A country without history is one devoid of a soul. Publication of the draft constitution makes those not-so young Kenyans ask themselves very tough counterfactual (what if) questions. For starters, one is left raking his head which side of the draft divide Alexander Muge and Henry Okulu would support. Well, it is easy to guess but difficult to know.
Only one thing is for sure, these two Anglican firebrands were very brave Kenyans who dared questioned baba na mama when it was treasonable voicing any letters of opposition to the ruling class. But voicing they did and loudly so. They stood their ground no matter the heat from cockerel party and its sycophantic youth wingers.
Granted, Kenya is making history by enacting a constitution in peace time. But how things have changed in the last 20 years from the time Mwai Kibaki was tear-gassed at All Saints Cathedral to Moi now deriding the exercise as academic. The present church has metamorphosed into many shades unlike years gobe by.
Make no mistake, every Kenyan has the right to vote YES or NO otherwise the referendum's democratic creed would be in tatters. The only prayer is that both sides go into the campaign with Kenya elevated above all their political leanings.
A really tall order but never the less mandatory if we are to become civilized citizens who can disagree without necessarily being disagreeable. Shall we?
One thing is for sure, Muge and Okullu's vote on the katiba would have been based on their conscience and not on whe whilms of Raila. At a minimum, they would have told Taila to stop his thuggush politics of calling those who oppose the katiba land grabbers and liars. Okullu, in particular, would have asked Raila to release the Luos from the bondage of Odingaism, very much as he used to tell Odinga sr. Okullu was not like those modern day Luo prelates who hang around Raila for some left-overs.
ReplyDeleteWhat have we done as a nation to make sure the the struggles against dictatorship spirited by the late Bishops Henry Okullu and Alexander Muge were not in vain? As you may have guessed, we have done absolutely nothing. What a selfish nation this country is! Even Dedan Kimathi's poor widow lives in a mud hut (shack or hove, really) somewhere in remote Kinangop begging the most basic needs from well wishers. Kibaki promised a nice accommodation for her 5 years ago, but as you would expect in Kenya, the money was never forthcoming while the little that was given was "eaten" with impunity by the local provincial admin. What have we done for other heroes and heroines like Mekatili wa Menza, Henry Rono, Kadenge na mpira, Field Marshall Muthoni wa Kirima, Kofi Anna who save this nation from the precipice etc. Instead we honor thieves, crooks, liars and cheats like Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki. We ought to hang our heads in shame as a nation. We must treat our heroes and heroines better with respect and dignity. Instead we reward big stomached thieves with power and wealth. I hope and pray one day the sacrifices of Okullu, Muge, Shikuku, Field Marshall Mwariama, Smith Hempstone etc..will not have been in vain. The current generation has failed to recognized even the likes of Wangari Maathai, Grace Ogot, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Kimani Maruge, Cardinal Otunga etc. the future generation must never ever repeat out pathetic and selfish hypocrisy, fraud and deception!
ReplyDeleteBy Standard reporter
ReplyDeletePublished on 02/05/2010
Reports say Nyanza Province experienced cases of massive rigging in presidential elections during the 2007 General Election.
The rigging ranged from deceased voters casting their votes, polling station staff colluding with agents to mark ballot papers of those who did not turn up to vote and illiterate people being guided to vote for a certain presidential candidate, among others forms of irregularities.
It is alleged PNU agents were chased away from polling stations while others failed to report at the stations for fear of their lives.
According to the Kriegler Report, six constituencies recorded more than 94 per cent voter turn out during the elections.
Bondo, the Prime Minister’s home and Kisumu Rural constituencies had a record 102 per cent voter turn out. Karachuonyo had 94 per cent, Rangwe 93, Nyatike 95 and Mbita 95 per cent.
Mr Benjamin Tolo who was a PNU point man in the province and a parliamentary candidate for Kisumu Town East said election irregularities were rampant in the area.
Bribery claims
Kriegler report further revealed that 1.2 million dead registered voters cast their votes in the region.
