Kenya's Looming Grand Class Wars (cont)

The truth is the middle/rich class are not "cowardly" as the poor think;in fact the truth of the matter is the entire country was troubled and distressed in equal proportions by the events that took place in 2007 and the subsequent outcome in 2008. Although their immediate response was not to engage in running battles with riot police who were preventing "peaceful demonstrations" in the streets of the capital, or to uproot transit railway lines across the country, they responded in equally huge measure

Same Difference
Remember the call for massive boycotts by ordinary mwananchi of all the "wrong" transport companies, manufactured products and choice select places and locations? As Chris has said numerously before on this blog, there are media print and television houses which as late as last year had still not fully recovered their business owing to the public perception of where their political allegiance lay pre December 2007. Till date some Kenyans still refuse to drink certain milk packages, not to mention you only go to "THAT tribe's" shop if your own nearby is closed after hours or shut indefinitely

In addition to this, you must remember that the working middle class in the entire country was less than average sized and controlled fewer than even half of the capital citys dispatch and flow of relayed information yet now they faced the challenge of gaining sway over the television, print and radio formal mediums in that same year at the risk of losing the sure income stream of political mouthpiecing Instead, they had to convince ill equipped breakfast show presenters, poorly researched talk show hosts and dinasourial conservative column newspaper journalists to turn into self-styled armchair psychologists, psychiatrists and don prophetic professor caps to shine the spotlight and surgically diagnose and prescribe why what happened happend in an act designed to prick the conscience of a nation gone awry

Stuck in the middle
Still, it didn't take long for all classes to notice the bitter change of attitude in ""soldier" and "housie" The bottom line was simple-the tide had turned and the "flying toilet" slum dwellers were demanding their pound of flesh by hook or crook. Afterall, why should some father barely out of his teens himself work all his life as a domesticated household servant forced to leave
his newly married wife also barely a teen herself, and children in the rural setting and yet never live to see the inside of a Nakumatt for lack of being able to afford to shop in there?not to mention almost dying for political poverty

The innocent educated middle class were trapped in middle between hostile misunderstanding "shamba boys" who really are the wheels that run the country and the manipulative self-aggrandizing politcal elite class who had now regained the reigns of control over a country they had nearly lost to internal instability and self-threatened cessation
continued tomorrow...........


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Kenya's Looming Grand Class Wars Soon

and why it's no longer shocking to shop, worship or unwind at your favourite local side-by-side with your slum dwelling shamba boy or "askari soldier"

A vicious modern day class war has quietly been taking place in the country over the past 3 years even as our 45 year old nation, still besieged by pre-independence vices and beleaguered with amatureish political jockeys, hurtles towards a ground breaking referendum and what could potentially be a fateful election worse than 2007 in 2 years time.

Battle lines between Kenya's upper,middle and bottom classes are already drawn and its everyone for themselves, God for us all.The three main camps bitterly pited against one another are: the "flying-toilet-jigger-infested below poverty line" slum dwellers, the educated urban "clipped-english accent speaking" middle class city dwellers, and the elite ruling political class. Unlike our maize eating oil drinking school fees guzzling sorry excuse for a politician members of parliaments, there are no grand coalitions or memorundums of understanding or KKK's political sub clans to be entered into between these 3 classes who essentially are blood brothers drawn from the same family

To understand the root cause of this 3 tier class war we have to go back to the botched 2007 stolen elections and subsequent 2008 anarchy and mayhem that followed suit. It always bothered the poor slum dwellers from Kawangare,Korogocho, mathare etc that while they were out fighting&dying for "haki yetu" between December 07 and February 08 in the streets of the capital city and dingy back alley villages across the country, life was going on virtually uninterrupted for the urban working middle class, minority rich elite and upper ruling political class without so much as a ruffled hair on their expensive well groomed barbershop and salon fashioned hair styles

Clever Poor
It was around that time that there was a substantial shift in the mindset of these majority in number modern day slum dwelling slaves. It dawned on the cooks,shamba boys, "soldiers" (security guards), mechanics and househelps that because the "wakubwas" didn't feel the same pain they felt, they had to devise a pay back strategy, one that would also see them lifted out of the soul crushing poverty in this 6% growing east african economy. mostly, they just felt hurt that they suffered and died in vain.I mean come on, not even a pat-on-the-back for all that blood shed! In any other country around the world they would have been considered the tide -shifting heroes of the hour.

All this needless unnecessary dying whilst their rich fellow kenyans continued to watch DSTV(Digital Satellite Television), eat "nyam chom" and visit the Gigiri based "Village Market", content to only wax lyrical venom at "THAT tribe" from the comfort of their 4 walled 5 bedroomed expensive upmarket real estate penthouses. The "have nots" strategy was 3 fold- first of all they knew where those urban city educated middle class cowards lived,afterall they were their everyday modern "slaves" and did just about everything for them, including looking after "daddy jr" all day long, to washing clothes for "madam", and sometimes even doing the thinking for "Baba Watoto"

Secondly, they knew how to identify those educated "british-english" speaking "cowards", be it through their portly "3-square meals-a-day" obese body frames, or from their ineloquent halting and broken kiswahili (e.g. habari yako wewe today).Failing all that, just look out for the cars they drive. The middle class stopped buying those second hand Dubai imports a looooooooong time ago. Lastly,they knew how "strong"(read weak) those learned scaredy cats were, and correctly surmised where it would hurt the most if they put the squeeze on them

Bad Attitudes
The idea was to go back to living in your slum hell hole, continue cooking, repairing vehicles, guarding those expensive penthouses etc but with a "treat me badly and see what happens" added dimension and attitude to their jobs. Examples of bad treatment include stirring up unnecessary tribal hatred while grossly underpaying them and abusing the physical manpower they offer
Continued tomorrow.........


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So you think you know everything about Jomo Kenyatta?

I thought I knew a lot about founding father Jomo Kenyatta. That was until I embarked on the research that went to my recently published book, Dark secrets of the Kenyan presidency.

This led me to wonder why nobody has never penned a biography of Jomo Kenyatta. Surely the man who was driving the engine when the train called Kenya steamed off from the train station for the first time deserves a detailed study. If nobody will I might just attempt this monumental task in the near future.

Meanwhile I just thought that it might be a good idea to share some of nuggets from the book here. Note that the book features a lot of material that was not published in my Weekend specials. If anything the weekend special was just a brief introduction when compared to the complete book. You can get further weekly updates on new ongoing research that I plan to add to the next print run of the book by subscribing to my email newsletter on the subject. The email address to enable you to do this is at the end of this post;

Kenyatta promised church elders never to touch alcohol?
…Jomo had stopped taking alcohol in 1920 (32 years earlier) and announced his decision before witnesses. Actually he was accused by the church of marrying without Church rites and drinking liquor. He pleaded guilty to both and promised to reform. He was further ordered to get married before a European magistrate. The strict church then finally accepted him back in 1923 (after about 3 years of carefully observing him) and in being accepted back at a ceremony Jomo promised to refrain from liquor for the rest of his life.
It would appear that his life looked up considerably after he stopped taking alcohol. For instance he turned part of his Dagoretti home into a provision shop, he called Kinyata Store. Then in 1922 he went on to secure a job at Shs 250 per month as stores clerk and water meter reader with Nairobi Municipal Council where John Cook his protégé at the church was Water Superintendent. The colonials considered Kikuyus thieves and murderers in those days and this kind of profiling prevented many of them from getting jobs that required very trustworthy people like a stores clerk or meter reader. There is little doubt that the only reason Kenyatta got this opportunity was because of John Cook and his link with the church at Thogoto for a long time.
Kenyatta bought a motorbike and also built a house at Dagoretti in the same year (1922). He went on to start an active role in politics by becoming a member of the Kikuyu Central Association in the same year. Interestingly the meter-reading job exposed Kenyatta considerably and he met many Asians who would later be key allies and supporters including the owner of the printing press who went on to print his newspaper, Mwigwithania.
With this kind of background it is not surprising that in his speech he spoke out so strongly against the taking of alcohol.
So the question we must busy ourselves with now is how did this meek old church man turn into the feared president everybody remembers? Young folks change all the time but Kenyatta was at least 68 years old when he became Kenya’s first prime Minister. How does such an old man change from what he has been all his life?
The answer is shocking…

Andwhat about this one…

Bizarre tale of witchcraft
But there is another bizarre story often told in whispers that suggests that Kenyatta was ordained to be a leader long before the 1950s started to unfold. It is a tale so far out and strange that I cannot resist telling it.

