It has been said many times here, but chances are that the vast majority of people did NOT take it seriously enough.
There has been a major shift (of major seismic proportions) amongst the voting public in Kenya and if it were possible to hold peaceful elections this very minute, the world will be shocked at how issue-based those elections would be. At how tribal sentiments would take a back seat for the first time. Remember the widely quoted sentiments of a Zimbabwean voter about how hunger caused them NOT to vote for Robert Mugabe (as usual?).
Sample this.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga was booed at his own Langata constituency in a rally at Kibera. Attempts to discuss politics were quickly drowned by jeers and an insistence that the food crisis issue be addressed.
Raila and Co. actually woke up to a new reality in Kibera where the voters were not really interested in celebrations but wanted to talk about Unga. They had placards demanding a lower prices and they were forced to read them when they tried to ignore the issue. Raila was literally given the placard to read to this face which he then handed over to Ruto and the duo promised to address the situation.
This is really fascinating when you consider the fact that certain individuals within the government (mostly ODM folks) conspired to do nothing and let the maize prices escalate with a view of cashing in big time. Well Kenyans are not so easily fooled these days.
P.S. Many commentators here on Kumekucha are still stuck in their tribal ways and see every issue in terms of ODM and PNU but that is simply because they are NOT hungry. Seated in a comfortable abode somewhere burping from a heavy breakfast (as they spew venom in this blog) and debating on which restaurant to go for lunch is miles away from the reality of ordinary Kenyans on the ground.
...But if you are fortunate enough to afford good food at a restaurant be sure to check out this mouth-watering African dishes in Nairobi
Welcome to the world Chris.
ReplyDeleteA democracy, in case you did not know, allows for freedom of expression. I am not sure if you have attended a political rally. Jeering, cheering, whistling, shout-downs are all part of the business. There's nothing absolutely wrong in that!
So, if I may ask, what is so unusual or strange or out of the ordinary that wananchi rightfully complained to their MP and their PM (who was accompanied by the Speaker of Parliament, the Lands, Justice, Local Government and Agriculture ministers) about the high food prices?
In ODM, we actually practice democracy and allow free expression.
I will tell you that the agenda for high food prices was communicated to the PM much earlier than the rally. He knew it was an agenda he had to confront. Even the UN-Habitat director was met with the same treatment hardly a week earlier.
What is fascinating Chris is not that RAILA WAS JEERED as you put it. What is fascinating is that you criticize your readers for burping after a heavy breakfast on a post whose subject is hungry slum dwellers and then unashamedly proceeed to carry a link that leads us to 'Mouth Watering African Dishes'.....how hypocritical!
It may occur to you also that this post comes after the PM and his committee have already within no time worked out a plan that has drastically reduced the price of maize meal to Kshs. 52 per 2kg pack from an all time high of Kshs. 120/-. Therefore Chris, your post has been overtaken by events!
Secondly, the pledge that was given to wananchi at Kibera and later in Eastleigh has been fulfilled. On the flip side, what has Kibaki, Kalonzo and their pack of hyenas done for the common man in this country despite their more than 70 years combined presence in cabinet? a good number of those years serving the ruling parties????
LASTLY, talking to you as someone who attended this rally, high food prices was on the agenda. But Chris what else of significance was discussed at this rally? Did we not discuss the Kriegler report and the Waki report and how the government (at least the ODM wing) intends to implement the same? Was Martha Karua not at the rally with a message for a new constitution? Was James Orengo not at the rally talking about Land Reforms and Judiciary reforms? Did we not take a minute silence to remember our neighbours in KIBERA who were felled by police bullets in January 2008? If these are not issues of significance to YOU chris, let me inform you they are very important to millions of other Kenyans moreso, Kibera residents. Another significant agenda tackled at the rally was the issue of taxation for allowances paid to Member of Parliament. What was the speaker's take? What was the PMs take? I guess these are not of importance to Mr. Chris, are they?
After so many years of uneasy neighbourhood relationships, Raila Odinga after being MP for Langata for more than 15 years was on Saturday declared a NUBIAN elder. The colonial government used and dumped them Nubians like animals, Kenyatta was there, Moi was there and Kibaki is here. None of the presidents ever thought of assisting this minority group of Kenyans who have continued to be treated as third class citizens not worthy of holding title deeds, passports or even ID cards in their own country. But, having recognised what the PM is doing for them, particularly in the LAND REFORM sector,they decided to make him an Elder of their community.