"In some areas voter turnout was 100 per cent, this clearly suggesting ballot stuffing, which requires collusion between polling station staff and agents," said the report in part.
In Kisumu Town East at Migosi polling station, it is alleged an official of the defunct ECK was given a bribe of Sh15,000 to facilitate marking of ballot papers of people who failed to turn up, including dead ones.
"The station had low voter turnout and something had to be done," said a source who witnessed the electoral scandal.
Investigation revealed that at Siaya County Council polling station those who streamed in as early as 6am were allowed to cast their ballots without voters card and national IDs as required by the law.
In another station, it is alleged officials marked ballots for voters who did not show up. "I was late and an ODM agent called me to inform me he has already voted on my behalf," says a resident who sought anonymity.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000008868&cid=4
Kenyans should learn from UK elections! Despite voting for change, we woke up with the same Prime Minister in spite of the fact he lost the election to the opposition (conservatives) by more than a million votes.
ReplyDeleteDo you see British people going in the streets telling Mr Brown "toka"? Do you see Conservative supporters killing Labour supporters? Let those who have eye see...
As its stand now, and as per constitution, Gordon Brown will continue as PM until further notice or until her Majesty the Queen decide if there should be another election held, which is highly unlikely as constitution states.
This is a lesson for Kenyans!
Kumekucha Princess
Labour were thrashed by the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats flopped . . . but Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg could still conspire to keep David Cameron out of No10... SAD!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteKenyans should learn from UK elections! Despite voting for change, we woke up with the same Prime Minister in spite of the fact he lost the election to the opposition (conservatives) by more than a million votes
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Ati change? What change?
A monkey swinging from one branch to another branch on the same tree cannot be said to be swinging from one tree to another.
All these parties are branches of the same tree and therefore, to call such swinging monkey politics change is absurd to say the least.
In the FT, we read this:"Brutal choices over British deficit."
"The next government will have to cut public sector pay, freeze benefits, slash jobs, abolish a range of welfare entitlements and take the axe to programmes such as school building and road maintenance – or make a set of equally politically perilous choices, according to an analysis by the Financial Times."
Translated, this means,you can vote, but it won’t make a difference – this is how the
economy is going to be run as dictated by gods of capital/market.
So, is this the only way? Lets us look at the facts:
A recent Rich List compiled by the British Sunday Times found that Britain’s 1,000 super-rich saw their wealth increase by one-third – or £77 billion – to a total £334 billion during 2009 alone.
Evidently, the only thing
that a large chunk of the Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s £1,000 billion stimulus package achieved was stimulating the assets of the already wealthy.
So, in simple words, in the face of the most outrageous aggrandizement of wealth by a tiny elite, the wider public is being told by all three parties that they will have to pay for the economic crisis through higher taxes and massive cuts in public services. In other words, we have witnessed the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the human history and in the face of this, the poor are told, u must pay more. What rubbish is this?
When we look at the continental Europe, we find German, French, the taxpayers being told to "bailout" Greece. No one is telling them that, as a matter of fact, they are not bailing out Greece people, but, the German and French banks which would collapse if Greece defaulted. Why can't people see what is happening?
There will be no change for the common people as long as debate on economic issues is framed by vested interests.
Finally the UK has entered an era of a modern democracy!
ReplyDeleteThe people of the UK has spoken... but much more importantly, THEY HAVE WON!!!! Hung parliament means democracy!!
Now every single policy, decision and bill has to be negotiated and debated in parliament so hard and fast bills can no more be passed without proper debate to the detriment of the people of the UK.
AMEN!
Typical Kenyans' selective amnesia at its best. So here we are waxing lyrical about UK polls while ignoring the rot from our midst. At least GB didn't sent police/AP as polling agents.
ReplyDeleteThe fish rots from the head until we squarely face reality we are merely messaging our collective egos. Defense premised on security in numbers is cheap logic.
Imagine this: Brown orders BBC/SKY/ITV andall media shut when he is trailling Cameron and the next day he is leading. Leteni ingine TWATS.
I thought I should give you an update of what is happening in UK after a fiercly contested election with no clear winner.
