...Or did they already do it in December 2007?
Guest post by Barry O.
It is very interesting that in the United States political analysts and pollsters have not noted based on exit polls and other surveys that the majority of Democratic Presidential Candidate Barrack Obama supporters are considered wealthy educated Americans. Hilary Clinton who recently conceded defeat to Senator Obama, drew her support from America’s working class and rural voters.
Why is this worth noting?
Well to begin with Hilary Clinton is a educated and very wealthy American, who was able to loan her campaign some $11 million to keep it afloat. Barrack Obama on the other hand is by all means very educated having attended Ivy League schools such as Columbia and Harvard, he is however not wealthy.
In the United States as in most countries in the world higher education, particularly post-secondary education requires financial resources. In Kenya access to higher education is even more cumbersome and relative wealth is often needed to secure the fees necessary for a student to be able to afford higher learning. As they both share nearly the same views on most issues, from a Kenyan perspective one would argue that Hilary Clinton would be the more favourable candidate (her being a female notwithstanding) compared to Barrack Obama. The reason for this is because she is white first and foremost (from a Kenyan lense think tribalism), she is older, she is wealthy, she is very educated and she has a famous name.
Obama on the other hand only has his education in comparison, as he is Black (from a Kenyan lense think un-electable) he is rich, but not wealthy and he does not have a popular name. So how then does a man who lacks many of the characteristics Kenyan voters look for in their preferred presidential candidates win the nomination in the Democratic Party?
He takes a bold stand against a popular cause that he, like the majority of Americans feel is not right and takes up the cause for change. Americans have shown they can look past irrelevant issues and focus on what counts and matters. If the same thinking is applied to Kenyans how can you not vote for Prime Minister Odinga ( majority of Kenyans did vote for him in 2007 any way) when, this marriage of convenience/coalition government ends?
Who introduced the bill to make Kenya a one party state? Who argued for maintaining this policy when Moi indicated he was going to repeal section 2a of the constitution? What in heavens name has Uhuru done since he was plucked from obscurity by Moi to make him a serious candidate for President or even an MP? Kindly let me know because I know Raila fought for democracy, I know Raila exposed the Artur brothers, I know Raila led the campaign against the Wako Draft amongst others, I know Raila has been fighting for the de-centralization of government, I know Raila led the second liberation which was essential for Kibaki to become president in 2002. I know Raila is the only mainstream politician in Kenya who represents a cosmopolitan constituency.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Is It Too Late For Kenya To Heal?
There is an often-told tale about a man with tattered clothes who was found dead in some Nairobi estate. Judging from the clothes the deceased wore and the fact that his body had obviously not seen cleansing water for a long, long, time it was easy to assume that he was one of the desperate folks who walk around city estates begging and scrounging to survive.
But an astounding find caused the thinking here to dramatically change. Carefully sewn on the insides of his shirt was Kshs 50,000—a princely sum in those days. Amazingly the post mortem showed that the poor guy had died from some complications caused by malnutrition. So why hadn’t he taken a measly Kshs 20 from his Kshs 50,000, which was the cost of a decent helping of French fries in those days, and saved his own life? The answer for those who understand the principals of wealth accumulation is simple. Taking out Kshs 20 would have meant that they no longer had 50,000 but now had 49,980 and to make matters worse, maybe they would have felt an urge for a soft drink after that. The point is that wealth is not accumulated by spending. Instead it is obtained by an individual making sacrifices.
Another more fortunate soul collapsed and was rushed to hospital where on examination doctors ordered some milk and the guy quickly came to and discovered that his hidden treasure of about Kshs 80,000 (which incidentally had been very well hidden) was missing.
Both these two gentlemen belonged to the Kikuyu community and what I have just described easily illustrates the great sacrifices which these beloved Kenyans often take to accumulate their wealth. The truth is that it is mostly never by accident or by virtue of some special priviledge or advantages as many Kenyans seem to think. This is not to say that there are no evil Kikuyus. They are very much there just as you will expect to find them in every other community in the country.
Now just imagine how a hard working Kenyan who has given so much sacrifice would feel if somebody said that they had made their wealth by unfair means? Or try and think for a moment about a now successful son who saw as a child or has heard of the struggle that the father has gone through to reach where he is. That son would not take kindly to any general sweeping statements about his community having accumulated wealth through dubious means.
This should be food for thought for many Kenyans just now.
But the same community also needs to be sensitive to the feelings of other Kenyans who do not belong to the house of Mumbi. They must realize that the clients and customers for their businesses are other Kenyans who are different from them and with different abilities, which does not mean that they are inferior or less intelligent in any way.
This can easily be the basis where our beloved nation, torn apart by the tribal demon can start to heal. Every Kenyan must urgently reach out to Kenyans on the other side of the rapidly widening chasm that must be a cause of great concern to everybody.
But instead what we are seeing is a deliberate effort by both sides to outsmart the other at all costs. All eyes are firmly fixed on 2012 or whenever it is that the next general elections will be.