I know it is OK to express your opinion here and I defend your right to point out the wrongs in society, but I do not know what the obsession is with ODM and what they are DOING WRONG. Perhaps you should tell US, What IS ODM-K, PNU, NARC-K, FORD-K and many others who are part of the Grand Coalition Government doing RIGHT Chris, so that you do not bother them and their (fake) leaders!?
PS: Even Obama has been jeered at rallies.
I have always said ODM is not a people's party right from day one. These people are just power-hungry morons camouflaging as champions of the poor.
ReplyDeleteHow can a champion of the poor live extravagantly in Karen only a mile or so from his dying hapless masses in Kibera and yet you people call him a messiah? As if that's not enough, now ODM can afford to fix price on food, especially one of the staple diet for many Kenyan poor? Something is not right here.
I am horrified to hear this.
Did I read " even Obama was jeered at rallies"?
ReplyDelete...And so you can compare Obama with a moron. That's an insult to president-elect Barack Obama.
Phil
ReplyDeleteThe times are indeed changing what Chris is saying is that Raila Odinga has never recieved such treatment in Kibera a treatment he would otherwise have recieved in Meru or Othaya and i Know the reason, Obama, the LUOs have switched allegiance having discovered another god
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHow idiotic can we be? So now Kibera residents are 'LUOS'?
ReplyDeleteShow me a political rally anywhere, that a public speaker expects all listeners to agree with him/her, and I will show you a LIAR.
People should stop this disgusting habit hiding behind computer screens to throw e-barbs. Attend a rally and be informed, get out and vote, participate in mass action; these are the only ways you can be sure change will come.
Kumekucha blogspot is only a forum to exchange ideas and certainly NOT a ballot box for heavens sake.
Chris,the '5th amendment' makes litte difference.
Damn! A Homecoming after 12 months of swimming in power? Raila was shocked after being jeered and booed in Kibera and Eastleigh and had to tuck his tail between his legs and had the audacity of blaming Gen Ruto over maize shortage. Ask yourself, when was the great Agwambo last booed? Na mambo bado, just wait for Jahmuri day! The people's revolution has just but began! The demos and jeering will wake Kibaki from his deep slumber in State hse!
ReplyDeleteAnd so it will come to pass that those who have lived by the sword will die by the sword. And as it was spoken long ago You can lie to some people for some time but not to all the poeple all the time. The chicken are coming home to roost. Who knew the all powerful Saddam Hussein Al Tikriti would die by the hangman's noose?
ReplyDeleteIn Kibera Raila and Co tried to blame the government as if they are not part of it. The people didn't buy that nonsense and jeered them silent. ODM caused the price hikes and the people knew it.
ReplyDeleteFinally, the people have realized that ODM was not after all a vehicle of change but a con game.
At last the people are waking up to the fact that Raila is a thug and a con man.
ReplyDeletePhil,
ReplyDeleteOkay, it is a big deal now that Raila is a Nubian "Elder." What next? When is he getting the Kikuyu elder title he so covets? Small minds celebrate tribal titles while fellow Kenyans are dying of hunger!!
Chris,
ReplyDeleteWho has bewitched you and made you touch Raila, the one Phil and Co worships?
It seems some of you just hate Raila for no real reason. Your reasons leaves alot to be desired.
ReplyDeleteChris, you are always ahead of the herd. You are able to see what is hidden from Raila and Kibaki followers. Instead of castigating you Phil should thank you (or pay you) for telling them free of charge what they would pay a consultant to tell them - the political truth. You have sounded the alarm; let those with ears hear!
ReplyDeletePeople are beginning to come to their senses Chris.
ReplyDeleteWe voted for ODM because we believed they will bring change but now we know it was a lie. We are not fools and we will not be taken for granted. ODM should be disolved to stop frustrating the poor.
Phil's mistress
molasses and his circumcision calls received a rude shock in his kibera slum. the moron though that saying ODM would elicit some emotion but he was instead told 'unga' 'jogoo'
ReplyDeleteseems molasses influence even amongst the luo morons is decreasing. we at kumekucha are however lucky to have moron phil still stuck in 'yote yawezekana' anthem. phil, you are a disgrace to the right thinking kenyans.