ReplyDelete=====
UK is in constitutional uncertainty and almost constitutional crisis. The stock market has reacted negatively to the outcome of elections, with pound slumping against the dollar and Euro. And things could get worse, but one thing for certain, there will be NO violence or anything of the kind.
And as to who will become UK's next Prime Minister, Queen may have to intervene. After a general election, the Queen is obliged, by long-established convention, to invite the person who seems most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons to become Prime Minister and to form a government. But Queen's wish is that the political leaders can determine amongst themselves who is in the best position to command the support of the House of Commons.
The Queen is watching how things will unfold. Her senior advisers are also watching closely.
Kumekucha Princess
Thank God the queen was not involved in election theft hence no violeence. Imagine our local version of queen sending APs as election agents and shutting TVs.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the wway Brown accepted TV debate unlike our mental case.
Selective amnesia at its best, leta ingine KITCHEN PORTER (KP).
Last week I drove extensively around the great land of the hard working and industrious Agikuyu people. Something struck me real hard since I've driven nearly in every Kenyan district. To be very honest, I never saw any mud hut which is very common in places like Nyanza and Coast. All I saw were very smooth tarmac roads like the ones in rural Europe, cute bridges, fat grazing cows, cool streams and rivers and green rolling hills. It was all very reminiscent of the first chapter of the book The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. I saw town centres bursting with trade, farmers tilling their land and not bickering about siasa duni. I know Central has it's fair share of problems but it's no where in the league of other provinces of Kenya. I would challenge you folks to drive around Central, from Limuru to Nyeri or Thika to Gatanga and confirm this. I'm just thinking to myself, where did the other provinces go wrong? Something also struck me. In places like Nyanza where we have a herd mentality, all the leaders from councillors to MPs belong to just one political party called ODM. But in Central I found independent MPs from different parties like Kanu, Safina, Narc-K, PNU etc. Unlike other radio stations which whine about Kibaki, Odinga, PNU, ODM, Kalonzo blah blah, the local radio stations were talking about mbesha... shares...Matatu...Equity...plots...fertilizers...aterere.. etc. Swali is where did the rains start beating us we folks in other provinces?
ReplyDeleteWe need to know about socializing or other factors which seem to inform in general
ReplyDeletecommunity's outlook on issues such as marriages. It is true that many Luo men have married outside the Luo Nation. Last week
we had a huge wedding btw a Luo man and a Kikuyu woman here in Baltimore. Many of my Luo friends are marrying Kikuyu women
and this trend seem to be gaining momentum since Fidel Raila got himself a wife. Many more Luo men have married women from outside the Luo Nation. I cant over emphasize those women from Luyialand married by Luo men. It is Kikuyu women who are leading
in this drive. Reasons are many but Luo men are credited for being gentlemen and treat their wives like queens. They are open minded and i know many who go for kikuyu women because of the business entrepreneurship and beauty. Kikuyu women also like the open minded Luo men as opposed to the controlling brothers who are gifted for being mean. Remember those days when Luo men would get a Coop loan to take his girlfriend on vacation and then shower her with gifts? The kikuyu ex-boyfriend was instead demanding that they get a loan to build a chain of mud walled houses in Mathare and he would be neglecting his health leading to the brown stains on his teeth (because he is smoking njiri/local cigars in order to save money).
I forgot that we are talking about Luo women not romances btw Luo men and Kikuyu women. I do agree with those who say that Luo women are timid (is this the opposite aggressive) and this may be one reason they are also losing the men to other aggressive women from other region. Even PhD holders are likely to lead the same life like one who dropped in standard 2 after her father got drowned in the lake because he was fishing while intoxicated. They take life easily, dress ovyo ovyo and want to lead the "normal" lives where they expect the Luo men to love them because they are not intimidating. They just want to be talked nicely and hates men who wants to take over women roles. They are too nice and they think being traditional helps. Luo men on the other hand dont feel intimidated like my brothers. They want everybody to know that they wife is earning huge salaries and well educated. They want her to shine even if she did it better than him. it is the status of woman which drives them to liking them. They dont like timid women and want them dress to kill and look like high flying divas. So while Luo men are going north, Luo women are going south.