It all has to do with Kenyatta’s third wife Grace Wanjiku who died while giving birth in 1950 to her daughter Jane Wambui, who survived. Kenyatta had married her in 1946 and she was the daughter of Senior Chief Koinange and sister to Mbiyu Koinange, who later became a lifelong confidant and was one of the most powerful politicians during Kenyatta's presidency. It is whispered that…

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Kiplagat now sounding very ridiculous
Apparently Bethuel Kiplagat has hired a Public Relations firm to enable him and the TJRC receive more public acceptance. Either this firm is bogus or Kiplagat is not listening to them. The man sounds so ridiculous and so desperate to hang on to the chairmanship that it is almost funny. Only that he is wasting valuable taxpayers money and time since it is clear that the TJRC will NOT be able to fulfill its’ mandate with the old white haired man’s hands firmly and desperately grasping the chair. Even if you hire 100 PR outfits Kiplagat's image will NOT change. Poor man, after years of building respect in the international community as a diplomat, that reputation has now all flown through the window with this one bold stroke of genius from him of deciding not to resign.

Kiplagat does not need a PR firm to be told that the best thing would have been for him to step aside and then defend himself against allegations when he is OUT. As it is he looks very guilty sweating it out answering reporter’s questions.

Go home and rest Mzee, you are fighting a battle you can never win. How do you fight the masses and public opinion? Certainly not with Kifua bwana!!

See this Kumekucha classifieds for air conditioning services in Nairobi and how you can be an editor.

US Leads by Example, Kenyan Church Follows

Locally DPM Uhuru Kenyatta is leading by example and from infront. By shuning both YES and NO sides, the son of Jomo is showing leadership that both the so-called pricipals have failed to deliver in their rush to polarize Kenyan on the draft constitition. Go UK go.

Globally there has never been any need to reinvent the wheel.The land of the brave and home of the unbound proudly wear at all times the t-shirt "been there done that". We can only imagine. But wait a minute, who are we not to learn from the best?Perhaps this is the way out for the Kenyan church from her presentt quagmire.

Not only will women seeking abortions in the US state of Nebraska be required to undergo extensive mental and physical screening, abortions after 20 weeks are also banned. And even this is not good enough, as there will be more changes made to this legislature. see story here



Truly the best things in life are free and there is no patent on invention's maternal parent necessity. Welcome devolution, and please get it right church-no human law has ever been or will ever be perfect;shoes are forever changing feet and you only perish at the peril of your stuborness. Remember once we were 7 years ahead of them with our "yote yawezekana bila..." brand of optimism

Now the roles are reversed and truly "yes they can" they are leading the way once again.Only a fool never changes his mind. na bado

Mungiki Backs Draft as Church Peddles Dogma

As they say the singular difference between religion and science is the fact that with science we can predict.

The Kenyan Christian Church Leaders are crying foul and demanding to be heard. Men of collar are admonishing the media and politicians for demeaning and painting their NO stand as obstructive to securing a new constitution. And you know what, the church is right. They have the right to peddle their divine wares (DOGMA) lest they be left home and dry as the constitution coasts to the shore.

The misinformation and propaganda on abortion and kadhi courts have taken back seat as the heat intensifies. The church-state/politico war is gaining momentum. The whole charade leaves you wondering why the church is failing to stick to its cardinal duty of shepherding the flock. If only the flock listened then nobody would be aborting babies. Period! But the SPIRITUAL PANIC informs you that the flock have their ears/hearts elsewhre outside church hence the clergy's quest to legislate morality

Forget the pulpit grandstanding and all the cheap Christi/Islamic conspiracy theories. The fact is that constitution making is a political process. And what is more, Kenya’s political decisions are EXCLUSIVELY informed by tribal interests.

It therefore remains a matter of when and not if the prevailing religious brinkmanship fail to win the flock against the draft constitution. True, dogma is the singular ointment that nourishes any religion. But will it wash this time round for Kenyans?

Well, the jury returned inside long time ago and the Kenyan church is destined to be exposed for what it has been all along. They may have maintained the dogma candle burning but their attempt to enslave Kenyans to the old ways of doing things is headed to the bottom of the pit soon.

The Kenyan church DOUBLE GOOFED during both the 2005 referendum and the botched 2007 elections. And just when they thought they had secured forgiveness and redemption from aggrieved Kenyans, here they are backing a dead stinking horse. True to the Jewish adage, the gods fatten you before the ultimate slaughter.

You don’t even need to decipher the deceit that belies the church’s crusade on abortion to expose them for hypocrisy. The draft constitution explicitly outlaws abortion except on medical grounds. But the male clergy would have none of that as they wax spiritual on matters REPRODUCTION oblivious of the burden of an an expectant mother.

That no female church leader is included in all their campaign is testimony to the church’s oppressive and gender-insensitive foundations. To be a bastion of tolerance, one would expect the church to back their opposition to Kadhi’s courts with commensurate facts and not cheap religious me-too bravado. What is more, the whole constitution as presently drafted in overtly Christian in both spirit and print. Otherwise there would be no Christian weekends as we know them and offices would be open on both days.

Contesting the fact that taxpayers’ money will be used to finance the Kadhi’s is foolhardy to say the least. Employing the same lame line of reasoning would make the affluent sending their kids to private schools refuse to pay tax to develop public/faith schools.

The Kenyan church must seek better ways to re-invent herself lest they be permanently consigned to MORAL IRRELEVANCE. Just as prior to the bungled 2007 polls, the clergy have started breaking ranks with their bosses as they take ethnic inclinations towards support for/against the draft constitution.

And with that proven trend there emerges only one winner, which predictably and fortunately is not the church. There won't have been a more apt and timely reality check.

Proposed Constitution: Land Question Mishandled

By Mwarang'ethe

In the proposed constitution, we find Article 68 (1), that, Parliament shall -

(c) enact legislation -
(i) to prescribe minimum and maximum land holding acreages in respect
of private land

(v) to enable the review of all grants or disposition of public land
to establish their propriety or legality.

There are a number of issues like money, which we feel are very dangerous in this Draft. However, we must warn that, the land question is the most visible to many, and therefore, is the most dangerous issue in this proposed constitution. The mistake we are making is to assume that, only a degree in law is required in constitution making.

This is a terrible mistake and we shall pay dearly. For instance, how many legal historians, general historians, philosophers, sociogists do we have in this constitution making business?

Sample this:

By the 2nd Century BC a lot of peasants had lost land to rich land owners in the mighty Roman Empire. When Tiberius was elected into the office of the tribune in 133 BC, he embarked on serious land reforms. To do so, he invoked an old law that had limited the amount of land that could be owned by a single individual. He therefore, established a commission to oversee the redistribution of land holdings from patricians to peasants. Mark you, he was just enforcing law that existed, but, had been ignored. A lot of senators who were huge land owners opposed his reforms. To counter this opposition, he appealed to the people arguing that, a tribune that opposed land reforms did not reflect the will of the people.

To counter him, the senators decided to prosecute him after his office. To avoid this scenario, he sought a second term. As we would expect, the senators opposed this move bitterly and in the ensuing confrontation, Tiberius and his supporters were murdered. We are told, that, this was the first time blood was openly shed in Roman politics for almost four centuries. When his brother Gaius took office in 123 BC, he sought to revive his brother's land reforms. He also sought to give non Roman Italians citizenship (did we hear complains about 8 year old child?). This made Roman citizens to turn against him. Once his support was weakened due to citizenship question, his movement was crushed and he and his supporters lost their lives as well.

Does it appear like any of the COE is aware of this history? However, they cannot plead ignorance because, when the COE requested public input last year, we did give our feedback. We reproduce some of what we informed this COE. The opening lines of our proposal was like this:

"Having examined CHAPTER SEVEN of the Draft Constitution entitled LAND AND PROPERTY, we have come to the conclusion that, although on appearance it looks a better deal than the current one, this Draft Constitution dwells on EQUALIZATION OF FORTUNE and entrenchment of MONOPOLIZATION OF LAND by a few. We believe that, this policy falls short of the objective of a well designed agrarian reform which is the EQUALIZATION OF RIGHTS of all citizens."