What all Kenyans of goodwill need to urgently do now is to tell those hyenas who call themselves our leaders to tuliza boli (that means slow down the ball). There are times when the interests of a nation must go beyond politics and clearly this is such a time for Kenya. We have only recently seen what happens to the politics when what retired president Moi would call “cohesion of Kenyans” has not been sorted out.
Badly needed now before we can even try to go back into competitive politics is national healing and reconciliation. We as Kenyans must reach out to one another and empathize with each other before anything else. When this happens it will become clear how badly we need a nationwide truth and reconciliation initiative to address all the past injustices suffered by all Kenyans. Incidentally this is an idea that I have strongly advocated for here in Kumekucha since inception and long before the chaos we saw recently after the disputed elections.
Admittedly this will not be easy but we really do not have too many options left.
The comments area of this blog has often been said to reflect the true feeling on the ground on many issues and indeed this is the reason why so many wily operators have used this blog to gauge public opinion with various personal and mostly selfish interests in mind. In my raw notes this week I list some of these groups of people and how they use this blog to achieve their different objectives. The list will shock anybody, to say the least.
If it is true that the comments section in Kumekucha mirrors Kenya on the ground, then clearly we are in serious trouble and we must all come back to our senses before it is too late.
EXTRA: Emotional Send Off For Murdered Photographer
But an astounding find caused the thinking here to dramatically change. Carefully sewn on the insides of his shirt was Kshs 50,000—a princely sum in those days. Amazingly the post mortem showed that the poor guy had died from some complications caused by malnutrition. So why hadn’t he taken a measly Kshs 20 from his Kshs 50,000, which was the cost of a decent helping of French fries in those days, and saved his own life? The answer for those who understand the principals of wealth accumulation is simple. Taking out Kshs 20 would have meant that they no longer had 50,000 but now had 49,980 and to make matters worse, maybe they would have felt an urge for a soft drink after that. The point is that wealth is not accumulated by spending. Instead it is obtained by an individual making sacrifices.
Another more fortunate soul collapsed and was rushed to hospital where on examination doctors ordered some milk and the guy quickly came to and discovered that his hidden treasure of about Kshs 80,000 (which incidentally had been very well hidden) was missing.
Both these two gentlemen belonged to the Kikuyu community and what I have just described easily illustrates the great sacrifices which these beloved Kenyans often take to accumulate their wealth. The truth is that it is mostly never by accident or by virtue of some special priviledge or advantages as many Kenyans seem to think. This is not to say that there are no evil Kikuyus. They are very much there just as you will expect to find them in every other community in the country.
Now just imagine how a hard working Kenyan who has given so much sacrifice would feel if somebody said that they had made their wealth by unfair means? Or try and think for a moment about a now successful son who saw as a child or has heard of the struggle that the father has gone through to reach where he is. That son would not take kindly to any general sweeping statements about his community having accumulated wealth through dubious means.
This should be food for thought for many Kenyans just now.
But the same community also needs to be sensitive to the feelings of other Kenyans who do not belong to the house of Mumbi. They must realize that the clients and customers for their businesses are other Kenyans who are different from them and with different abilities, which does not mean that they are inferior or less intelligent in any way.
This can easily be the basis where our beloved nation, torn apart by the tribal demon can start to heal. Every Kenyan must urgently reach out to Kenyans on the other side of the rapidly widening chasm that must be a cause of great concern to everybody.
But instead what we are seeing is a deliberate effort by both sides to outsmart the other at all costs. All eyes are firmly fixed on 2012 or whenever it is that the next general elections will be.
What all Kenyans of goodwill need to urgently do now is to tell those hyenas who call themselves our leaders to tuliza boli (that means slow down the ball). There are times when the interests of a nation must go beyond politics and clearly this is such a time for Kenya. We have only recently seen what happens to the politics when what retired president Moi would call “cohesion of Kenyans” has not been sorted out.
Badly needed now before we can even try to go back into competitive politics is national healing and reconciliation. We as Kenyans must reach out to one another and empathize with each other before anything else. When this happens it will become clear how badly we need a nationwide truth and reconciliation initiative to address all the past injustices suffered by all Kenyans. Incidentally this is an idea that I have strongly advocated for here in Kumekucha since inception and long before the chaos we saw recently after the disputed elections.
Admittedly this will not be easy but we really do not have too many options left.
The comments area of this blog has often been said to reflect the true feeling on the ground on many issues and indeed this is the reason why so many wily operators have used this blog to gauge public opinion with various personal and mostly selfish interests in mind. In my raw notes this week I list some of these groups of people and how they use this blog to achieve their different objectives. The list will shock anybody, to say the least.
If it is true that the comments section in Kumekucha mirrors Kenya on the ground, then clearly we are in serious trouble and we must all come back to our senses before it is too late.
EXTRA: Emotional Send Off For Murdered Photographer
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