Blogger phil said, "Attend a rally and be informed, get out and vote, participate in mass action; these are the only ways you can be sure change will come."
ReplyDeleteWhat mass actions? Burning innocent children in a church?
What change? Hiking food prices to feed the corrupted Gen Ruto and co.
Phil wake you!
the so called leaders should be made to understand when their cheap politics is unwelcome in both cases where Raila and co where jeered the people had valid points. the political class should first address the primary needs of the constituents like Posho,fixing the damn road and health, otherwise they should expect to be jeered and humiliated evEn in kibera , eastleigh and eldoret.case close.
ReplyDeleteNothing lasts forever.
ReplyDeleteAnd true, there is a new reality that the powerful and some people don't have the capacity to grasp ... not yet able to grasp.
It was very exciting to see the people demand to discuss an issue in a political rally, I felt like hugging them all. Its back to the basics and back to the primary needs.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteDo you really really expect we Kenyans, when I say "we" I mean right-minded people to worship Raila?
If you want to worship him, leaves us out of it. You CANNOT manouver or corner us or change our thinking into liking him.
he is your god and not everybody's god.
Those payukaring here are just pathetic ignorant crusteceans.....This country has what we call a free market....the willing buyer willing seller market that some morons frm CP worship. The gov can step in to correct a serious anomarly in the market but its expected to mostly let markets determine the price....
ReplyDeleteNow RAO and Ruto can interven only when the public comes out to protest so that they are not seen on the one hand to protect 'farmers' or middle men who are 'legitimately' doing their business...so far I have not heard calls for arresting the guys buying and selling this maize so I assume its legal, though not ethical......
O)n the otherhand RAO ha sreacted to it positively..contrary to what the usual retards think we did not elecy RAO to perfom miracles nor did we elect him to worship him but we employed him and like every employee he must from time to time be assessed, corrected, trained warned and even gifted..he is in our employment......The reason we chose him is because he looked the most likely candidate to allow himself to be subjected to scrutiny, and correction.........Other candidates, kalooser n kibs were disqualified for not being real servants but know it alls who had solutions to problems nobody posed for them to solve......thats the DIFFERENCE....so ya some willvisit him and lobby others will jeer publicy with the hope that he will listen and he has proved that he listens.....nwow try to get that through your thick skuls. Your political vocubulary should broaden beyond two words hero & worship. some people here behave as if they get an errection everytime RAO cathes a cold or even sneezes...don't you have something better to do? find another object of hate..or just go get a life.
Sir Alex
Phil,how much does molasses pay for you to do this dirty PR work for him.Crowds have been cheering RAO on ever since he inherited the mantle(if ever there was one)from his late father.The jeering only happens to his political opponents when they attempt to hold rallies(just ask Livondo) and mostly comes from intoxicated hooligans that RAO keeps and payrolls just for that purpose.You are just trying to defend the indefensible and you are clearly offside to use one of his famous analogies that earns him deafening cheers.
ReplyDeleteSir alex, you sound like a literate person albeit your terrible spellings and poor writing skills. No, we don't get an erection when Raila catches cold. It is the likes of you and phil who get an erection at the mention of RAO. You don't seem to get it, Raila is not the cure of Kenya's problems and that's what we have been saying all along.
ReplyDeleteRaila is WORSE than Kibaki and Moi combined but he has managed to convince some gullible cretins like you that he will bring change to Kenya and you wholeheartedly believed and starting singing a hero song. Just look at Raila's track record, what does it says?
Sir Alex
ReplyDeleteHallucinate even more my brother no one will tax you for that every market must have a balanced composition and it looks like you are up to the task
Singa 4:20..and co
ReplyDeleteI know enough to know that when people start attacting your spelling and making sweeping statements instead of a constructive counterpoint, they have basiclly lost the debate.
Two swallows don't a summer make
when kibs fucked up we waited patiently for 5yrs and voted him out....we are carefully looking at RAOs scorecard its only yr 1. and he is not fully in charge of gov....you can give your score at the nxt election too, its a free country..if he does anything criminal take him to court....if its a political blunder throw a party he is loosing voters......
I hope your not a kalooser and kibs supporter because those are not alternatives... sorry .....kalooser has no record he is basically AWOL- absent without leave. RAO was jeered over food prices....thats right thats the person to complain to and whats so wrong with that?
