Why would the arrest of a controversial Nigerian who has for a long time been linked to the drug trade in Kenya be of such far reaching significance? After all drug suspects get arrested (only to be quickly released and charges dropped) all the time in our beautiful banana republic of a country.
What is the link to politics and political figures? Who in government is after Anthony Chinedu and who are the people protecting him? Was George Saitoti a victim of powerful drug cartels in Kenya who did not want to be exposed as is widely believed?
These are just some of the questions going through the minds of political analysts in the know after the dramatic events of last weekend.
On Saturday night at about midnight anti-narcotics policemen raided the home of Nigerian Anthony Chinedu in the leafy Kileleshwa neighborhood in Nairobi. Although they identified themselves as policemen, Chinedu refused to open the door leaving the police with no option but to break into his house. They found equipment that is usually used in the drug trade like weighing machines and packing materials. They also found 10 grams of a substance believed to be heroin. Interestingly when Chinedu appeared in court on Monday there was no mention of the drugs.
Actually Chinedu’s troubles as well as the powerful friends already working behind the scenes to make everything go away are both working side by side in the current government and naturally they have names. This is the highly sensitive information that is contained in a special issue of my raw notes just published a few minutes ago that includes lists of names.
It is no accident that journalists in Kenya shake in their boots and break into a cold sweat whenever they are faced with an assignment to write about the drug trade in Kenya. Only the very brave like Jicho Pevu’s Mohamed Ali and John Allan Namu have dared at great risk to their personal safety. Although drug barons still found a very creative way (NOT a bribe) to stop the drug exposes on KTN (information that can be found in back issues of Kumekucha’s raw notes).
It is no secret that seemingly harmless drug Lords operating the shadows as “prominent local businessmen” have not only eliminated those who dare stand in their way but in other countries these kind of people have also destabilized and even brought down powerful governments who have tried to go after them.
All indications are that the extremely powerful people in government who instigated the arrest are determined that the Nigerian be deported from the country.
It is only in Kenya that the people so respect money that they quickly start worshipping those who seem to have plenty of it without caring where the money came from in the first place. Without the benefit of any evidence where does all the bottomless wealth that is flouted in our country come from? The time has come to interrogate all those characters we see spending the whole day hanging around in restaurants and entertainment spots just spending money and calling themselves businessmen. Yet they have no known factories or brands to justify their cash flow. In any case other Kenyans who own such assets and toil for long hours can never afford the kind of lifestyles these idlers enjoy.
I will not even begin to discuss the huge number of foreigners with dubious backgrounds who pour into Kenya every day, are rude to locals, push them around and sometimes assault and kill them and yet nothing is done.
Indeed Kenya already has a reputation for being one of the most attractive “investment destination’ for criminals because everybody knows that all you need to do is show a little cash and you will be untouchable quite literally able to do what you cannot do in your own home country.
This is all very sad and the worship of money in Kenya can only be classified as extreme and legendary. The story is told of a very wealthy man based in Kitui in the 70s and 80s who would deliberately answer calls of nature (the longer version) in bushes and then he would wipe himself with 100 shilling notes and leave them there next to his smelly waste. Minutes later there would be a scramble for the “soiled” notes. That is the kind of jostle regularly happening in Nairobi when you consider how some people earn their money.
And the worst thing of all is that the drug trade and politics in Kenya are joined at the hip.
See also:
Is it okay for a drug baron to be in government?
Kumekucha,
ReplyDeletea) For how long has our beautiful banana republic of a country been a virtual narco-state?
b) Has the so-called former green city in the sun, and its not-so-clean sister port city of Mombasa been ideal for drug smugglers, arms dealers and human traffickers?
c) Who is the leading drug kingpin in our beautiful banana republic of a country?
d) And who the other drug kingpins in the city, porty city and elsewhere around the country?
e) Who are the powerful individuals and the well connected in our midst that continue to provide unlimited cover and immunity to the foreign drug kingpins, their international partners and local associates in the country?
f) How does one tell whether some well known foreigners, foreign business people and their local associates operating on Kenyan soil have outstanding IAWs (Interpol Arrest Warrants) and EAWs (Europol Arrest Warrants)?
g) The country's newly sworn in president has vowed to fingt corruption. So, whe is he and the JC, AG, DPP, in conjunction with the IG, NSIS, CID, KAPU and MPU start confronting one of the deadliest threats to national security?
h) How comes that ninety-seven percent of Kenyans are very much afraid of exercising their patriotic duty when it comes to See Something, Say Something to the concerned authorities around the country, in cases where drug trafficking and dealing are involved?
Chris,
ReplyDeletePlease stop being JEALOUS of the rich. Just die trying, ama?
FYI Chinedu is an investor (as Wanjala for picking up damaged goods). The ELECTRONIC weighing machines were for his business and the 10 grams of powder where a legit prescription for his medical condition - SEE HIS MOTOR SPECS.
The problem with people like you is that you end up reading malice in every success you envy.
Now wait till the Artus come back now that they have an MP and a radio DJ for good company and protection.