To ensure equalization of rights as opposed to chaos of equalization of fortune and continued monopolization of land, we propose the inclusion of the following maxims in the Draft Constitution:

(a) Acknowledging that, the Almighty and Eternal God, having created men free and equal in respect of their rights and having given the earth in common to all men, every Kenyan has a birthright that is original, inalienable and indefeasible by any act or determination of others to an EQUAL share of the property in the land/natural resources in its original state. This is a maxim of natural law.

(b) It is also a maxim of natural law, that everyone, by whose labour any portion of the soil has been rendered more fertile, has the right to the additional produce of that fertility, or to the value of it and may transmit this right freely to other men. This is also a maxim of natural law.

(c) LAND/NATURAL RESOURCES VALUE TAX (including landing slots, airwaves etc) and then POLLUTION and WASTE shall be the main source of revenue for running the affairs of the Kenyan state. There shall be no taxation of INCOME, CAPITAL & EXPENDITURE etc until the WHOLE land value, pollution and waste tax has been collected and utilised productively.

We added this:

"Having started well on the s.79, the Committee went adrift and ended up with a land law that is ambiguous and will cause unnecessary economic and political tension. Our considered view is that, you have ended here for you and the whole nation has been and is still labouring under a false and a very dangerous doctrine that, land/natural resources can be called a man's property. By so doing, you have acquiesced to a false but, traditional doctrine that has not yet been subjected to critical examination. You have therefore failed to heed the words of Sir William Blackstone in the Commentaries on the Laws of England that:

“There is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination, and engages the affections of mankind, as the right of property; or that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any
other individual in the universe. And yet there are very few that will give themselves the trouble to consider the original and foundation of this right. Pleased as we are with the possession, we seem afraid to look back to the means by which it was acquired, as if fearful of some defect in our title; or at best we rest satisfied with the decision of the laws in our favour, without examining the reason or authority upon which those laws have been built. We think it enough that our title is derived by the grant of the former proprietor, by descent from our ancestors, or by the last will and testament of the dying owner; not caring to reflect that (accurately and strictly speaking) there is no foundation in nature or in natural law, why a set of words upon parchment should convey the dominion of land: why the son should have a right to exclude his fellow-creatures from a determinate spot of ground, because his father had done so before him: or why the occupier of a particular field or of a jewel, when lying on his death-bed, and no longer able to maintain possession, should be entitled to tell the rest of the world which of them should enjoy it after him.”


We then added that:

If this Harmonised Draft was the product of the man in the street, the incorporation of private property in land in the Constitution in the manner of] s. 81 would be understandable. However, since you are the experts in law, it is not an option for once again to quote Blackstone:

“These inquiries, it must be owned, would be useless and even troublesome in common life. It is well if the mass of mankind will obey the laws when made, without scrutinizing too nicely into the reason for making them. But, when law is to be considered not only as a matter of practice, but also as a rational science, it cannot be improper or useless to examine more deeply the rudiments and grounds of these positive constitutions of society.”

Since you are lawyers, who are supposed to be learned, ingenious and friends of mankind, you have no liberty to find this inquiry useless or troublesome as common men would do. You must therefore, summon courage and perhaps a bit of divine wisdom to examine this absurd and pernicious right to absolute ownership of land.

We added further that:

"... From the above two declarations, it is obvious that, by declaring that all men are equally entitled to the use of land does not involve in any way socialism or communism and we need not tamper so much with the existing arrangements as the draft proposes. Also, it is not
necessary that state manages land. To engage in these activities as the draft declares is to engage in equalization of fortune. This type agrarian reform did not work with Tiberius Gracchus of the Roman Empire and have not worked in Zimbabwe and is fatally failing with
dreadful consequences in South Africa that will shall witness in the fullness of time.

Instead of equalization of fortune, which is a dangerous route, all we need instead is an arrangement whereby all the land rent that has been going into the pockets of the few, is taken via taxation to fund the common purposes. To do so, we must deny and utterly reject the vicious idea of “divine absolute land titles” and replace them with conditional form of private ownership of land. This will ensure security of possession and thereby retain use rights and ownership of land for homes, businesses and production which will be both easier
and cheaper."

We then WARNED the COE on the DANGERS of looking backwards. We therefore, requested the COE to look forward and not backwards and to empasise this, we wrote that:

"We find the same sentiments expressed by Alfred Marshall, a great economist who straddled the classical and the post – classical period of economics for he wrote:

“Looking forward rather than backwards, and not concerning ourselves with the equity and the proper limits of the present private property in land, we see that part of the national dividend which goes as earnings of land is a surplus in a sense in which the earnings from other agents are not surplus... there is this difference between land and other agents of production, that from a social point of view land yields a permanent surplus, while perishables made by man do not."

We then informed the COE that:

"... However, should the Committee of Experts desire to educate itself more on this question, we stand ready to provide materials in our possession. We also stand ready to assist the Committee to get in touch with some of the leading thinkers on land question who are in a position to assist in designing a land policy conducive to equalisation of rights.

However, should the Committee and the nation at large ignore this opportunity; it will go down in history as having squandered an historical opportunity to remove the entrenched the fiscal folly that characterises the modern state whereby, the annual public value of the land is monopolised or privatised by a few while taxing the majority poor to increase the value of this land."

Given what we presented to the COE, and our offer to help them get in touch with leading land reform thinkers from around the world, it is therefore, very disturbing to see that, this COE has ignored well detailed lessons of dangers of land redistribution and very reasonable
advise of a great economist, Alfred Marshall, that, the best way is to look forward and not backwards.

Now, let us ask:

(a) Will we divide land into equal portions for every Kenyan?
(b) If we shall not divide land into equal portion, where is equality before the law in such a case?
(c) And, if we will not have equal pieces of land, who shall have a bigger portion and what criteria shall be used?
(d) If the mighty Roman Empire was unable to enforce land size limitations, for what reasons do we think we will succeed?
(e) If we go back and check the validity of past land grants, how far shall we go?

Kutakucha: Draft to Pass if Kibaki Approves

First a question: where are Kenyan women as MALE clergy and politicians lord it all on matters REPRODUCTION?. Please provide an honest answer here.

And with that loaded question off my chest I have just been informed that a poll on KTN News asking respondents if they believe the church can stop the draft constitution at the referendum stage has clearly revealed the mood of Kenyans on the ground.

71% said NO. Meaning that those 71% will defy the church and vote YES for the new constitution.
What I find extremely ridiculous about all this debate on the draft constitution is how every Kenyan has suddenly become an expert constitutional lawyer and the result is total confusion. Whom are we trying to impress?

Take one of the most contentious issues in the draft concerning abortion. The truth is that the current constitution and laws of the land are much more liberal than the draft which has constitutionalized it and declared it NOT allowed. And yet these experts have not come out to analyze the penal code for us. Now know-it-all-Kenyans with absolutely no legal training and with no sense to ask those who know have rushed in and started making all kinds of sweeping statements to confuse the people. Me thinks that this whole circus is much more deliberate than we may think and it may in fact have been carefully choreographed. It is as if the constitution is written in stone and cannot be amended under any circumstances.

Fortunately it looks like Kenyans will not be hoodwinked this time. The people of Kenya clearly know what they want and it is a new constitution. The draft constitution is not perfect and many Kenyans are unhappy about many sections. But then the truth is that no constitution has ever been greeted with wide acceptance because it is perfect. It has never happened in history and it never will.

What I can say about this draft is that it gives Kenyans a hell of a chance at a new start and that is better than what the long suffering people of this country have had for decades.

But let me quickly add that there is a group of Kenyans opposed to the new constitution whom I understand very well. They are asking a simple question. How could president Kibaki, the man who killed their dream and Bomas draft suddenly turn round and become the biggest supporter of the new constitution, going even against his bosom buddy retired President Moi who seems all set to campaign for a “no vote once again. These smart Kenyans are very suspicious and I can’t blame them.

I like being honest. I don’t know the answer to that question… YET. But you can be sure that I am working on it. Moi I understand very well because the new constitution will put him and his ill-acquired family wealth on notice. The old man has very selfish reasons for rejecting any major changes to the Kenya he helped mess-up and destroy in many ways. But Kibaki is a puzzle. The man is rarely enthusiastic about anything. Even the fiddling of votes was done so unenthusiastically that it was difficult to hide from the people and he was thus caught with his hands in the cooky jar. But all of a sudden the man is extremely passionate for the new constitution to the extent where he even grounded his cabinet ministers from traveling out of the country until the thing sailed through parliament. Some people think that some kind of deal has been made for him to save his neck if he pushes through reforms and most notably the new constitution. Well, I don’t know about that, but give me a little time and I will get back to you.

