.
other issue is such as the inability of leaders to reach out to communities so as to mutually develop and map out solutions to long standing issues such as destruction of eco-systems in the case of Mau forest or bridge ethnic tensions and animosity/intolerance or foster working relationships. And even more distressing is that our leadership todate still spends enormous amounts of time dealing with historical issues and only a nominal effort on today and the future. Its very well to talk of a Vision 2030, but other projects such as Water for all by 2000, Electricity for all 200? etc have come and gone, where are the reports/commissions of inquiry seeking to find what went wrong and what should be done better even as we look into V2030. Was thrilled to read the report that last night suddenly Kenya Power was in a frenzy installing electricity at Kogelo, what a fraud, but hey its still a good sign.
No doubt you can find other high and low points to ponder about in your own environment similar to the samples listed above
But even as its easy to blame leadership, lets also look inwards at ourselves and reflect on what we as individuals or in small groups can do to hack away at some of these problems. We need to assume at some point that leadership has failed but we cannot (afford to) fail
==
Finding some mutually acceptable high points on the Kenyan public scene is comically tragic because its been a bit of a see-saw (or teeter-totter) effect, i.e what pleases one side will almost certainly offend another party & vice-versa. We can see this effect replayed almost daily in some of the near juvenile comments as contributors try to outshine or taunt each other. Sadly some of that attitude is what exploded early this year and is therefore an indicator of the social maturity of us all as Kenyans
So the purpose of this post dear friends is not to lament on the misfortune or gloat over some minor or major victory, but to see if at all its possible to find a path out of this circuitous maze or mess.
First is the success story of Obama
But am also drawn to this amazing story of courage and a willingness to forgive but even above that, the commitment and selflessness of this young man through all his pain to come up with a project that honours that memory that he holds very dear. Oh yes indeed, there are many who can relate to the pain, but how many have turned their circumstances around?
Warrick Dunn is an NFL football player whose mother was gunned down in a fatal robbery incidence. But through his grief he was able to instead give back to society by setting up a foundation that works with single mothers to provide them an opportunity (that would otherwise never exist) for their first home ownership. You can follow Warrick's story in this MSNBC article
Oh yes people, out there amongst us some real heroes and heroines who are reaching out and touching people in different ways in their communities. We all know some amazing Kenyan stories out there and it would be a new dawn if we could start exposing some of these efforts and initiatives so that we can identify and support or complement the noteworthy efforts, and hopefully in the coming years move away from all this incessant rolling around in the murk of yesterday and embrace a new dawn for Kenya.
At the same time in the little time remaining before the next election, we need to maintain pressure on leaders and not take our eyes off the ball or away from the main causes of our current tribulations largely due to an obsolete constitution, coupled with current lethargic leadership evidently playing to shadowy corrupt entities and at the same time start addressing the past and recent injustices, and this song has been played over and over.
==
So in a nutshell am asking, have you come across or heard a great story of a Kenyan or maybe someone else in Kenya who has really made or is trying their best to make a difference or making the best of a bad situation? If yes, it would really be refreshing to hear about it, if not, how about yourself, what are you doing in your small way to make a difference, or perhaps even better, is there a way we can all work towards (perhaps a non or less political or more precisely circumvent where possible some of these political warlords) approach to addressing our burning issues and come up with solutions and means to push through some of these items?
Oh well, thought I might just throw that out there.
Select Hot DVD Movies delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
At a glance and not necessarily mentioning all worthy events
Political Leadership
From the recent historic election of Barrack Obama as the first African-American President of USA, voted for by over 64.6 million against McCain's 56.9 million in a record turnout, winning 349 electoral votes against McCain's 163 and major wins generally for all Americans who want change and believe that "yes they can" have change.
On our own home front, in reverse chronology we have seen politicians and leaders flip flop over the Waki report and the dispensation of justice for victims of political violence.
