Latest Nigerian Con Trick: Baby Factory

Our Nigerian “Brodas” are world famous for their creativity but a scheme recently unearthed at the beginning of this month has left many Kenyans numb with shock.

Somebody set up a factory and kidnapped girls between the ages of 15 and 17 and then got them pregnant and kept them captive until they gave birth. They were then paid off 25,000 Naira Kshs (14411.90) for a baby girl and 30,000 Naira (Kshs 17294.28) for a boy and told to get lost. The babies were then sold to desperate childless couples and to cults for sacrificing at prices of up to US$ 6,400 (Kshs 569,600) per unit.

Just calculate the profits this sick business idea was generating.

And that’s not all, the owner of the “factory” was a medical doctor. The Abia State Police arrested the proprietor of the organization known as Cross Foundation, Dr Hycinth Orikara and rescued at least 32 young expectant teenagers.

I have no words.

But on a funnier note the Standard newspaper’s Crazy Monday edition recently carried the following true story. I have not stopped laughing for the last 8 hours or so….

Man fakes suicide to woo back girlfriend

A man recently shocked his age mates in Tetu, Nyeri County, when he 'took poison' after his fiancée abandoned him in a matatu terminus.

The man had traveled with the woman from Nairobi to introduce her to his parents in Njoguini village.

But when the couple arrived in Nyeri town, the woman disappeared and could not be traced until the following day when she called to say she had decided to return to Nairobi.

The two met about six months ago during a family gathering at Nyahururu, where he was employed as a shamba boy. They had been communicating over mobile phone .

They then decided to visit the man’s family and declare their intension to marry. The man travelled to Nairobi to pick the woman. They shopped for items in Nyeri before boarding a matatu.

As the vehicle waited for more passengers, he excused himself to buy some items he had forgotten. When he went back, the girl was missing.

"He was assisted by matatu operators to search for her in vain," said a source.
The woman’s mobile phone was switched off.

He travelled to his rural home alone and informed his parents about the mysterious disappearance. At noon the following day, he received a phone call from the woman.

"She told him she did not want to be associated with him and they were mere friends," his friend told Crazy Monday.

Shocked, he picked some acaracides from the store and spilled it into a pit latrine and then raised alarm that he had consumed poison. His mother screamed attracting neighbours. Villagers hired a taxi to take him to a nearby hospital where he was admitted.

He pretended to be unconscious as medical personnel treated him.

He was still ‘unconscious’ by the third day in hospital. By the bedside, his mother asked friends to search for the woman’s number. At that moment, the man raised his voice saying, "Ndi nayo. Ni 0728... (I have the number. It is...)", he said and then went mute.

Efforts to call the woman were fruitless, since the mobile phone was switched off.
His friends talked to him and he revealed he lied about consuming poison to woo the woman back.

"He was later discharged and slapped with a bill of Sh60,000. It was hectic getting the money," said a source involved in raising the funds.

What is Moi's most guarded secret?

Storm Gathering Over Tobiko Debate

Parliamentary vote will be complicated over ODM’s Yes-No-No-Yes Stance on Tobiko

Let us stand back for a minute and look at what is happening in historical context. And I am talking about very recent history.

Lest you forget we are in the nation of Kenya where impunity has reigned for a very long time. Just a few short months ago, the president was the sole appointing authority for virtually each and every public office of significance. And where he did not appoint the old constitution said that all civil servants served “at his pleasure.” More recently as the reforms ship gained influence the president still had the power to make appointments and if you had any complaints you were free to go tell it to the birds. Nothing would change. Just to give you an example. President Daniel arap Moi in 1999 appointed the then DPP Bernard Chunga to be chief justice. The appointment left the legal fraternity numb with shock. That appointment was akin to appointing a student school prefect to the post of headmaster of a large national school. But there was nothing anybody could do about that (except complain to the birds). Chunga remained the chief justice until the Narc government took over in 2003 and despite the security of tenure the office enjoys the Kibaki administration found a way to replace him pronto.

Now fast-forward to 2011. A man aiming to be DPP under the new constitution has just gone through a very rigorous vetting process. And at the end of it, the public is screaming with a loud voice that the process was not rigorous enough. Wow!!! Don’t you love the fresh new air sweeping across our beloved land?

But there is more. Where ever one Keriako Tobiko is right now he has deep regrets. His desire for the DPP post has badly damaged his public image. Two weeks ago few people cared who he was. Now in the minds of Kenyans it does not matter whether the allegations leveled against him are true or not, people have already made up their minds that he is guilty and that his appointment must NOT be allowed to go through. I put it to you that the man would have been better off had he not shown any interest for the DPP’s position. I love this!!! The new constitution actually works. There is a critical lesson here for anybody who seeks public office in the new Kenya. Mambo bado.

As I stated here earlier, Tobiko was a careful and thoughtful appointment crafted by those who own Kenya to protect themselves and the evil they have done in the past. After all the man has already done an excellent job of protecting the interests of these guys. Now don’t be so naïve as to leave out names from ODM from this list. Evils of the past know no political party boundaries I assure you.

Now that the plot has been uncovered by the people of Kenya these people are running scared. Very scared. For sure they are unlikely to sleep too well tonight knowing that there will be fireworks tomorrow (Tuesday 14th June) in parliament.

But don’t pop the champagne yet because it is difficult to predict what exactly will happen in the still very corrupt August house where money een in this day and age changes hands to influence key bills.

The biggest worry Kenyans should have is ODM’s precarious position over the Tobiko issue. The party is fighting a desperate battle to get a foothold in the vast influential Rift Valley for its’ presidential candidate Raila Odinga. The PM performed marvelously well in this province in those 2007 elections that he won but he has since lost enormous ground after falling out with one William Ruto. Now nothing short of full support and backing for Tobiko will appease the Maasai community and give him a fighting chance of getting their votes in 2012.

It is very sad that political leaders in the Maasai community and elsewhere have reduced the whole complex plot that is the Tobiko appointment into a simple tribal issue where they are alleging that those against him getting the DPP post are those who believe that Maasai’s (even those well educated) are not fit for such high end offices. Imagine that nonsense!!

The whole issue of parliament and Tobiko is further complicated by the fact that PNU are also looking to gain windfall political capital from the situation by looking good in contrast to ODM’s “lack of support (or lukewarm support at best) for the Maasai”. What this means is that if the issue is put to the vote chances are high that Tobiko will win overwhelmingly easily collecting votes from both sides of the house.

The only dim ray of hope is if the bid to stop debate and the vote so that more time will be given for Tobiko to be investigated succeeds. However skeptics are also wary of that scenario pointing to the fact that Mr Tobiko is an extremely sharp legal mind and must have been very careful to ensure that he left no evidence behind anytime he may have gotten naughty.

Interesting times indeed folks. Very interesting.

Presidential candidates and witchdoctors