But what I do know is that what the president is pushing for this time will benefit Kenya tremendously. I have stated that clearly for those who trust my judgment in these things and would like to know what I think. And I would add once again that my vote is a firm YES for the new constitution in the coming referendum vote.

Lakini musilale, bado mapabano.. The passing of the new constitution will not be the end of our problems but it will be a good start for the long hard fight that we must see through.

The Kumekucha classifieds that some people are fighting against: Includes property listings.

Birth pangs for the new unrecognizable Kenya

Draft: Divisive Church Aborting her Credibility

The Kenyan church is spoiling for a grandd fight. While the bible remains the ultimate constitution among Christians, it beggars belief what the so-called Kenyan church is upto with her opposition to the draft constitution. The church’s moral fibre is in tatters going by 2005 referendum and the bungled 2007 elections. You do not need a constitution to fight sin/s.

The Njue-Karanja axis of spiritual deceit is destined for a lose-lose Waterloo. Scuttling the review process will only lead to the mother of all PEV come 2012 (courtesy of the current constitution). No prizes for who will take the exclusive blame. Njoya has already warned them on loosing the residual credibility they begged Kenyans in forgiveness after near-Armageddon 2007 violence.

Both Njue and Karanja miss the boat by a whole river when they refuse to acknowledge the fact that it is the flock who makes the church and not the other way round. These two entrepreneurs better stop digging while seated at the bottom of the moral pit. The present religious brinkmanship leaves you asking where is justice when the church fails to protect the minority (Muslims) but instead seek the me-too cheap route to self righteousness.

Put differently what do you do when a person starts offering you advice to improve on something without being specific or giving you any specific ideas? They simply tell you that this is wrong and that “they don’t like it.” Do you ignore all the other readers you have and change the blog to suit the personal preferences of this single person and his minority supporters? Or do you just ignore them?

This is the situation that I have found myself in, in recent times and the similarities this personal situation has with the position of the churches in Kenya where the draft constitution is concerned are very similar.

Let me start with the personal drama. Those who have been with Kumekucha for a long time will know that I have an open mind and am very eager to listen to constructive criticism about the blog and especially ideas on improvement. However recently I have found myself in a very difficult situation from a person and indeed people whom I respect who have chosen to criticize for the sake of criticizing. I have taken time from a very busy schedule to answer the criticisms that have reached me via email and to the best of my ability I have explained my position and the vision that I had when I was launching Kumekucha 5 odd years ago.

Now a member of “this group” or somebody sympathetic with them left an anonymous comment a few hours ago in our latest advertising section informing me that the new advertising section will make Kumekucha lose readers and can even get the blog into trouble with our hosts blogger.com over violations of users terms of service. When I saw this comment and knowing what I do, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The facts are that our new advertising section has gained us new readers and has also proved to be very useful to many Kenyans out there, some of whom were trying to advertise in the comments section prior to our launching Kumekucha classifieds. It is free and therefore a service that I am sure will grow to be valuable with time. The blogger rules have nothing against bloggers selling advertising on their blogs (especially if the ads are not an excuse to link to other sites, and that’s why we DO NOT allow links). Indeed Kumekucha has been carrying advertising on a regular basis for a long time now from a blogger sister service called Adsense and one other unrelated affiliate advertising program. What blogger is against are links aimed at enhancing traffic and Google ranking of another site. They also discourage selling links to other sites and pretending that they are natural links. Another closely related no no is turning a blog into a spam blog.

If anybody doubts what I am saying they can read THIS from the blogger help forum.

What I would really like to know are the real motives driving the behaviour of this human being. People never do things for no reason.

Spiritual promiscuity
But having said that let me tell you a story that applies both to the church in Kenya and my good friend and his supporters.

Once upon a time in some African village there were two brothers. One brother did very well in his exams and ended up becoming a medical doctor. The other did terribly but was gifted in carpentry and so ended up being a village carpenter.

One day a snake entered their parents’ house during the Christmas holidays when both brothers were home with their families. The carpenter rushed and brought out a big Rungu (club) that he had crafted in his woodworking workshop. The doctor could hear nothing of it. He reminded everybody that he was the most educated person in that homestead and therefore the family had no alternative but to make use of his “excessive” brains. Without being specific, he suggested that they use a more scientific method to deal with the snake. While they were arguing they heard the doctor’s 2 year old baby screaming very loudly from one of the rooms in the house. They rushed in only to find that the snake had bitten the youngster. The good doctor knew that the snake was very poisonous and he had only about 10 minutes to do something or his only son would die. It would take hours to get to the nearest district hospital. And so he froze in panic and couldn’t move an inch.

The uneducated carpenter brother was more quick-thinking and used his club to kill the snake. He then tied the child with a cloth above the snake wound and rushed the baby to a nearby dispensary (on foot) where they had an antidote for the dangerous snake because it was fairly common in the area (information which the doctor did not have).

The moral of the story is that the common enemy almost defeated the two brothers and rather tragically too, all because one of them felt superior to the other.

Quite a number of church leaders have made their intentions known early that they will urge their flock to reject the draft constitution. The reason is that the constitution has failed to meet their expectations. Meaning that all the other groups (whose expectations were not met) should also reject the document.

In all this the church has failed once again to take a leadership position that is expected from it and at the very least suggest some compromise. They have not until this 11th hour when they have loudly started protesting even before the civic education program has been launched.

Now let us for a minute imagine a situation where all the demands of the church were met to the letter. It would mean that another group would be greatly disgruntled and so we would be back to square one with another group strongly against the document. In short we would never hope to get a new constitution in 100 years.

The church leaders should try and hear themselves talk because the first thing they would notice is that they sound very ridiculous. The current constitution which the vast majority agrees is terrible has Khadi courts and the much better draft constitution which will help the people of Kenya take back their country also has the Kadhi’s courts. So which one should Kenyans go for? The bad constitution with kadhi’s courts or the new constitution that gives Kenyans a fighting chance but also has Kadhi courts? You tell me.

To be very blunt I think the church has totally lost it. We saw the church take sides during the 2007 elections which led to serious blood shed in Kenya. One prominent church organization in Kenya openly supported PNU while most evangelical churches openly sang the praises of ODM. In retrospect the people who came out wisest were the Muslims. Wasn’t it funny the way both Raila and Kibaki kept on rushing to mosques? The Muslims accepted both with open arms but NEVER took sides. Actually they played both sides into thinking they were fully with them.

Me thinks that the church is making a big mistake. In trying to flex their political muscles I predict that they will be defeated and Kenyans will vote YES for the draft constitution. Have they thought of the kind of damage that will do to the church?

The wise thing to do is to let the people decide and remain silent if they have run out of ideas. In fact the church should be busy on the ground helping to heal the wounds they helped create in 2007. Not playing politics with a document that will be the first step towards a new Kenya. Besides the thing is not written in stone. Church leaders can move the changes they want later (which will be a lot easier than getting changes with the current constitution).

As it is the church leaders are sounding very much like the Pharisees during the days when Jesus walked the earth.

Well folks I have reported my position early I am going to vote YES for the new constitution. What about you?

Kumekucha classifieds: Looking for air-conditioning services while in Nairobi?

The constituency Fidel Odinga will easily win

Fidel Odinga will enter parliament without breaking into a sweat.

I have been accused by some of my dear readers of being anti-Raila. Of writing long posts and including the names of others merely as window dressing because the main objective of my article is always to shoot down one Raila Odinga.

I have nothing against Raila Odinga. I personally believe that this country owes the man a lot as few people have fought as hard and as long as he has against impunity over the years. Few have sacrificed more. Having said that Raila the politician has also done great damage in his relentless quest for power. That is the truth. And this blog is about the truth and nothing but the blunt truth. Kumekucha has become famous for saying what others fear to say.

Personally I greatly pity those of us who would want to hero-worship a person while turning a blind eye to their down side. Regular readers of this blog will know that I greatly admire the late Tom Mboya, but if you read my posts I have had no hesitation in talking about his bad side. In my humble view hero-worshippers have no place in political analysis. They should just stick to their god’s website and trade praises till the cocks come home and leave bold, deep political analysis to those who can handle it.

Raila, always the heir-apparent to the political mantle of his father the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga stuck close to his dad for many years and watched his every move from a very tender age. Little wonder that his politics borrows a lot from the old man.

And now Raila is preparing to pass on the mantle to the next generation of Odingas and this move is well worth analyzing in great detail.