Then there is still the issue or glaring absence of a clear statement on the hijacked ship and its cargo
Prior to that we had a Kriegler report that tried very hard to tell us in legal or official terms what we already knew and further on went to recommend and tabulate what we had all asked for many times before since 2000. Side note: I remember once being told that a consultant is the best job one can hope for. Step 1 client approaches consultant (of course with prodding from consultant) and explains problem, consultant writes it down, client approves and pays for the information. Step 2, client lists possible solutions to problem, consultant writes report, client visibly impressed approves and pays for it. Step 3, client recommends workable implementation schedule, consultant documents as before and client pays. finally step 4 client implements solutions to problems under the "watchful eye" of consultant and yet again pays for the services. step 5 consultant identifies some flaws in the process and we begin at step 1. Now please note I have nothing but respect for consultants adn the vast experience and knowledge that can be tapped into to arrive speedily at workable solutions, but there are times when we need to look internally for the consultant.
We have also seen the 10th parliament exercise muscle and "discipline" an "errant" Min. of Finance. Needless to mention that another commission with a "strict timeline of 1 month" is still yet to table the results of its findings 5 months down and still counting. I have no idea what this commission will learn, and the impact of its findings considering that parliament more or less impeached the former minister.
Recall also revisiting the Mau forest saga and the long term socio-economic and environmental impact vis a vis the short term gratification of some dubious leadership attempting to capitalise largely on community ignorance for political mileage
Then there was the song and dance of protocol, with grown men behaving like elementary school children trying to be first on the queue, complete with bands of supporters.
This of course was brought on by the historic Peace Accord that created the position of a Prime Minister in a brokered negotiation pitting the three or is it four intransigent musketeers from each "aggrieved" camp disputing or supporting the 2007 elections outcome.
And of course the unresolved but finally accepted "as is" 2007 elections fiasco
Financial
On the money scene so far we have to contend with the true dealings of the Grand Regency saga
And earlier on the Safaricom IPO and the fate of those whose deposits are yet to be refunded and those whose investment has perhaps not gone as expected so far.
More details on financial matters are best found at bankelele blogspot which does an excellent round up of the local financial scene
Social Scene
The most significant issues on the social scene are first of all the continued anguish and double or even triple tragedy of IDPs i.e.
i) the inability for IDPs to re-integrate. even todate there are reports that all is not going well with the resettlement of IDPs, notwithstanding the fact that a few unscrupulous individuals have tried to make capital of true IDPs plight, many IDPs are not safe to return and be re-assimilated back into the communities that they have lived in for a long time.
ii) dealing with and living with the trauma of atrocities visited on them every cycle of violence that peaks during elections and the unresolved underlying issues and causes.
iii) the inability or impotence of leadership to firmly and decisively deal with the criminals sponsoring, supporting and organizing ethnic and political violence and discrimination both past and current
the second social issue is the exponentially increasing recalcitrance by irresponsible persons in positions of authority as well as their influence/stranglehold on institutions resulting in rampant culture of impunity that has now overtaken the already entrenched and deeply rooted culture of corruption .
the third issue is the re-emergence of a deadly ethnic bigotry and intolerance that is both unbelievable in its stupidity and outrageous in how far, deep and fast its spreading unabated.
other issue is such as the inability of leaders to reach out to communities so as to mutually develop and map out solutions to long standing issues such as destruction of eco-systems in the case of Mau forest or bridge ethnic tensions and animosity/intolerance or foster working relationships. And even more distressing is that our leadership todate still spends enormous amounts of time dealing with historical issues and only a nominal effort on today and the future. Its very well to talk of a Vision 2030, but other projects such as Water for all by 2000, Electricity for all 200? etc have come and gone, where are the reports/commissions of inquiry seeking to find what went wrong and what should be done better even as we look into V2030. Was thrilled to read the report that last night suddenly Kenya Power was in a frenzy installing electricity at Kogelo, what a fraud, but hey its still a good sign.