Its a problem and its being resolved....kwani? The whole world with its clever people are in a recession....its also a problem and its being sorted out.....only boys don't have problems...grown men and women have probllems and they solve them......thats the way life goes.....so stop ejuculating every time you think RAO has been cornered. You will only get a limb willy after that.
Sir Alex
"Chriso",
ReplyDeleteRaila + jeering + food prices are 3 words that have nothing to do with each other unless its "Raila jeers at food prices while shopping in Nakumatt Karen" followed by a photo of the man sneering while holding a container of BlueBand in one hand
otherwise may i remind you
1)Raila is not the minister for food and agriculture and the jeers may not have beed directed at him but at someone else in his entourage
2)As minister for agriculture Ruto is the one under whose docket the current maize price saga can be addressed and he was also there and he was also jeered
3)Kibaki himself did not come out and say anything about the current food crisis and the whole country is silently jeering at the man in the privacy of our own homes
Thank God we have a PM who Kenyans know lends a listening ear to their problems and does not appear aloof, far-removed and out of touch with the reality of whats on the ground
Kenyans are not and have not been easily fooled and now we've got what we wanted-intervention. soon we shall be learning to react this way to all manner of issues we want the govt to address, and power is slowly but surely headed back to the people of this country one jeer at a time
Phil,
ReplyDeleteYou are right to say that what happened in Kibera was a welcome display of the fundamentals of democracy. I think it was beautiful. The more significant thing here was how Raila reacted to people's demands. I know that he called a meeting and later made acrucial announcement. Bottomline is...the prices are coming down for the folks.
That's important.
But Chirs is raising an important issues here. Is he saying that Raila has lost so much of his appeal that were the elections called today he'd be sent packing? Chris, what gives you that impression? The impression I get is the exact opposite. This man is too big that alternative Luo leadership can't even emerge! Don't say you heard that from me.
But surely, at some point we have to start looking beyond the horizon...beyond...er...errr...RAO.
What say you?
Sir Alex,
ReplyDeleteIts a problem and its being resolved....kwani? The whole world with its clever people are in a recession....its also a problem and its being sorted out.....only boys don't have problems...grown men and women have probllems and they solve them......thats the way life goes
Mhmm ... i partly agree. Thing is, are you sure its been solved ama its another problem been born?
E-change,
power is slowly but surely headed back to the people of this country. Very true. One jeer at a time.
Sam Okello, only a dunderhead like you who can say an idiot like Phil is right.
ReplyDeletePhil has never been right. He is completely absorbed in Raila worship even when we talked about our "Obama" he never commented because he does not believe in any change unless RAO is insigating it.
Chris,
ReplyDeletePlease tell RAO to borrow LEAD 100 from Emilio. Being the public face of a SLOTH is no mean feat and once you take the road all the flies patch on you back.
Kibakinomics is backfiring and the hungry Kenyans are soon taking to the streets-FOOD RIOTS. Thank God they have a vent to offload their frustrations. To some that is loss of gravitas but others that is leadership from the infront and by example.
Again Chris, where is the BOSS when the surbodinate shoulders all burden? Are Kenyans being defraded and somebody not earning his keep. Look hard enough and see the REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY of screaming and painting alternative base red while you own abode reaks INCOMPETENCE.
A dunderhead? What the hell is that? Look, Phil is a sweet guy who calls it like he sees it. What he saw in Kibera was folks asking for cheap unga. The folks are now getting cheap unga. What would you have wanted Phil to say...that what happend out there was...what?
ReplyDeleteSam,
ReplyDeletePhil is a pathetic little mind absorbed in worship of another human being!
All his sweeteness is swallowed up in his devotion to a fellow human being.
Maybe you should teach him to worship only ONE and the TRUE God of the bible.
lakini Sam
ReplyDeleteWhats your beef with RAO the guy is just in yr 1 your already talking about succession and luo leadership I thought thats waht we are trying to run away frm ...I thought a kikuyu raised in kusumu can lead the nyanza pack, I thought that is what Obama message is all about....
RAO has earned his wings, been in the trenches he has not even tasted the seat and your opportunistic self is already looking for a replacement...sorry sir,,....to the windooooow to the wall! take a chill pill.
Hear ye of the young peoples movement all your showing is greed....just do your honest duty to your country in your ka little corner......lets talk that stuff after 2012. How sio?