You now wonder why Luo men are attracted to high flying Kikuyu women. Look at those filthy Kikuyu women who scare the kikuyu men. They have Luo boyfriends or husbands. Even many of Kikuyu profs and doctors are married to Luo men because their brothers are scared and act as if any one bringing more money in the house will drive them crazy. Listen to Kikuyu men even in diaspora. They will leave as soon as wife become RN nurse and starts to blow twice his pay. They think more money make them grow horns. Luo men wants that woman with more money and unlike their ngwaci eaters, the fisheaters will even ask the woman to suggest where their pay will be invested. You combine a luo man with a Kikuyu woman and you will see success because the Luo man is more open and willing to let the women take a leading role if she has business acumen. Kikuyu man will be trying to cut her to size.
Ask me and will show you Luo friends even here in Baltimore looking for Kikuyu wives and the qualification is that she must be earning good money (read RN or Prof). the Kikuyu fellow is looking for ways of running away from the girlfriend because she earns more and is trying to import a less intimidating women.
Continuation
ReplyDelete.....The Luo woman wants the man to be incharge and may not be aggressive in investments and changing her face to look more attractive. The Luo man would even spend more money for her to get a facelift but the Luo wife may want to here of none of that. The Luo women get married and start to dress and look fwaa. They will wear Wangari Maathai dresses which were popular in the 70s and expect the Luo man to stay when that kikuyu women is eyeing him and taking him to nice places while dressed in a mini skirt which exposes 98% of her thighs. She wears imported dresses and well made ones while the Luo woman is dressed like those medieval women and expect husband to dress like Vasco da Gama. The Luo woman want to even make her own dresses using local materials just because her father is cotton grower.
Luo women would be good for Kikuyu men. Unfortunately Luo women only wants to be married to their men yet the men are on a hijra to Mt. Kenya. Mt. Kenyan men are to conservative and will rarely marry outside their jimbo. So you have two opposite fellows. Only Luos and Kisii women need get worried because their men seems to be in a hurry to marry elsewhere. Kisiis in Central and Meru, Luo in Central and all over the world.
Bonus question? Is true that Luo men prefer lighter skinned women? If the answer is yes, that is where the problem is and is a major one because Luo women are not ready for skin lighteners and the Luo men can go to hell.
anon above,so now after tribalism you are ready to add gender division into the fray,ati a luo man and kikuyu woman make for a success while the reverse is out of the question.Kenyans and their peculiar ways!And I thought it couldnt get worse...!
ReplyDeleteThe perils of exporting a BIGOT to Baltimore is to have him extrapolate his limited world view. When you are weaned on village stereotypes no amount of exposure washes. You will always see Kenyans aborad through the bigoted/tribal lens.
ReplyDeleteNow the obsession with foreskin has graduated to light skins! And we speak of whites being racists while fellow blackies stratify others as light/dark skins.
Well the pot must be blaker than the kettle. Ole wenu exported villagers.
In Britain, Raila's white godfather, Gordon Brown, has been beatten in the elections by he conservative Cameron. Is this a sign of things to come for Raila in 2012? It appears Raila is going to be given a mud bath by Kalonzo in 2012.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Gordon is refusing to vacate office and want to form a coalition gov of LOSERS with Clegg (the Liberal Democratic leader) and deny Cameron his hard won victory. This is the Parliamentary System Raila wanted us to have. Thanks heavens, the people of Kenya rejected this form of govt by parliamentary thugs.
Ati GB RAO's godfather because he led world leaders to stand up to the sloth who bastardized Kenya's democracy? Well, the west have their interests but claiming Brown to be RAO's GF is village political analysis.
ReplyDeleteAs for Kalonzo he is the best fence sitter Kenya ever heard. He learnt and bettered his boss' records.
And this obsession with RAO, seeing his shadow in all your dreams only serves one purpose, hauting his haters.