No doubt you can find other high and low points to ponder about in your own environment similar to the samples listed above
But even as its easy to blame leadership, lets also look inwards at ourselves and reflect on what we as individuals or in small groups can do to hack away at some of these problems. We need to assume at some point that leadership has failed but we cannot (afford to) fail
==
Finding some mutually acceptable high points on the Kenyan public scene is comically tragic because its been a bit of a see-saw (or teeter-totter) effect, i.e what pleases one side will almost certainly offend another party & vice-versa. We can see this effect replayed almost daily in some of the near juvenile comments as contributors try to outshine or taunt each other. Sadly some of that attitude is what exploded early this year and is therefore an indicator of the social maturity of us all as Kenyans
So the purpose of this post dear friends is not to lament on the misfortune or gloat over some minor or major victory, but to see if at all its possible to find a path out of this circuitous maze or mess.
First is the success story of Obama
But am also drawn to this amazing story of courage and a willingness to forgive but even above that, the commitment and selflessness of this young man through all his pain to come up with a project that honours that memory that he holds very dear. Oh yes indeed, there are many who can relate to the pain, but how many have turned their circumstances around?
Warrick Dunn is an NFL football player whose mother was gunned down in a fatal robbery incidence. But through his grief he was able to instead give back to society by setting up a foundation that works with single mothers to provide them an opportunity (that would otherwise never exist) for their first home ownership. You can follow Warrick's story in this MSNBC article
Oh yes people, out there amongst us some real heroes and heroines who are reaching out and touching people in different ways in their communities. We all know some amazing Kenyan stories out there and it would be a new dawn if we could start exposing some of these efforts and initiatives so that we can identify and support or complement the noteworthy efforts, and hopefully in the coming years move away from all this incessant rolling around in the murk of yesterday and embrace a new dawn for Kenya.
At the same time in the little time remaining before the next election, we need to maintain pressure on leaders and not take our eyes off the ball or away from the main causes of our current tribulations largely due to an obsolete constitution, coupled with current lethargic leadership evidently playing to shadowy corrupt entities and at the same time start addressing the past and recent injustices, and this song has been played over and over.
==
So in a nutshell am asking, have you come across or heard a great story of a Kenyan or maybe someone else in Kenya who has really made or is trying their best to make a difference or making the best of a bad situation? If yes, it would really be refreshing to hear about it, if not, how about yourself, what are you doing in your small way to make a difference, or perhaps even better, is there a way we can all work towards (perhaps a non or less political or more precisely circumvent where possible some of these political warlords) approach to addressing our burning issues and come up with solutions and means to push through some of these items?
Oh well, thought I might just throw that out there.
Select Hot DVD Movies delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Barack Obama Wins Historic 2008 US Presidential Elections
Democratic Senator Barack Obama has said in his acceptance speech that "change has come to America", after being elected the first black president of the United States.It gives me great pleasure at having to pen the first Kumekucha post congratulating the American voters for electing Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.
Victory was more than decisive - Obama beating McCain by 338 to 155 electoral votes, CNN reported.
Obama, the first African-American to win the presidency, will take office on January 20, 2009, following an historic election in which an estimated 100 million American citizens voted.
Back home in Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki was not just among the first to send congratulatory message to the new President-elect, but he also declared Thursday November 6th 2008 a public holiday throughout Kenya. Almost everywhere around the country, Kenyans are in celebratory mood as people digest the fact that a man whom they share an ancestry has been elected to the helm of global political and economic power.
More updates later....but here are some images from Kogelo in Nyanza Province, taken about 7am Kenya time.