RAO is just an employee if you can finda jamaa with a better cv tell the guy to polish it 2012 sio mbali sana.....lakini lazima the guy waits.
Sir Alex
Sayara,
ReplyDeleteYes its true, one jeer at a time we are taking this country back and people is reverting to the people-first food, then MP taxes, next Waki report, afterthat...??
"Chriso"
again i ask why did Kibaki not say anything about the food crisis?Here is a man who is president of a country that ranks in the top 20 of the world's poorest countries and yet he is aloof, far-removed and out of touch with the common everyday problems of the ordinary kenyan, and his people are afraid to organise a meet the people tour because they cannot stand the same jeering to be seen happening to the emperor
Give me a jeerable, touchable, reachable and easily moved public servant/government official any time over a statue that only appears once a blue-moon on tv
Thanks Phil, I like your pragmatic approach to discussing the issue of Raila's rally...as well as the different perspectives you've taken when looking at what was really discussed at the rally rather than shallow discussions..this was one of the issues that I had said earlier that were bringing kumekucha down, the lack of an in depth analysis...who edit's this blog?
ReplyDeleteThankyou
I really found it amusing when prophet Raila shifted the blame on Gen Ruto over maize price hike. It's what the English call a classic case of... "Kettle Calling the Pot black!"
ReplyDeletePoem found in "Maxwell's Elementary Grammar" school book copyright 1904.
"Oho!' said the pot to the kettle;
"You are dirty and ugly and black!
Sure no one would think you were metal,
Except when you're given a crack."
"Not so! not so! kettle said to the pot;
" 'Tis your own dirty image you see;
For I am so clean -without blemish or blot-
That your blackness is mirrored in me"
Hehehehehe!
E-change/cop/(L)
ReplyDeleteWacha porojo. Kwani Emilio amekula nini yako? There are CEOs and manambas, take your pick. The former are business minded and don't eat ugali mark you.
FYI Kibaki is the DULY ELECTED and if have anything against him please forward it to Gicheru, will you please?
On another note Chris:-
ReplyDeleteBeen in a nation where everything has been made to be about politics ... it would not be so off to politicize a decision that should be having its base on an economic level ... ama?
I like the idea that the government is trying to regulate the prices (thus reducing cash flow in the market) putting into consideration the kind of inflation we are in. Imagine a situation where you have the money but you can not buy the Unga coz its not there ... reason been some people have decided to store it waiting for the prices to shot up. We will end up having too much money in the market but no Unga (goods) to buy leading us to the road of Zimbabwe ... where one dollar equals to something like 200 bob or more ... we all don't want that.
In a way what Raila (govt) is doing has little to do with politics but providing a short term solution to maintain the value of the kenyan shilling. And in that line since there is not so much maize in the area to sustain that price for a long period my hope is that they are looking for a favorable alternative supply.
Ugali is Nyanza favourite dish, How can PM be so stupid!
ReplyDeletePhil said:
ReplyDelete____Show me a political rally anywhere, that a public speaker expects all listeners to agree with him/her, and I will show you RAIL-a____
tHE TIME FOR REVOLUTION IS NOW , THIS IS THE TIME FOR KENYANS TO TAKE THEIR COUNTRY BACK FROM THESE WOLVES , WHILE RAILAS CHILDREN ARE DRINKING TILL 3AM WHILE DRIVING BENZES AND BIMAS THE ORDINARY KENYAN CAN BARELY PUT UGALI ON THE FLOOR , NOTE THAT WE CAN NOT EVEN AFFORD TABLES ANY MORE EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE HAS BEEN PAWNDED FOR UNGA.
ReplyDeleteI really do not think posting two different prices for "Rural" and "Urban" people really brings down the price for most kenyans. The Urban poor cannot afford to go to, say, Kiambu and buy unga at the lower price for themselves while the urban rich can drive to Kiambu and buy enough unga to last him a month or so in one swoop. I wonder who really will be benefiting from this price differentiation...
ReplyDeleteAs for RAO being booed, it was bound to happen eventually. the country is going to the dogs and he can no longer in good faith blame the government, since he is part of it. He cannot sit and promise what will happen when he is in the government, so he has to take some, if not all, of the blame for what is going wrong. That certain sleepy fella certainly ate his cake and had it!