Fidel Odinga has increasingly been in the spotlight in recent times and over the Easter weekend he led a delegation of “young Turks” to Mombasa for a political meeting-cum-fundraiser at the heart of Najib Balala’s Mvita constituency. At that meeting Fidel announced once again that he will vie for a parliamentary seat in 2012. And what he had to say confirmed details I had gathered from some research that I have now been doing for sometime.

Fidel said that he would stand for one of the constituencies in Nairobi. Now we already know that he will not stand in Langata one of the reasons being that his dad is not quite ready to retire from politics yet. And that information narrows down the “possibles” considerably. Based on my research it narrows down the choices to ONE.

Fidel Odinga will make a bid for the Kasarani parliamentary seat.

Apart from the big hints from the Odinga youngster, those who understand the Odinga dynasty style of politics will know without any hints that the seat that Fidel has been talking about all along is Kasarani.

It is instructive how Raila moved in to dominate the Langata constituency he still represents. There was massive voter registration at the constituency from folks hailing from a certain ethnic community and they came from all parts of Nairobi. They quickly netralized the Nubian vote which had held sway in the area since independence. Raila handlers ensured that the arithmetic was greatly in favour of their man, whatever happened. This intensive behind-the-scenes preparation is something Jaramogi learnt from his great political rival Tom Mboya. The younger cosmopolitan man who always seemed to outsmart him at every turn. And Jaramogi learnt the lesson very well.

Kasarani constituency used to be called Mathare mainly because the sprawling Mathare slums are at the heart of the constituency.

Here is the list of people who have represented this constituency since independence;

Elections MP Party Notes
1963 Munyua Waiyaki KANU
1969 Munyua Waiyaki KANU One-party system
1974 Munyua Waiyaki KANU One-party system
1979 Munyua Waiyaki KANU One-party system
1983 Andrew Ngumba KANU One-party system. Ngumba fled the country in 1986.
1986 Josephat Karanja KANU By-elections, One-party system
1988 Josephat Karanja KANU One-party system.
1992 Muraya Macharia FORD-Asili
1994 Fredrick Masinde Democratic Party By-elections. Masinde died, resulting in another by-elections.
1994 Ochieng Mbeo Ford-Kenya By-elections (second one in 1994)
1997 Adolf Muchiri NDP
2002 William Omondi NARC
2007 Elizabeth Ongoro ODM

The vast majority of constituents in Mathare (Kasarani) right up to the early 90s were mostly Kikuyu and this is clearly reflected in the names of the legislators who represented the constituency right up to the early 90s. The Odinga political machine moved into the constituency after the first multi-party elections of 1992 with massive voter registration by members of the Luo community from all over Nairobi. And the result of the hard work behind the scenes clearly came out in the by-election of 1994 when Ford-Kenya’s Ochieng Mbeo won the seat. But by-elections are not a good test because they are usually marked by low voter turn out. And so things became pretty clear in 1997 when Raila himself was a presidential candidate on an NDP ticket. In a smart political move he chose to have close ally Adolf Muchiri (a Kikuyu) vie for the seat on a NDP ticket to give him a more nationalist look which is critical for any presidential candidate. Muchiri won effortlessly.

Currently there is fresh voter registration going on and my sources tell me that there is a lot of hard work going on on the ground mostly from Raila people. Further evidence that this is the political seat being warmed for Fidel.

Those wannabes who just want to wake up one morning when election fever is highest and decide that they are vying for a parliamentary seat should take careful note of this post and the fact that elections are usually won at the voter registration stage. So clearly this is the time to start working.

And what’s more about the Kasarani seat is that the current MP Elizabeth Ongoro may have a date at the Hague soon which means that in the event of the next general elections not happening until late 2012, then there just might be a by-election sooner than anybody thought.


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Stop Press: Largest ever Microfinancing Conference happens Tomorrow in Nairobi

When historians sit down one day to write the story of how Africa rose from the ashes, I have no doubt on my mind that there will be at least one large chapter on Micro-financing and the role it has played.

Micro-financing has been a huge success story on the continent indeed institutions like Equity Bank, now renowned the world over got their start (and have continued to thrive) in micro-financing.

Tomorrow (April 7th) President Kibaki will be joined by Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands and Nobel prize Laurette Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh at the opening of the largest microfinancing gathering ever held on the continent of Africa. About 1,500 delegates from over 75 countries are expected.

The Summit will shine a spotlight on breakthroughs to end poverty in the region including: the intersection of microfinance and the environment; microfinance and agriculture, and microfinance and health. The goal of the Summit is to further catalyze commitment among practitioners in Africa and the Middle East to reach and empower the poorest people across the region.

Microfinance is often not considered the same as other aid programs because people access tiny loans for setting up a business, as well as, loans for housing, education, and even clean energy—loans that they pay back. Because microfinance has a history of providing people with a hand-up and not a hand-out many traditional aid agencies are looking to the field for lessons on how to help make their programs become more sustainable.

But what I am really looking forward to learning more about is the amazing cutting edge program for the ultra-poor that is being replicated in 9 countries globally. The program combines assets such as goats and chickens with training in order to graduate the destitute to a life of self-sufficiency.

Kumekucha classifieds: Calling Kenyan ladies in the diaspora

Open email letter to Ocampo: Kenyans want you to go straight for these 3

Hello Luis,

You don’t know me and we have never met but I have some very important things to say that should greatly help you in the colossal task ahead of you.

Since this is an open letter I am aware that many Kenyans will read it and passionately agree or disagree with me. My appeal to them is simple. The future of our country depends on us getting to the bottom of the mystery behind what happened in December 2007 and January 2008. This is a good time to clear our heads of all the propaganda that has been flying left right and centre and all the tribal emotions that have been very deliberately whipped up inside us. We need to get rid of all this excess baggage and focus on the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Kenyans celebrating

But before I tell you what you probably already know, let me tell you a little story. Kindly oblige me, because Kenyans who have been reading my blog over the years will tell you that I love to tell stories. And sometimes I like to think that they help folks to get to the gist of things quickly. You be the judge, sir.

There was this father of many sons who though of himself as a genius. He hardly needed advice from anybody because he KNEW that he knew everything and nobody could outthink him or give him advice.

One day his first born son committed suicide. He left a detailed note explaining why he had taken his life. You see unknown to anybody else, a long time ago the old man had wanted to be a medical doctor but he did not quite qualify to go to university to study medicine. And so he purposed that before he dies his son must achieve what he had failed to achieve so many years earlier. He did everything in his power to make this happen. But all the time the genius did not realize one simple truth. He was trampling on the dreams of his first born. The boy was an excellent artist and he had the makings of being a great painter. But alas, the genius could not allow him to paint. Paint!!! What kind of stupid career was that? Somebody had to be really stupid to take up such a vocation. It wasn’t even a proper career, the genius KNEW.

And so when his first born defied him one day to follow his dreams, the old man cursed him. And after that there was no way that the poor son could make it in life, even where he was gifted. When the first born son discovered this truth (very late in life when he had become so frustrated) he despaired and quickly took his own life. What else could he do, he reasoned.

The genius decided that he would now transfer his big dream to the second born son. And so he went on and on through all his sons (and even his two daughters) without quite fulfilling his dream. He ended up a bitter and disappointed old man. But guess where the biggest damage was done? It was with his children. Everybody is born with a certain talent and gift and the worst thing anybody can do is to shut down somebody else’s dream. In many cases it is better just to murder them and get it over with. It is a lot kinder.

Even after all the damage that had been done, “the genius” did not believe he had done anything wrong. After all he had wanted the best for his children and never delayed in paying school fees. So what mistake had he done?

The moral of this story is that damage will continue to be done until the day somebody identifies the root cause of the whole problem and dares to deal with it. And many times it may not be so obvious to the casual observer who fears to dig deeper.

Kenya is at a very dangerous time of her history. What we need most at this stage is to identify the root cause of our problems (especially the more recent ones) and call them out by name without fear or favour.

And that is exactly how I will identify what really caused the problems that almost shut down Kenya in December 2007 and January 2008.

There are three people most responsible for what happened to us as a nation. Some of these people are convinced that what they did was for the good of Kenya and Kenyans, whatever the price that was paid.

Mr Ocampo, even if you do not haul these three people to the Hague to face charges it is in the best interests of Kenyans that these folks are completely kept out of Kenyan politics. More on that at the end of this open letter to you.