Kenyan family members of U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, including his step-grandmother Sarah Obama, second left, and a distant cousin Reyson Obama, right, whose grandfather was the brother of Barack's grandfather, celebrate after his victory in the U.S. election was announced, at the family's homestead in Kogelo village, Kenya, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. The village is where U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's step-grandmother lives.Hot DVD Movies delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Monday, November 03, 2008
OBAMA BE THY NAME by "Ohanglaman" MAKADEM
"Ohanglaman" introduces his musical contribution to the ongoing US presidential election campaign. In his addictive reggae song with the Jamaican proactive beat, the outstanding Western Kenyan musician calls upon Americans of all ethnic backgrounds to vote for Barack Obama. In his song, Makadem believes that Obama becoming the next president of the United States of America will bring change to the world.
The musicvideo for “Obama be thy name” was produced, directed and edited by German filmmaker Katrin Ender. Inspired by the musician’s international approach to the theme, the video artist worked out an intriguing concept bringing across the universal message of the song.
"Obama be thy name“ is an artistic Kenyan contribution regarding the US presidential elections, unique for its universal rather than local or tribal angle. A must hear and a must see.
Song title: Obama be thy name
Artist: Makadem
Composer: Makadem
Music Production: Roots Camp Kenya
Music Video Production: Katrin Ender
Music Video director & editor: Katrin Ender
Art Direction & Design: Katrin Ender
Contact: Katrin
DVD Movies delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
The musicvideo for “Obama be thy name” was produced, directed and edited by German filmmaker Katrin Ender. Inspired by the musician’s international approach to the theme, the video artist worked out an intriguing concept bringing across the universal message of the song.
"Obama be thy name“ is an artistic Kenyan contribution regarding the US presidential elections, unique for its universal rather than local or tribal angle. A must hear and a must see.
Song title: Obama be thy name
Artist: Makadem
Composer: Makadem
Music Production: Roots Camp Kenya
Music Video Production: Katrin Ender
Music Video director & editor: Katrin Ender
Art Direction & Design: Katrin Ender
Contact: Katrin
DVD Movies delivered to your door to door anywhere in Nairobi. Order online.
Rooting for Obama: Reservations a-plenty
My heart is beating hard even as I type this. With only one day to go to the US polls, I can’t help but fantasize an Obama presidency.
Fantasize, yes. You never know with politics. You might be leading in opinion polls but when the election results are out, you find yourself under the feet of your rival. That’s politics for you.
I know Obama is leading in opinion polls and everyone is exhilarated and some people have started celebrating ‘an Obama win’. But I know better than to get overly excited especially in matters political.
The proverb “Don’t count your chicks before they are hatched” couldn’t be more apt. The eggs in the basket may be big, rich in colour and grace fully oval but this does not necessarily mean that the chicks hatched will do justice to their shells.
The eggs might go bad and produce the most awful of smell. So in politics, if the analogy of the eggs and chicks is anything to go by, it is very important to be ready for anything.
And, more so, as a Kenyan, I have learnt it the hard way not to depend on the opinion polls to gauge who will ultimately win the polls. Of course Kenyans the world over remember what happened eleven short months ago on our beloved soil.
Even as I support Obama (and pray my most fervent prayers for his sail to the White House), at the back of my mind I know he may lose. Do you guys remember what happened to Al Gore?
This guy was running for the presidency on a Democratic ticket in the year 2000 against George Bush on a Republican ticket. Al Gore was also leading in the opinion polls but George Bush won the ultimate prize.
Though he (Obama) may lose, his opinion-poll-standing notwithstanding, I know he has the potential to make the president that America needs at this time when it is teetering on the brink of recession.
Another thing, Obama – my guy – is a young man. Just the kind of president we need in countries around the world. Africa should learn from this.
Young people should be given the chance to take the mantle in their countries and run with it to the finish line. Young people are you there. Go for the challenge.
My eyes, and those of the whole wide world, are closely trained on the United States of America as they go to the polls tomorrow.
Tonight Kisumu is a-fire, as chants of “Obama, Obama” rent the air. Almost each and everything in Kisumu has been named “obama-this” or “Obama-that”.
Sorry for asking this, Kumekuchans whom do you root for between Mc Cain and Obama?
