Feel free to forward this post to your political friends
It is with a heavy heart that I write this my very last post.
Next May we would have all celebrated 10 great years of Kumekucha. But fate it seems had different ideas. The Kumekucha blog and all other Kumekucha brands have now been shut down for good. This decision has been taken after a lot of deep thought and wide consultation. It is irreversible. You will never again see a Kumekucha post, email or even book EVER AGAIN. In a few hours the Kumekucha blog will vanish off the face of the World Wide Web. I have called it quits, folks. It is just as well that I never got round to finalizing any deal to sell the Kumekucha blog because that would have complicated everything considerably.
Goodbye folks.
Why?
Because my children need their father more than ever before. Because I want very much to be there to receive my unborn child into this world. Because I firmly believe that my assassination would never add any value to the fight for a better Kenya. Because I am persuaded that there are other emerging Kenyans and bloggers ready to take up the fight where I have left off. Some of them are better and more resourceful than I have been. Because I feel I have done my bit and my circumstances and the circumstances in the country at the moment are such that I cannot continue with what I have been doing. It is time to listen to my long suffering family and loved ones some of home have always been very worried about my well being, knowing what they do about Kenyan politics and the threats I have received over the years.
This is serious business because I am writing this post over a post that I had prepared a few weeks ago and left instructions that should anything happen to me it should be posted immediately to at the very least discount any suicide theories or road accident claims. I have even left my earlier post title and the first paragraph intact.
Kumekucha has been a labour of love for my country. Contrary to what some people think I have never made a single cent in profits from it. Instead over the years I have taken money from my other scarce resources to finance it and keep it going. Even the fact that I recently aggressively started selling books has NOT changed the situation. How much have I put in over the years? A lot of money, a small fortune but I do not have an iota of regret. It is like investing a fortune in time and resources in a relationship where you end up being forced apart for reasons other than your love for each other. I still love my country to bits and that will never change.
My sincere apologies to all those whom I have disappointed by what will appear to many to be a cowardly act. But as I have said here before there is a very thin line between being brave and being stupid. Let time and history judge where I fall. Let historians also judge if I made any contribution to a better Kenya.
As I ride out to the sunset you can be sure that my thoughts will constantly be with you and my beloved banana republic. I will worry as always about the direction the country is heading but hopefully I will be less worried about my own personal safety.
Adieu my friends. It has been a great and eventful time being with you and I take this opportunity to wish you all the best in future.
The anonymous blogger only known as Chris Kumekucha.
Feel
free to forward this post to your political friends
What is happening in Kenya these days??
ReplyDeleteReally..
Big up Chris. You've done much more than your fair share.
Salute to you Chris.You've done a lot to inform us.The invisible revolution will go on.Boniface Mwangi is not alone.
ReplyDeleteSalute to you Chris.You've done a lot to inform us.The Invisible Revolution will go on.Boniface Mwangi is not alone.
ReplyDeleteThe following comment is not a cautionary tale, but it is just a reminder that some of us need to take some sort of risk in life rather than go down the wrong path that will never leave any deeply embedded footprints in the history of our country, that will or may enable the next generations of Kenyans to become emboldened and take the road less travelled since December 12, 1963.
ReplyDeleteThere are those of us who do not want nor intend let alone desire to diminish Chris' well thought out decisions and intentions to quit keeping Kumekucha blog afloat for a variety of reasons that are well to him and his close friends and associates.
The other day, Boniface Mwangi, a photojournalist and activist, announced his quitting all things to do with political activism due to reasons that will never be made known for some time to come.
Unfortunately, today seems as if its Chris' turn to follow suit, and who knows how many others out there will echo similar sentiments in just a matter of time, days, weeks , months, or in the course of the next year.
Anyway, it has been said before and it does not hurt to reiterate the same over and over again, about the fact that death is a finality, a point of departure and final destination for everyone of us living or residing under the skies above what remains of our beloved country aka the fifty year old banana republic of Kenya.