To understand what happened we need to remind ourselves of the events following the heady 2002 presidential elections where Kenyans finally got rid of an animal called KANU (or so they thought) from State house. You have never seen serious celebrations like the ones we saw in December 2002. A poor chap who couldn’t even swim dived into the murky waters of Uhuru park in sheer ecstasy and emerged muddy and wet but he didn’t care. (Remember the amazing footage of the swearing in of president Kibaki while he was still on a wheelchair that memorable December?

Actually if that man who dived into the waters at Uhuru park could have gotten a peek into the future and seen what was coming he would have stayed in the dirty waters of the Uhuru Park pond and drowned himself.

What followed was squabbling over an MOU (Memorandum of understanding) that was signed between Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki. President Kibaki may have done a terrible thing to dishonour the MOU but I dare ask what did Raila want or expect? To share power with Kibaki? To have Kibaki run back to him before he made any major decisions? Or perhaps he wanted acknowledgement from Kibaki that the man would never have gotten elected president without him (Raila). Whatever his real motives this man Raila Odinga began a war to discredit the Kibaki administration from within. At one point Raila openly told Kenyans to expect a general election soon.

So I put it to you that the person who put in motion the chain of events that provoked the deaths of so many Kenyans in December 2007 was in fact Raila Odinga.

I can already feel the stones being hurled at me. But engage your brains for a minute and put yourself in the shoes of Mwai Kibaki. What would you have done under the circumstances? Would you have quietly given in and let Raila have his way?

Indeed let historians record that the biggest mistake Raila Odinga made in 2007 was to ignore a proverb that founding father President Mzee jomo Kenyatta had used years earlier in response to a “change the constitution group” whose clear objective was to make sure that Vice President Daniel Moi never took over power from Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyatta quietly called them fools and advised them that when you want to subdue a bull, you NEVER show it the rope you are going to do it with. You just don’t. Mr Ocampo sir, I know that you will be able to identify with this proverb because I happen to know you are familiar with bull fighting.

Kenyans will remember what ODM was doing in the run up to the general elections in December 2007? It was as if Raila was already living in State house. Well you can call it the usual way with politics but I pray that you try and wear Mr Mwai Kibaki’s shoes there for a minute. What would you have felt if it was you? What would you have done? What would you have been pushed or provoked to do?

So the first guilty party in the mess we found ourselves in is Mr Raila Odinga. He is guilty of provocation. He provoked one Mwai Kibai to commit murder. Now in law Mr Odinga is NOT guilty of any criminal offence. However his actions allow some sort of mitigation from the person who went on to commit murder. If he has some good lawyers they can ask for the charges to be reduced to manslaughter. However there is only one little problem here. The man did not murder one or two people. In fact the Kenyan government still (officially) insists that about 600 people lost their lives in the dark events following those presidential elections. The press has stuck on the figure of about 1,000. Kumekucha sticks on the figure of close to 5,000 souls.

Now the next thing that happened was that Mwai Kibaki had to do something. Wouldn’t you? And so he rigged the presidential elections. If you have the newspapers that reported the general election tallies then you have valuable evidence that Mr Ocampo needs to look at to prove that the elections DID NOT reflect the clear will of the Kenyan people and that was part of the provocation to the troubles that followed. There is even more evidence to the effect that shortly before the delayed presidential elections was announced a number of highly “suspicious” things happened. The then police commissioner had what has to be his lengthiest press conferences ever where he dwelt on the issue of folks accepting election results without resorting to violence. Then many Kenyans also witnessed riot police surrounding and sealing off the city mortuary. Were they guarding dead bodies? Let me just stop there.

My point is that by simply reviewing the events that resulted from orders given by somebody from government shortly before “the results” were announced a lot of things will become very clear. And that is the president and his aides “knew” he had “won” the elections before the results were announced.

Mr Ocampo for Kenyans to see that justice has been done, somebody has to take responsibility for those lethal “orders” and that person should not be the then police commissioner Maj Gen Hussein Ali only. Not even the then minister in charge of internal security only.

The third person most responsible for the loss of life is one William Ruto. He fanned up emotions amongst the Kalenjin people mainly for his own political gain. Have you ever seen a person become a political kingpin for a whole community virtually overnight, unseating somebody like Moi who has held sway over the community for over half a century? Things happen suddenly in an election when people stir emotions. I am reliably informed that the evidence that would link this man to direct involvement in the violence is the kind that would not be admissible in a court of law in Kenya. But the Hague might be a different ball game altogether. Only that I fear this smart man has made a deal with those who have access to this evidence and therefore it will never be released to you Mr Ocampo.

Kindly excuse me for a minute, Mr Ocampo and let me address myself to my fellow Kenyans very directly for a minute.

Fellow Kenyans put your party and tribal affiliations aside for a minute and put on your thinking caps.

Everybody fears the next general elections and there is a lot of anxiety that violence could break out yet again and this time it could be a lot worse. Now what if something was done to stop these three people exercising any kind of political influence over the elections in 2012? For starters they should not even be allowed to run as councilors. Don’t you think it would magically diffuse all tensions and guarantee a very peaceful election?

Mr Ocampo I am sure that many Kenyans will agree with me over that last statement I have just made. And this is yet another reason why you must make sure that your investigations focuses on these 3 people (before anybody else) and that they are held responsible for the loss of life of so many innocent, poor Kenyans whose blood is crying out from the ground and no doubt this may be one of the reasons why you Mr Ocampo appear to be so driven to see justice done in Kenya.

Good luck sir and one last piece of advice. It is critical that at all times that you are involved in these investigations that you imagine yourself in a pit full of the most poisonous snakes in the world. And actually sir, that is exactly what you have done sticking out your neck to investigate this matter. Take every little precaution when you are in the country. Never use the same car, instead rely on the available excellent car rental services in Nairobi, even for limousines. Be careful when you eat in restaurants (kindly compare notes with one retired Detective inspector John Troon. But whatever happens be sure that the vast majority of Kenyans across political affiliations are cheering you on. Go Ocampo, go!!

Good luck sir, turning stones that are way too heavy to be turned and have NEVER EVER been turned.

Wakaribishwa Kenya nchi ambayo hakuna matata.

Esau and Jacob Story at James Gichuru Road

By Mwarang'ethe

From the Sunday school story of Esau and Jacob, we know that, Esau contemptuously surrendered his birthright for he was hungry after long days of hunting. All he wanted was rest and food, i.e. the stew of meat and vegetables which Jacob had in his possession. Simply said, Esau sold his birthright for miserable messes of pottage.

With this story in mind, let us take a walk along James Gichuru road which runs from Westland, cutting through Lavington, near Kawangware slums which then end up at Dagoretti corner. This walk more than anything else, reveals that, we are a nation of Esau and Jacob. Now, as you walk along this road, if you are a keen observer of man and society, you will notice two very interesting things.

On the paved road, you will see very well dressed and well fed or over fed Kenyans/foreigners sited on their big fuel guzzlers as they cruise to and fro. Also, on both sides of this road, which are dusty or muddy depending on the season, you will see a lot of shabbily poor men and women walking in very hurried manner. These poor Kenyans, are either going to work, or coming from work. But, where do most of these poor Kenyans work? They work for the Kenyans/foreigners in the big cars. The walking masses represent Esau and those in big cars represent Jacob.

Now, the reason you will see a lot of poor Kenyans walking as we describe above is because we have chaotic, inefficient, dangerous and expensive transport system made of matatus. We know Michuki tried to improve it, but, we ask, how do you improve a perversion? The question then is why is it so damn difficult for Kenya to develop a well integrated transport system? We are taught, it is very expensive. But, is it so? We deny these falsehoods which Kenyans have swallowed for 50 years.

However, before we do so, let us say this. Whenever the development of Asian nations like Singapore is discussed by our politicians and scholars, including Professor Ali Mazrui, we are told that, it is because a nation like Singapore has been led by malevolent dictator. Is it so? Mazrui is an eminent thinker, but, we deny his answers as utter rubbish. So, how does Singapore provide its citizens with world class integrated transport system? It boils down to bidding for land/space. Sample this genius in integrated transport policy and compare it with the stupidity and madness of the Kenyan transport system.

Due to lack of space in Singapore, they have developed a unique market mechanism that equalize everyone's ability to share in the benefits of that scarcity. In this scheme, motorists are free to determine the road rents they are willing to pay. They do this in auctions where they compete to secure the right to drive on the highways. Those who fail in their bids or those who do not wish to own a car, share in the benefits of the road rents which are spent on providing first class public transport.