Elsewhere:
Can You Be Trusted?
The Decline of US Superpower Status?
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 1
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 2
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 3
Does Barack Obama’s Skin Colour Really Matter?
Fantasize, yes. You never know with politics. You might be leading in opinion polls but when the election results are out, you find yourself under the feet of your rival. That’s politics for you.
I know Obama is leading in opinion polls and everyone is exhilarated and some people have started celebrating ‘an Obama win’. But I know better than to get overly excited especially in matters political.
The proverb “Don’t count your chicks before they are hatched” couldn’t be more apt. The eggs in the basket may be big, rich in colour and grace fully oval but this does not necessarily mean that the chicks hatched will do justice to their shells.
The eggs might go bad and produce the most awful of smell. So in politics, if the analogy of the eggs and chicks is anything to go by, it is very important to be ready for anything.
And, more so, as a Kenyan, I have learnt it the hard way not to depend on the opinion polls to gauge who will ultimately win the polls. Of course Kenyans the world over remember what happened eleven short months ago on our beloved soil.
Even as I support Obama (and pray my most fervent prayers for his sail to the White House), at the back of my mind I know he may lose. Do you guys remember what happened to Al Gore?
This guy was running for the presidency on a Democratic ticket in the year 2000 against George Bush on a Republican ticket. Al Gore was also leading in the opinion polls but George Bush won the ultimate prize.
Though he (Obama) may lose, his opinion-poll-standing notwithstanding, I know he has the potential to make the president that America needs at this time when it is teetering on the brink of recession.
Another thing, Obama – my guy – is a young man. Just the kind of president we need in countries around the world. Africa should learn from this.
Young people should be given the chance to take the mantle in their countries and run with it to the finish line. Young people are you there. Go for the challenge.
My eyes, and those of the whole wide world, are closely trained on the United States of America as they go to the polls tomorrow.
Tonight Kisumu is a-fire, as chants of “Obama, Obama” rent the air. Almost each and everything in Kisumu has been named “obama-this” or “Obama-that”.
Sorry for asking this, Kumekuchans whom do you root for between Mc Cain and Obama?
Elsewhere:
Can You Be Trusted?
The Decline of US Superpower Status?
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 1
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 2
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - 3
Does Barack Obama’s Skin Colour Really Matter?
Brand Obama: Signed, Sealed and Delivered
The clock is finally ticking as the candidates approach the finish line. This was a campaign like no other before it. Pundits have had to revise their tales and most have their tails safely tacked in between their legs. Obama is here to not only make history but REDEFINE politics as we have known it.The tension is a mile thick and the expectation is insatiable. Obama is working his socks off as if he is the one trailing in the polls. Complacency is the sure stealer of sweet victory from the jaws of success. And what do we have in all this, one may ask? Well, WE HAVE EVERYTHING as a people and more so as Kenyans. With Obama’s victory the world geopolitics WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
Obama has set the standards so high and with unparalleled superlative ideals, weak minds and jealous competitors will unwittingly reduce his supporters to idol worshipers. Well the ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME tag would have been more apt in defining a candidate whose star seems to reside past the ordinary skies.
Obama’s fast political rise underscores the merits of clearly defined objectives with the commensurate determination to work tirelessly to achieve them. His highlight the selflessness of public service anchored on sound virtues that capture the collective fears and aspirations of a generation. Listening to him speak anywhere is akin to winning a ticket for a ringside seat at a giant shredder. Discipline is his singular signature, he is unruffled and his organization is tightly-controlled. His campaign is conducted within the two pillars of grace and intellect. They do not like the unpredictable.
Masked fear
Obama’s meteoric rise couldn’t have come at a better time. This has been the most fascinating, most gruelling and most expensive US presidential election campaign for generations. He threw his hat in the ring, banished time-tested templates and exploited technology to his advantage. Now the prize is his to lose. We all crave for change but Barack breathed new life into simple word that leaves the crowd cry back: "Yes We Can". The onus is on him to deliver and YES HE WILL.
