What Is The President Doing In Mombasa?

In what is a very ill advised move, President Mwai Kibaki arrived at the Coastal town of Mombasa by air late yesterday afternoon.

I say ill advised because as the nations' chief executive he should never be anywhere near a potentially risky security situation. Although Kenyans have mostly dismissed warnings from the Americans that the World Cross Country championships scheduled for tomorrow are a potential target for terrorists, that warning still hangs heavily in the air even as Mombasa administrators and officials running the event tried hard to create a carnival-like mood ahead of the event that is expected to take place tomorrow.
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Also published today;
The Return of Jim Orengo

Raila's sparkling new Hummer vehicle raises questions

New trends at the grassroots in Nairobi that should worry Kibaki handlers

Kumekucha's awards for your comments

Do what you enjoy and forget about cash
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What is really worrying is that security arrangements have been inconsistent at best and I would say a joke as far as this blogger is concerned. At the beginning of the week policemen stopped and searched most vehicles entering the island. Then for unexplained reasons, the exercise was abandoned. The issue here is not how wise or unwise such a search exercise was in the first place, but the message that starting and stopping such a security operation passes on to keen observers. It is the message that there is no consistency or clear strategy or plan as far as security arrangements are concerned. And that in this day and age is tantamount to suicide.

One of our representatives on the ground carefully observed President Kibaki's motorcade as it slowly snaked towards, State House Mombasa yesterday evening and concluded that President Moi's security was much tighter and much more organized. Curious to see what would happen, he even approached the passing motorcade with a huge paperbag in his hands (large enough to have carried all sorts of weapons). There were policemen nearby and they totally ignored him as the motorcade slowly passed very close to him with the windows open and president Kibaki waving to wananchi. He was shocked.

But even more worrying is the fact that the president will be in Mombasa through the threatened event. Either his security advisors should be fired or there is something very wrong somewhere. We all hope and pray that the event will go on without any mishaps, but the president should have stayed safely away.

There is another interesting sideshow that took place in Mombasa yesterday. Locals were heard commenting loudly that the president used to speed by in the last four years or so of his presidency, but now that the elections are around the corner is making a show of slowing down his motorcade to greet wananchi. As if to emphasize their point, when a local Mombasa politician passed by in the same motorcade, after the president had passed, a loud cheer emerged from the crowd that has mostly been silent as the president went by.

All sorts of interest groups and persons with their own agenda usually read this blog and do not miss a single opportunity to accuse this blogger of manufacturing news against their favoured candidate. However I assure you that what you are reading here is an honest report of exactly what happened in Mombasa yesterday.

The money is in what you enjoy most

Regular violent wife rape by a dutiful husband.

The Return Of James Orengo

If there is one politician who in retrospect is glad that they lost the 2002 polls and were therefore not part of the rot that was the 9th parliament, then it is one James Orengo, former legislator for Ugenya in Nyanza.

All indications are that the rapidly changing political situation on the ground will end up favoring courageous and principled politicians Like Orengo, this time round. Time and again, the fiery politician from Ugenya has refused to take the easy way out and on a matter of principal has resisted every effort to be intimidated or to submit under the huge Raila Odinga influence in Luo Nyanza. That is precisely why in the last elections Orengo found himself out of parliament for the first time since he entered the house via a by-election in the late 70s. Current MP Archbishop Stephen Ondiek easily wrested the seat away from him.

Recently at an event that the mainstream media mostly ignored or did not give the prominence that it deserved, James Orengo was in his element at a funeral in Taita Taveta. The funeral which took place early this month was that of the younger brother of Wundanyi MP Mwandawiro Mgangha. The late Salim Ndaviro was a well-known human rights activist.

Orengo described in great detail the kind of torture that was being carried out against government critics in those days (including unprintable things being done to the genitals). Orengo then pointed a finger straight at retired senior special branch officer Elias Mjomba who was seated in the dias and was clearly flustered. Mjomba however strongly denied any involvement in the kind of activities Orengo was describing, but the former legislator had driven his point home and went on to say that the real heroes who had fought the dictatorial government of Moi at great risk to their lives, had been shunned in favor of collaborators and even people who had actively participated in gross human rights violations.

It will be interesting to see if Orengo stands for the presidency again.

The money is in what you enjoy most

Regular violent wife rape by a dutiful husband.