Given the land scarcity, Singapore has a sophisticated way of controlling car growth (in Kenya, we can use scarcity of oil). The government constrains the growth of vehicles to 3% a year. To do so, it uses a range of tools which include the Certificate of Entitlement (COE), the Vehicle Quota System (VQS), road taxes and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP). Each month, a certain number of COE's are released. The vehicle entitlement is valid for ten years from the date of registration of the vehicle. Bidding is done electronically whereby, people determine how much they will pay in competition with other would be motorists.

The electronic road pricing is based on the pay - per - use principle that reflects the true cost of motoring. Singapore has extended this to points of congestion on major highways and it has been credited with having reduced the volume of traffic during peak periods. The consequence of this is that, the cost of motoring in Singapore is staggering.

In Singaporean dollars, in 2006, an Audi A 41.8 is $ 182, 000, for a BMW 328 (2.8 cc) $ 238, 000, for a Mercedes 200E: $ 201, 902, for a Volvo Estate 2.0: $ 160, 753. The alternative is you take the bus or train. Interestingly, the demand for the COE’s continues to rise and their prices in auctions that are open. This means that bidders can see what others are bidding for before they submit their offers. This reduces massive speculation.

What is the verdict of the World Bank on Singaporean transport system? It has concluded that:
(a) This system has helped attract foreign investment and there are no major negative side effects on economic growth or on the welfare of people on the lowest incomes.

(b) In addition, by rationing scarce physical space by price mechanism, Singapore has generated funds for investment in improvements much beyond transport and enabled reductions of other, less desirable taxes.

Thus, using a scheme that equalizes all citizens’ access to road/land, Singapore has been able to come up with a truly integrated transport policy. Those who cannot afford to run a car benefit from higher - quality public transport and lower taxes. In this scheme, there are no losers because road rents facilitate a sophisticated approach to sharing scarce space.

The collateral gains of this system include a dynamic economy at the frontier of technological progress and wage levels that employees of the West can only envy. No wonder, the OECD is always complaining of Singapore as an offshore since they want to hide the link between road rents and Singapore's low tax rate. However, Singapore government is keenly aware that, its success in the global economy depends on recycling rents back into its infrastructure so that equity is associated with efficiency. This policy has placed Singapore at the forefront of global commerce. Yes, fortunes are made in Singapore, but, they are not made in land speculation. That’s why in building highways, they do not reward landowners at the expense of the taxpayer as the African nations are doing.

Something to ponder about
(a) When Singapore gained independence which was at the same time as Kenya, some areas looked like Kawangware. Today, this tiny island is among the largest sovereign investors with over $ 247 billion as sovereign fund/assets. Mark you, this fortune has not been made from commodities as some suggested about Botswana. How much do we have as Kenyans in 2010? We answer mounting debts, poverty and senseless tribal conflict over land.

(b) In Kenya, if anyone wants to import a Hammer (remember the battle of Hammers in Kibera) or a Range Rover, we just allow them to import without questions and then allow them to blow dust on the poor Kenyans who fund these roads as they walk on the dusty pavements. Is this the way to build a just and peaceful nation?

(c) Does this sound like malevolent dictatorship, or a sound land policy as the foundation just like the one we have been advocating at work?

In a nutshell, if we had institutionalised this kind of land policy, we would be able to provide safe, efficient, affordable and accessible transport system for women who constitute the majority of those who walk to and from Kawangware slums along Gichuru road so as to go and clean the houses of bwana kubwa, i.e. bwana jinga.

Instead of such a simple policy, we come up with weird ideas of affirmative action to "uplift the welfare of our women." How do you separate the welfare of men from that of women? These are mere delusions which will ironically, cost these poor women even more in terms of tax to pay these so called "women leaders." Kenyans may go ahead with these schemes, but, we shall keep on shouting, yes, we know you are tired and desperate having waited for 20 years for the new constitution, but, just as Esau was tired and hungry, you have opted to denounce your birthright for miserable messes of pottage for we know he asked, behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright be to me? And, Jacob said, swear to me this day; and he swore unto him and thereby, he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

Kibaki Drafts Legacy in Historic Interview

Breaking News: Headed to the Hague, the names that will NOT miss Ocampo's list

He faced the scribes with alloyed intellect oozing from both lips. Outlining his singular determination to lead the war on terror to keep Kenya safe, Kibaki has just inked his legacy with golden letters. Kenyans couldn't have asked for more after HE Kibaki promised to do all in his EXECUTIVE powers to secure a new constitution after a 20-years' struggle.

President Kibaki won’t have chosen an opportune time to emphatically answer his critics who have pilloried his presidency as lacking in both charisma and leadership. First he disabused his interviewer with his unequivocal support for the draft constitution. And having stolen the wind from his detractors’ sails Kibaki took centre stage with his best wits ever this millennium.

Never try to belittle an LSE graduate must be the message his interview took home. Straight to the point, Kibaki debunked the street rumour about his EMOTIONAL PLURALITY. And Lucy couldn’t have been happier with his darling hubby. Woe unto Mary Wambui with all her deceptive gimmicks to associate with the first family.

Forget about the fraudulent Synovate poll paid by those who always lead it. You must be numerically illiterate to believe the lie that HE Kibaki trails the loudmouthed PM. What is more, true Kenyans know who exclusively wields power in Kenyan.

The eight-year wait for an exhaustive interview was all worth it. Kibaki was at it best articulating the vision and legacy he wants to bequeath Kenya. He not only talked big, he acted large too. By choosing to talk to foreign press, HE must have borrowed a leaf from Tanzania’s ex-president Mkapa in shunning local parochial journalists. And the difference in focus and depth was all there for all to see.

Kibaki has smartly ushered his twilight presidency by leading by example and from in front. The CEO has shown he is an effective manager of Kenya plc. His candid interview has set the bar so hire so much so that the other pretenders to opinion poll premiership are left scratching the surface. All kudos must go to the intellectually astute president.

Then… drama

Headed to the Hague: The names that will not miss on Ocampo’s list

Luis Moreno Ocampo: The nightmare for impunity in Kenya that will not go away.

What an eventful day for mother Kenya. Wow!!! As I write this I am still trying to absorb it all.

The following news items have really gripped me over the last few hours.

1. ICC special prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo got the nod to proceed with prosecutions against those most responsible for Kenya’s post-election violence. Read this CNN report.

2. All signs in parliament today were that we are headed to yet another divisive referendum where the Kenyan people will get incited once again to vote on either side. Kenyans will remember this was one of the main triggers that finally led to the 2007 election violence.

3. TJRC chairman Bethuel Kiplagat displaying a total lack of understanding of the situation dug in his heels and moved quickly to replace the vacant Vice chair position. He told reporters “many people have also asked me not to resign…” as if this is a mere political battle of wits.

I don’t intend to bore you good people with a news summary of events but my point here is that there is a link between the three separate events. Ocampo and Kenyan’s victory is most welcome and it is the biggest blow against impunity in the history of Kenya. The biggest!!! By far!!!

The second event took place where the perpetrators of impunity against the Kenyan people have been gathering and plotting for years. For some reason the circus going on in the house reminded me of a trapped snake wriggling and pretending that it can still escape when it is so obvious that the end is nigh.

The last event was classic. It was impunity in person still pretending that he is boss. Bethuel Kiplagat has said mupende musipende he MUST serve you as the TJRC chair.

Kenya’s future is now beginning to get fairly clear. The announcement from the Hague has set in motion a chain of events that promise to be extremely dramatic, but don’t bring out the Champaign yet, in fact this is the time to take cover. The political class and those being investigated will fight this thing with all they have, and more. Some witnesses will grew fabulously rich overnight at about the time that they will start displaying a terrible bout of amnesia especially over events that occurred around December 2007 and January 2008. Others will disappear from the face of the earth. I wonder if we will be told that some poor guy with gun shot wounds broke his leg, battered himself silly, shot themselves in the head and then carefully doused themselves with petrol and set themselves on fire etc. etc. Remember the amazing theories on the Ouko murder?

Meanwhile every trick in the book will be used (I don’t want to believe that Ocampo suspects will call political meetings to tell their supporters that they are being finished, but I am afraid that is quite likely to happen.)

Everybody is curious about who is on the Waki list which is what Ocampo relied on heavily to get his consent to prosecute. Interestingly Ocampo has already detailed how he is going to go ahead with the prosecution.