But just like a Hollywood thriller with an assured conclusion, the race still leaves the heart racing. The endgame of this year’s US election has gripped every black person with a powerful mixture of extreme emotions. Obama's win represents a previously unimaginable triumph over centuries of racism and stereotypes against blacks. He epitomizes HOPE and OPTIMISM. But beneath the hope and pride lies fear of polling inaccuracy and voting chicanery.Obama’s unprecedented race for the presidency has left records tumbling in his wake. His extraordinary campaign has not only shattered records and brought ceilings down but all the assumptions have been banished to irrelevance. This is in deed a race for the ages. What is more, kind Mother Nature also appears to be playing ball in Obama’s court. What with a broke world and a goofing Bush that has set the rest of the world against the US? The resulting toxic atmosphere is in urgent need of a pacifier and none fits that bill better than Obama.
Race for the ages
The challenges are piles high and Obama has his work clearly cut for him if he wins on Tuesday. He will have to immediately confront some of the most difficult economic challenges since the Great Depression of the first half of the last Century. But Barack is up to task if his focused and disciplined campaign is any measure of his strengths.
This years campaign has been a clear contrast between good and bad. Hitherto maverick McCain has not only laboured under the long gloomy shadow of the White House incumbent record, but his own campaign has jumped further into the shadows. McCain must reap in abundance his antics of reducing a campaign to peddling fear and guilt by association. The truth is McCain's ticket has cheekily corrupted his lust for power into putting the country first. Poor John must be privy to a unique MIRACLE in proving both the polls and pundits wrong.
The US08 presidential race has been rich in both precedent and incident. The winner will be prefaced by either the FIRST or OLDEST – Obama as the first Africa-American president in the 232-year history or McCain as the oldest first term president. Whatever the yardstick for judgement, the milestones reached, the paradigms challenged, the passions stirred and the numbers reached and shattered in this campaign will surely exhaust all the available journalistic adjectives: epochal, pivotal, historic, once-in-a-lifetime ad infinitum.
Make no mistake! Barack Obama is acutely aware of the perils of premature celebrations as evident in his strategy to save his best for last. His victory amounts to comprehensive triumph of greater good over bad. While it is difficult to control anxiety, it is near-impossible to bottle excitement, it just seeps through.
By all indications, Obama has the right temperament in confidence, ambition and drive that propels a worthy politician to high office at a time of multi-pronged tribulations: global economic Tsunami, rampaging Taliban in Afghanistan, battered nuclear-armed Pakistan and the ragging Iraq war that is almost engulfing Iran. By many measures, Obama is destined to inherit a colossal heap of unprecedented mess.
It is no mean feat transforming one's self into a global candidate-OBAMANIA. And by winning this contest, Obama will be historically adding that much-needed flavour on the sumptuous cake. No doubt Obama has earned his place in history books as one of the greatest black men. Go Barack go, conquer and and change world for the better. YES WE/YOU CAN.
Friday, October 31, 2008
the political class is walking on eggs
Far be it from me to condone impunity. We all know that what happened after the elections was one of the most devastating events to have occured in Kenya. In a perfect world, it would be wise and prudent to ferociously come after the men who orchestrated the mayhem that was visited on Kenyans. But this is not a perfect world. In deciding to walk away from the Waki findings, our elected leaders took only one thing into consideration...the impact of implementing the report.
There were two possible outcomes here:
1. By trying to implement this monster, the gentlemen who have been adversely mentioned in the report would not have taken it lying down. So what, you ask? Well, have you considered that these men are at the helm of tribal chieftaincies? Have you considered that as of now they retain the influence to destabilize major parties...and by extension the nation? That is a fact we can't just wish away. So if we come after these men we risk antagonizing whole communities and creating another round of ill feeling at a time when Kenya is evidently healing.
