Fairytale Year and Kumekucha Awards for 2011

What a year it has been for our motherland and this blog. Well it has been an eventful six plus year since the site kicked off with the singular call to leave no subject as a taboo. Well, the jury may still be out there but when they dock the verdict will no doubt be resolute. Kumekucha blazed the trail and even though some of the founding bloggers have of late been inactive, the heat has never diminished.

Starting on a sad note the year 2011 saw more than 100 Kenyans perish in that infamous Sinai slums in Nairobi in September. Just before that we lost Nobel Laureate and environmentalist Wangari Maathai. The late Wangari was both history and determination embodied in one fabric. But that courage succumbed to the terror that is breast cancer just like it claimed renowned novelist Margaret Ogola during the same month. Speaking of death, the universal equalizer claimed world Olympics gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru in one of the most unpleasant of circumstances. And we capped the year with the ongoing war in Somali in pursuit of the militant Al Shabaab.

Back to Kumekucha, Kenya lost an inspiration behind the blog's name. The late Habel Kifoto gave and left us his voice as we soldier on in attempt to transform this beautiful land into a better future.

This political blog continues to breathe real fire just like when it was launched way back in 2005. We all owe it to Chris despite his occasional disappearing acts which hopefully will end soon. Give it to Chris, he never minds opening the raw nerves of Kenyans in exposing taboo subject that populate our personal and/or communal cupboards.

Next comes one Mwarang'ethe. Even just mentioning that name sends emotions flying here. His tenacity and fidelity to matters economy and history is legendary. And his detractors won't miss threaded quotes which he religiously weaves to support his takes. Mwarang'ethe's provocative posts and comments remains and exercise into mental enquiry that often stands hitherto held theories stand on their head. He may be no philosophy nor general but conviction is Mwarang'ethe's stock in trade. For his calibrated and certified PASSION he has earned his spot at the top of Kumekucha awards for the second year running.

Neither Chris nor Mwarang'ethe will ever escape with any trace of explicit post thanks to our one and only e-cop. A founding blogger, Luka will never tire reminding all and sundry of the basic tenets of decency. In his book, the numerous kids and nannies visiting this blog must never be abused in any by way of explicit adult language or photos. And he grabs the KK vigilante ward.

While Phil may have gone mute for the last several months, regulars like Philip won't let Mwarang'ethe have his day without challenges. You see Philip believes in what is achievable and the baby steps before that eventual leap into nirvana which earns him the KK feasible award. Meanwhile expect Phil to come back in style and in full political combat as 2012 takes political shape.

The blog would be incomplete without the numerous anonymouses who often come with loads of both tit bits and vitriol to spice it all up. Their custom makes the site a must-visit venue to anybody who wants to feel the pulse of Kenya from without. You cannot fail to read the exported village bias (with a touch of sophistication) from these faceless Diaspora (majority). The anonymouses constitute an important cog in the big wheel reconnecting readers here with home from without. Kudos to them all.

Having lived through the historic and botched 2007 elections, Kumekuchans can only expect more fireworks from within these e-pages. Brace yourselves folks as the sun sets on 2011 and we usher in election year 2012. The faint-hearted may not survive the chocking heat from the kitchen in the next 8-12 months. Fasten your (political) seat belts please.

The Toxic Ethnic Subject Kenyans Won't Touch

Hassan Omar Hassan has touched a raw nerve with his claim that President Kibaki has ethnicized Kenya like never before with key appointments to Finance, Security, Energy and Transport dockets populated exclusively by his tribesmen. Not that what he said was new if anything the same material had gone viral in the cyber world many years before. But why all the fuss for this otherwise mundane claim from the former student leader?

Omar is no stranger to controversy as Moi University authorities would attest when he took them head on as a student leader and they ended up expelling him. True, the constitution does not discriminate against any tribe occupying any position. Also the President may have appointed these people because they are qualified. Omar has chosen to bell the cat by taking this emotive subject out of the web into the mainstream media and now many cannot stand the heat.

So is Omar just a roublerouser or simple standing facts on their feet? It may be either one or both or even neither of these two propositions depending on what language you dream in. But one thing is true, Kenyan kings hate to be reminded that they are nude. And in cue the tribal activists have found a handy (mis)use of Mzalendo Kibunja's commission by referring Omar to it as a perpetrator of hate speech.

Which leaves the question whether acknowledging and broadcasting a problem is a crime. We have seen many nominees of various commissions created in the new constitution not picked simply on the basis their ethnicity. The so-called face of Kenya is a gimmick pulled and played when convenient to mask the real tribal undertones.

If its is true all the above four ministries can have their boardroom meeting conducted in their mother tongue, which it is, are Kenyans like Omar right to bring the same for public notice and debate? Again the answer will mostly depend on your ethnic origins.

But one thing is clear about this toxic tribal debate. The hollipolloi fans it when they suffer most as their tribal lords ride on their back when caught with the principal intention of only serving their selfish interests. Moi did it and Kibaki has not made any pretense to change it but the ordinary Kalenjin and Kikuyu will militantly defend them to the hilt.

Well, two wrongs never made a right and the joke is squarely perched on the ordinary Kenyan who is used as a poodle to advance this poisonous state of affairs at our collective expense.

Omar Hassan's brave exposition is just the tip of the iceberg and as 2012 polls draw near the heat is destined to intensify only in one direction, up. How many can stand the temperatures in the kitchen? Brace yourself, tic toc.