Welcome to banana republic with the fruit. Mtado?
Our beautiful banana of a republic ina wenyewe, tupende tusipende.
ReplyDeleteThe republic has never been the same since the decade where the likes of Achinebe, Akonakwo, Afolowo, Atankatan, Rt. Hon. Cross-River-State, et al, arrived and changed its historical events and economic system.
Achinebe and comrades-in-powder has been in charge for a very a long time.
Talking of high skilled risk taking entrepreneurs who are now the backbone of the booming housing economy in the republic.
An industry that has been an avenue of choice where proceeds from out of the republic and other profits earned are laundered without any questions asked by the authorities who have been code named ten (10) percenters by Achinebe and company.
Cheers to all foreign and local business people whose unregulated undertakings continue to flourish, boost the housing economy in our beautiful banana of a republic.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, the residents of our beautiful banana of republic do not have a healthy respect for money per se, but they are well known for having a very deep admiration, reverence and adoration for outsiders and locals who seem to have plenty of it regardless of its shady or questionable origins.
Majority of the citizens of our beautiful banana of a republic would be wading through tons of money and swimming in a sea of all kinds of valuable foreign currencies if they had developed healthy patterns of minting it in the first place without resorting to the usual shortcuts or panya routes.
Worst of all, unbeknown to most raia is the evil fact that the international criminal gangs of drug dealers, arms smugglers, and human traffickers that have found refuge on Kenyan soil, have no respect for borders and no regard for either the rule of law, or whom they harm.
Which further illustrates the frightening links between global drug trafficking and financing of terror networks.
Quite a number of people have disappeared over the years, while others continue to vanish in mysterious circumstances, but the public will never get to really find out the exact number of violent deaths and disappearances that are drug related or connected with the Kenyan underworld.
Lest some of us forget that money is a valuable instrument in our daily lives, but it is the intense and selfish desire for it that ends up causing all sorts of catastrophic ruin of many lives in our midst.
On a lighter note, since we live in a beautiful banana of a republic, how many of us are able to name twelve - out of twenty-two - beautifual, delicious varieties of banana that grow in Kenya, without seeking help from the goggle of a banana market?
ReplyDeleteIf there is a difficulty in name twelve out of twenty-two varieties, then name the six common varities.
In the mean time, watch out for the banana dealers or cartel around a corner near your search area.
The old administration supported and protected him.
ReplyDeleteThe new administration want to do so but he tried to resist. Thats why he is in.
But this is just a temporary measure to cheat the eyes of the people. Believe me, the man will soon come out scott free.
This adminstration is tainted even before it settles down to work. (Read IEBC, SC, free milk, free Laptop, ICC, etc wooes).
Birds of the same feathers flock together.
They are longer birds of the same feathers but they have become birds of prey that eat together.
ReplyDeleteThe old adminstration is on its way out, but the collectors and enforcers of the "ten percent tax" that is required from hardworking business men like Chinedu and many others in the city of Nairobi and elsewhere, will still continue to call the shots.
Chinedu knows the drill so well and he will have to continue paying his dues, the ten percent tax, as agreed to his handlers and their bosses for a while regardless of whether they remain in power or are eased out, because they always have a lot of classified information (Kenyan style) on people like Chinedu, etc.
The handlers are known to keep the confidential files in safe houses that are not accessible to other security organs of the state, should they (handlers of Chinedu, etc) be reliefed off their duties, kicked out of office, or sidelined for whatever reasons.
Kazi ya kupokea 10% ushuru itaendelea kama kawaida.
What of yours has Chinedu eaten alive that you are talking about him like that?
ReplyDeleteDon't you know that the country's real estate market always gets an early start on prevailing seasons due to risk takers and business people with bright minds like Chinedu's?
FYI, the sale of residential real estate across Nairobi, Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, Nakuru, and Nanyuki jumped 9.7 percent compared to a year before, while averange sales prices rose by double-digit factors in all segments of the market due to the tireless efforts of Kenya's adopted sons like Chinedu and many others.
Thanks to the likes of Chinedu because the result has been an impressive 22.5-percent jump in total sales volume during the usually sleepy start of the year, - when election jitters had scared potential buyers away - to over several hundred billion.
As a matter of fact, the last time yours truly checked, Chinedu's legal status were legit and all the paper work for his businesses based in the country were in proper order, including the import-export and export-reimportation licenses issued by the GK.
Kenya's adopted sons like Chinedu are very skilled and fantastic at what they do, and they need to be appreciated for their business efforts and for fulfilling their necessary obligations, unlike you know who - countless tax evaders and cheats out there.
Why has the media has not bothered highlighting how Chinedu has been instrumental in helping a numder of young IDP students in several schools, and floods victims in various affected regions of the country?
Without forgetting his continued embracement of the business partnership between adopted and well adapted sons - from West Africa - and native sons as well as daughters of Kenya?
Credit needs to be given to Chinedu and company for their selfless service while living thousands of miles away from his ancestral home, for sustained outstanding contributions in the real estate market, and continued dedication and professnalism in the tourism and entertainment industries.