Let the healing prevail.
2. The other outcome would be that we drive the nails in the coffins of these guys and let nature take its course. If Kenya ignites afresh in an orgy of bloodletting, so be it. The problem with that thinking is that it undermines the peace we've worked hard to restore. I don't care what the U.S. and the German ambassadors say. What I know for sure is that when Kenya ignites, they'll send in American and German planes to whisk their nationals to safety. We don't have the luxury of listening to their misguided sermons. In anycase, when was the last time you heard ambassador Ogego tell the Americans how to run their affairs? And when was the last time you saw any of our ambassadors pretend to understand somebody's country better than the people who were born and bred there?
I detest the role these two men have played since the debacle that was our elections. I may disagree with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on other matters, but on this one I call on Kenyans to heed his advice...let's not open another can of worms foolishly. We must proudly take out matching orders from our understanding of our issues, our background and how they affect us. That's why we have brains.
Kudos to our leaders for calling this right!
DVD Movies delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Nairobi
There were two possible outcomes here:
1. By trying to implement this monster, the gentlemen who have been adversely mentioned in the report would not have taken it lying down. So what, you ask? Well, have you considered that these men are at the helm of tribal chieftaincies? Have you considered that as of now they retain the influence to destabilize major parties...and by extension the nation? That is a fact we can't just wish away. So if we come after these men we risk antagonizing whole communities and creating another round of ill feeling at a time when Kenya is evidently healing.
Let the healing prevail.
2. The other outcome would be that we drive the nails in the coffins of these guys and let nature take its course. If Kenya ignites afresh in an orgy of bloodletting, so be it. The problem with that thinking is that it undermines the peace we've worked hard to restore. I don't care what the U.S. and the German ambassadors say. What I know for sure is that when Kenya ignites, they'll send in American and German planes to whisk their nationals to safety. We don't have the luxury of listening to their misguided sermons. In anycase, when was the last time you heard ambassador Ogego tell the Americans how to run their affairs? And when was the last time you saw any of our ambassadors pretend to understand somebody's country better than the people who were born and bred there?
I detest the role these two men have played since the debacle that was our elections. I may disagree with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on other matters, but on this one I call on Kenyans to heed his advice...let's not open another can of worms foolishly. We must proudly take out matching orders from our understanding of our issues, our background and how they affect us. That's why we have brains.
Kudos to our leaders for calling this right!
DVD Movies delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Nairobi
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Witnessing The Funeral Of ODM And PNU?
Flipping through TV channels this evening was fascinating for those Kenyans who are in Kenya or able to gain access to Kenyan TV stations.
On NTV constitutional law guru Prof Yash Pal Ghai praised the Waki report (as a lawyer and expert). While on KTN Budalangi legislator, Ababu Namwamba who is also a lawyer defended the ODM position in joining PNU in rubbishing the Waki report.
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The most fascinating thing here is the reaction of the majority of Kenyans mainly as could easily be gauged from sampling those who called in. It was clear that there is great anger against those who are rejecting the Waki report and by extension saying YES to impunity and its’ survival in the country’s political landscape. One caller put it very clearly when they said that it was unfair for the political class to reject the Waki report to protect their own when many ordinary Kenyans are still languishing in jail as suspected participators in the post election mayhem. So is this the justice that the political class are promoting in rejecting the Waki report?
Take note fellow Kenyans in all this sordid affair of the reaction of the political class to the Waki report, something has happened. A clear shift has taken place in the political stratosphere. This is the beginning of the end of old politics in Kenya. This is the end of ODM. This is the end of PNU. And most of all this is the end of impunity. Let us wait and see what will happen.
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On NTV constitutional law guru Prof Yash Pal Ghai praised the Waki report (as a lawyer and expert). While on KTN Budalangi legislator, Ababu Namwamba who is also a lawyer defended the ODM position in joining PNU in rubbishing the Waki report.