Firstly he will deal with the ODM perpetrators of the violence who started the whole thing after the elections were stolen. And then he will take on the PNU supporters who retaliated to the initial ODM attacks. Don’t you love the way the guy has simplified it all? And as I have said it here before, that is exactly what happened.

What this means is that you will not fail to see William Ruto and Elizabeth Ongoro from ODM and Uhuru Kenyatta and Kabando wa Kabando from the PNU wing indicted for the Hague.

High drama ahead folks, high drama indeed.

To end this post let me reveal something that I sense. This is also based on what I hear Kenyans on the ground saying. All indications are that we are headed to the referendum with the politicians badly divided. But there is a high possibility that the Kenyan people (at least the majority) will turn deaf ears to their politicians and vote YES on the draft constitution thus pulling out the rug from under the feet of the political class. That my dear friends will be magical…


P.S. For those Kenyans getting a little weary over this revisiting of post elections violence and who believe that we should move on, please read this very sick page from the Waki report (published in Kumekucha some time back) and then tell me with a straight face that we should forgive and forget. And that Ocampo did bad.

Too young to die?

A fascinating and yet gruesome crime took place about 12 days ago in a Nairobi high rise building.

A cleaning woman, 25 year old Rachel Aoko Okello who worked at the NSSF building in the community area was sent to the ATM to withdraw cash for one of her bosses. That was the last time she was seen alive. Initially her colleagues were puzzled because the money she was sent for was not the kind of amount that would tempt anybody to do “G4S disappearing act.” Their faith in their colleague was confirmed 9 long days later when her decomposing body was found in the registry of the same NSSF building.

What is puzzling police even more is that initial indications are that some kind of chemical was used to muffle the smell of the decomposing body. The obvious idea seems to have been to delay the discovery of the body. Rachel was raped before she was murdered. Even more baffling in this case is that police have evidence obtained from the scene of the crime that suggests the victims’ assailant revisited the corpse several times in the 9 days before it was discovered.

About two months ago the body of yet another young woman was found dumped on a footpath next to a house that most neighbors believed hosted regular sex orgies for the rich and powerful of Nairobi.

The chances of these two crimes ever being solved are slim. And the sad thing is that there are many more young lives being snuffed out in Kenya (and especially in Nairobi) these days which never attract the attention of the press and thus go unreported. Dozens have been brought to my attention.

The truth of the matter is that even as we retain leaders and people in decision-making positions from another very different age who still believe in old solutions for new problems, crime has escalated to a very high level in Kenya. It is probably being fueled by plenty of serious drugs easily available and desperation amongst many young people, we can also not rule out the influx of all kinds of DVD movies very cheaply available at 50 bob a pop that promote all kinds of cultures as well as giving all kinds of sick ideas to minds hungry for those sick ideas.

The result is that our police force is already terribly overwhelmed.

It is fairly easy to criticize the Kenya police for their crime-solving methods but admittedly the lack a lot of the tools required for modern-day crime-fighting is one major impediment.

A few years back I talked to a source very close to the CID department who assured me that despite their bad reputation the truth is that the CID always got their man and a very high percentage of the crimes that came to their attention were always solved. He quickly added that I should not ask for details on the methods they employed. Although I thought I had a pretty good idea of the methods he was talking about I prodded him to tell me more and what he revealed almost made me pass out in shock. He told me that the CID did not just torture suspects carelessly; he said that they regularly consulted some top notch witchdoctor and were thus able to very accurately recreate exactly how a crime was committed. I tried unsuccessfully not to burst out laughing loudly.

I don’t think that a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory is enough to change the crime-fighting ways of our cops. The archaic laws of our country will not accommodate scientific evidence too well. After all audio tape recordings are still not admissible in our courts as evidence. These are some of the things our COEs would have had time to look at in an ordinary sane country, but alas, we have been too busy dealing with the powers of the executive and devolved government to spare any thought to creating a new constitution where fighting the rapidly increasing crime rate will be easier. And so as badly as our cops are doing, I guess they are on their own.

This week’s kumekucha classified ads: Property listings and a laptop for 3,500 among other interesting ads.

Kumekucha classifieds 29th March to April 4th 2010

Kumekucha classifieds will now appear once a week. Next post will be on Monday 5th April 2010.

Last week's advertisements

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A Laptop for Kshs 3,500

I have an old Hitachi laptop that has given me 3 years of service. It is a 386 but very fast. Admittedly it has many problems. To start with the screen collapsed so you have to connect it to a separate monitor to use it. Out of two USB ports only one works. The DVD drive doesn’t work and the most obvious fault is that it is literally falling apart and so it cannot be moved from place to place. If you want to use it as it is it is best to place it on a desk somewhere permanently.

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Obama predictions: You need a

strong stomach for this newsletter


The Bible code predicted Obama’s sensational win of the presidency which made history. People doubted but it came to pass.
But in the same Bible code is a chilling prediction of how the Obama presidency will end and who the next president will be (somebody who is very well known to Kenyans.)
The Bible Code newsletter brings you for the first time amazing predictions from the Bible code and elsewhere. Read about the Haiti earthquake foretold centuries ago and also a graphic description of the next president of Kenya.

A full year's subscription for the newsletter (12 issues) costs only Kshs 500/- ($10 for those outside East Africa).

If you are in Kenya you will receive a print version and anywhere else in the world you will receive a digital version (in pdf format)

Call:- 020-2420132
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PROPERTY LISTING

SIZE LOCATION AMOUNT
----------------------------------
¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI TOWN...5M
¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......3.4M
½ ACRE LAISER.............7.5M
1/8 ACRE LAISER............1.9M
1/8 ACRE ONGATA RONGAI.....1.6M
¼ ACRE NKOROI.............1.6M
¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......1.6M
¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......2.3M
1/8 ACRE ONGATA RONGAI.....1.9M
¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......5M
1/8ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......6.5M
½ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......7.5M
1/8 ACRE 0LE-KASASI........1M
1/4ACRE NALEPO-KASASI.....1.95M
1/4ACRE ST PATRICK/KONA
BARIDI......................1M
1/2ACRE KISERIAN(KAHUHO)...2.1M
1/8ACRE OPP REDSOIL
SCHOOL.....................0.95M
¼ ACRE RIMPA 1.7M
1 ACRE KANDISI 3.8M
1ACRE KANDISI(OLERAI) 5.5M
1/2ACRE KANDISI(CATHOLIC) 1.95M
1/4ACRE KANDISI(CATHOLIC) 1M
3BR HSE sitting on ½
ACRE KAREN..................13M
½ ACRE MUKOYET ROAD 11M
2.5ACRES BOGANI 53M
5ACRES OFF KAREN 17M PER ACRE
3.2 ACRES KAREN 18M PER ACRE
1/8 ACRE KANDISI(LANGAU) 230K
4.5ACRES LIMURU
ROAD...............11M PER ACRE
17.5ACRES LIMURU
ROAD...............11M PER ACRE
51 ACRES LIMURU
ROAD...............11M PER ACRE

FLATS sitting on ¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI......................25M

3 BR SITTING ON ¼ ACRE ONGATA RONGAI.....................6.5M

6 BR HSE sitting on ½ ACRE OLE-KASASI ACASIA PARK.....8.5M

1/2ACRE KAHUHO 2M

5 ACRES KISERIAN/ISINYA RD(Maji Mazuri)..........500k per acre

10ACRES SHOLINGE RD 400K

1ACRE KISERIAN/ISINYA (Maji Mazuri)............500k

½ ACRE PLOT OPP ACACIA PARK......................500K

1/8 ACRE PLOT OLE KASASI....................900K

2BR HSE sitting on APPROX 1/8 LAISER (o’ 3.2M

20 ACRES SHOLINGE RD 350K

1/8 ACRES KINDIRI/BARCLAYS-350k

300ACRES LODWAR 50K PER ACRE

5 ACRES OLOI-SIRIKON......400K PER ACRE

230 ACRES KISERIAN/ISINYA RD........850K PER ACRE

¼ ACRE KANDISI............1.4M

¼ ACRE KANDISI 1.4M

¼ ACRE KANDISI 1.4M

¼ ACRE KANDISI 1.4M

¼ ACRE KANDISI 1.4M

¼ ACRE KANDISI 1.4M

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1/8ACRE KANDISI 700K

1 ACRE KAREN 20M

1/4ACRE RONGAI 5M

¼ ACRE RONGAI TOWN 4M

Call 020-2420132
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