So, it does not matter whether some of us decide to keep a very low profile, smear - ourselves - below a low flame, burry our heads in the deep sands of every day life, quit or avoid all manner of voicing our diverse sociopolitical views, or engaging in political activism.
Or in the worst case scenario, decide to swiftly embrace self-styled exile in safe havens thousands of miles away from the epicenter of that generates haunting fear in the hearts of many Kenyan women and men from all walks of life.
More often than not, there are those of us who want to draw clear, unarguable boundaries around what sociopolitical activities are safer or unsafe to engage in, in order to lead a longer and peaceful lifestyle.
Well, while it is fair to have doubts, fears, anxieties, cold feet, among other concerns, and understandably so, there are pockets of the population left wondering what becomes of giving voice to political, social and economic issues that deserve to be heard, given attention and put at the forefront?
At a time when several people in our midst, like Chris of Kumekucha, Boniface Mwangi, et al, continue to throw in their towels - in a concerted effort - in the heat of sociopolitical moments of their lives and country at large, in order to save their very own skins, by diverting all of their attention and personal energies toward spending more time with their loved ones while enhancing close family relations.
How soon we forget, that when the date for March 2013 general elections arrived, we the people, had the votes and the crooked politicians had the power and voice.
They said, 'Let us hold the general election' in order to transform Kenya into a functional democratic nation.
But after the general election had been completed, the politicians ended up with real power, powerful voices and well lined pockets, while the majority of the Kenyan people were left voiceless, powerless and poverty stricken, with nothing to show for since the March general election.
By the way, how many more in our midst will continue to throw in their towels, call it a day, and quit rather than remain rational voices of the voiceless, powerless, and the silenced majority?
Chris, why quit? Why now? How comes certain Kenyan tribes, the Indians, Pakistani, and other Asians, can afford to work for sixteen to eighteen hours a day, yet their personal, professional, social and family lives are not threatened in one way or another?
ReplyDeleteAre you quitting Kumekucha blog sphere in order to prepare yourself for seeking elective office in the course of the next general lection?
Chris, Kris, Ochriso,
ReplyDeleteIt's been good knowing you for a while and you will be missed by those who have known you in one way or another.
Spears ('hats') are tipped in your honour for all you have done over the last couple of years.
Farewell, may the force be with you wherever you are and go after sun-setting from Kumekucha.
All things taken into account, and whether you like it or not, your time at Kumekucha and the frequent posts that appeared therein, could serve as a mirror in which all of those who host or operate social media sites might look and reflect on what some of them see and have seen.
Thanks for impacting your readers as well as opening their eyes and ears to issues that were of concern to the general public.
Bana eeh, kwani ulishapewa ultimate na mama watoto ili uchague kati ya kuendelea kuhusika na mambo ya Kumekucha au utafute mipango mbali mabli ya kuimarisha maisha nyumbani pamoja hali maalam ya kuzindua ndoa?
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteHope to '(re)see' your posts and comments in another format, place and time, sooner or later.
In the meantime, if this it, as in the last call or curtain closure, then accept a very big shukran and several pounds of unadulterated kwaheri.
While at it, don't end up becoming complacent or else you will end being very vulnerable in one way or another.
Bye and (re)see-cum-(re)read you soon.
By the way, excuse my perfect English vernacular - LOL - after all these times at Kumekucha.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteWe are always reminded that life is short, hence, live out your life in the best possible ways while you still you can.
And don't forget to be good to yourself, your health, warm to partner in life, children if any, friendly to loyal friends, and understanding to your good relatives, including the annoying close relatives as well as distant relatives.
Without forgetting the usual suspects of current and former associates who have always come to believe in their own minds that they know you better than you will ever know yourself in any way, shape or form.
And also be kind and some how understanding to the remnants of long forgotten school mates and neighbourhood colleagues who still view you as one of them, their comrade in arms and homeboy.
All the best as you embark on the next journey of your personal life and professional life away from Kumekucha.