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The most fascinating thing here is the reaction of the majority of Kenyans mainly as could easily be gauged from sampling those who called in. It was clear that there is great anger against those who are rejecting the Waki report and by extension saying YES to impunity and its’ survival in the country’s political landscape. One caller put it very clearly when they said that it was unfair for the political class to reject the Waki report to protect their own when many ordinary Kenyans are still languishing in jail as suspected participators in the post election mayhem. So is this the justice that the political class are promoting in rejecting the Waki report?
Take note fellow Kenyans in all this sordid affair of the reaction of the political class to the Waki report, something has happened. A clear shift has taken place in the political stratosphere. This is the beginning of the end of old politics in Kenya. This is the end of ODM. This is the end of PNU. And most of all this is the end of impunity. Let us wait and see what will happen.
The Best DVD Movies delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Nairobi
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
US Elections Necessitates High Terror Alert in Kenya
Senator Barack Obama’s grandmother Sarah Hussein Obama during a past interview with the press at her Nyang’oma Kogelo village in Siaya. The press has been barred from the home until Nov 5 to give her a break from constant media engagements.Latest news in Kenya indicate that the Kogelo based family of US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has halted all media engagements until after the US presidential election on November 4 . According to the reports, the move has been taken to give Obama's paternal step grandmother, Mama Sarah Onyango Obama a break, so says spokesperson thura Said Obama.
However, and contrary to this information, the REAL reason for curtailing press interviews and effectively ring-fencing Mama Obama are far much more serious. Coming soon after a personal and unannounced visit to the homestead by ODM party leader Raila Odinga, whereby closed door meetings were held between Raila and Mama Sarah, it appears the grand coalition government does not want to take any chances. Although the family is promising to open up to the public after the elections, it is highly unlikely the jovial Kogelo villagers will ever again step into the currently-under-tight security-Obama-homestead, let alone see the Obama matriarch at the local market rendezvous, given that Obama has very high chances of emerging the winner against John McCain. (Make that a landslide!).
Information reaching this blogger indicates that Kenyan and regional security forces, working closely with American Secret Service and FBI, have put all exit points out of Kenya on HIGH ALERT following credible intelligence information indicating that the Al-Qaeda terrorist cell in Eastern Africa under the leadership of 10 years-yet- to- be arrested- Harun Fazul is planning a terrorist attack on local vital installations and Western interest in the Eastern Africa region. Mama Sarah is, according to intelligence sources, an obvious and vulnerable target!!!! Infact, the IGAD summit on Somalia taking place in Nairobi today is just but a smokescreen to have the Heads of State/Government confer one-on-one and face-to-face on the serious security threats arising out of the imminent Barrack H. Obama presidency in the U.S.
Interestingly, even the normally vocal and social US Ambassadors in the region (including our very own MR in Kenya) have ‘gone underground’ because the threats of attack are allegedly already in advanced stages and are aimed at petrol stations (forecourts in Western lingo) oil tankers and airports and other strategic interests. The attacks are allegedly planned to coincide with the US Presidential Elections in early November when the global attention will be singularly focused on witnessing the elections of a candidate whom the Al Qaeda are not supporting because his victory will mean end of the war. Not surprisingly, the public concentration in Kenya is expected to reach the same levels or perhaps exceed what was witnessed in December 2007 during the country’s own presidential elections.
As it is, the Al Qaeda group is reportedly already IN-REGION crisscrossing the borders and mingling with common mwananchi with intentions of identifying escape routes and camouflage.
Security has therefore been enhanced to an unprecedented level at all regional seaports, airports and border points while anti-terrorism vigilance is a step or two higher than usual. Accordingly, customs, immigration and security officers are having sleepless nights as we approach the D-day in the US.
It may surprise many that a peasant granny in poverty-stricken, AIDS ravaged Nyanza Province of Kenya is now centre of global attention and supposedly a terrorist target, but this is what being President of the United States of America means.
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