From Egypt to Zambia, Africa’s independence parties’ graveyards cannot be traced. Kenya’s KANU is apparently headed into that cemetery. But what plausible reason can be ascribed to these parties that ruled the newly-minted states and lorded over its populace like kings?
Those positing that that majority of African countries got independence when they were ill prepared cannot be dismissed with a wave of hands. The truth is that most ‘founding fathers’ of new African countries were opportunists who rode on the shoulders of their peasant and real freed fighters to secure personal aggrandisements at the expense of their country people. The gulf and tension between our local home guards and freedom fighters aptly drives this point home.
KANU, UNIP (Zambia) and all their derivatives may have been formed on firm foundation but suffered the curse of big brother syndrome. The Kenyattas and Kaundas of these continent were simply silent admirers of the imperialist whose lifestyles they cut-and-copied word for deeds. Their disdain for challengers remains unparalleled. But that is not the problem neither the excuse for failure of these parties. The people who inherited them took over and perfected the game with all their respective warts and thus the speedy roll to oblivion.
African countries are smarting from the collective failures of their independence parties because even the ‘cleverly’ crafted alternatives are nothing but offshoots of those clubs. And the electorate have not done themselves any favour to demand accountability and issue-based politics. Instead we have been roped into these politicians’ selfish schemes by offering them our back to ride on for political office. The busk stops with us and until we stop and re-evaluate the future of our politics, Kanu and its present OWNERS will replicate the demise of civilized politics in our continent in general and country in particular. But do we care? You guess is as good as mine.
Sunday 7 October 2007
Wednesday 3 October 2007
Kenya on Sale to Highest Bidder
Kenya is abuzz and nearly suffocating with pundits weaving yarns in support of their respective political theories. That is the beautiful face of democracy which is the worse form of governance except no acceptable alternative has emerged to challenge the dogma. But pudding in democratic mean lies in its nasty and ugly face of deceit clothed in propaganda gab.
A politician success in unfortunately measured not with his character and integrity but garlanded with perishable traits exhibited through charisma and political correctness. We the electorate complete this selfish equation by allowing ourselves to be ‘cleverly’ roped I to play foot soldiers. What a nice way to negotiate a winning mega contract with neither a sweat nor bidding fee?
The problem with being tagged a ‘contracted politician’ is that it places one in peril of becoming more and more of a contract (read pay) and less and less political. Call it an occupational hazard if you may but it all amounts to the height self-deception at the altar of expediency and aggrandisement. True politicians intellectuals are a rare breed far removed from the rough and tumble of honesty. Kenya lacks them a plenty.
Whoever thought that liberalizing the media would translate to expanded upper faculties must have been from out space. Tune to any FM station or TV channel in Kenya and you would mistake the country to be chocking from intellectuals albeit of the pseudo ilk. The average Kenyan has unconsciously turned into talking heads bereft of ideologies guiding her belief and principles.
But give it to enterprising Kenyans. Even the so-called recognized experts make skewed pronouncements that intellectual dishonesty. These schooled mercenaries have their souls for the highest bidder. They shamelessly use abstracted informal logic in fallacious ways to justify their biases. With intellectuals like these Kenya surely do not need Lucifer and his derivatives, or does she?
Our political pundits have turned conventional wisdom on its own head. They have disabused us of the fact that certain ideas and explanations are not only time-tested but also unshakable true. Instead they peddle cheap propaganda that amounts to transforming conventional wisdom into an obstacle to introducing new theories, explanations, or revisionism.
Unless we look at the tribal evil in the face and confront it collectively, we stand condemned by the future generation for having unwittingly watered the genocide seed. We reason best by contract as that is why you accept being short on meeting somebody tall. Similarly we don’t win friends by antagonizing them. And why would any sane soul consciously scheme to make enemies? You are no island unto yourself and you must turn every neighbour into a pillar that makes you stand firm and happy. Pretending otherwise is to engage in half-truths can only success in self-preservation.
A politician success in unfortunately measured not with his character and integrity but garlanded with perishable traits exhibited through charisma and political correctness. We the electorate complete this selfish equation by allowing ourselves to be ‘cleverly’ roped I to play foot soldiers. What a nice way to negotiate a winning mega contract with neither a sweat nor bidding fee?
The problem with being tagged a ‘contracted politician’ is that it places one in peril of becoming more and more of a contract (read pay) and less and less political. Call it an occupational hazard if you may but it all amounts to the height self-deception at the altar of expediency and aggrandisement. True politicians intellectuals are a rare breed far removed from the rough and tumble of honesty. Kenya lacks them a plenty.
Whoever thought that liberalizing the media would translate to expanded upper faculties must have been from out space. Tune to any FM station or TV channel in Kenya and you would mistake the country to be chocking from intellectuals albeit of the pseudo ilk. The average Kenyan has unconsciously turned into talking heads bereft of ideologies guiding her belief and principles.
But give it to enterprising Kenyans. Even the so-called recognized experts make skewed pronouncements that intellectual dishonesty. These schooled mercenaries have their souls for the highest bidder. They shamelessly use abstracted informal logic in fallacious ways to justify their biases. With intellectuals like these Kenya surely do not need Lucifer and his derivatives, or does she?
Our political pundits have turned conventional wisdom on its own head. They have disabused us of the fact that certain ideas and explanations are not only time-tested but also unshakable true. Instead they peddle cheap propaganda that amounts to transforming conventional wisdom into an obstacle to introducing new theories, explanations, or revisionism.
Unless we look at the tribal evil in the face and confront it collectively, we stand condemned by the future generation for having unwittingly watered the genocide seed. We reason best by contract as that is why you accept being short on meeting somebody tall. Similarly we don’t win friends by antagonizing them. And why would any sane soul consciously scheme to make enemies? You are no island unto yourself and you must turn every neighbour into a pillar that makes you stand firm and happy. Pretending otherwise is to engage in half-truths can only success in self-preservation.
Wednesday 25 July 2007
The Perils of Fear of the Unknown
The political drama thickens as we draw closer to December polls. Ours is real theatre of the absurd politically speaking. Being no game and bereft of all rules, our politics has fallen to its record low. Yesterday’s sworn enemies are now bosom buddies rehearsing their scripts on how best to steal Kenyans’ votes under false and plastic promises albeit packaged in grandiose schemes.
When you see past known looters crafting new alliance with their successors, you know elections are nigh in Kenya. Fear of the unknown and a collective phobia sums it all. As we watch the political theatre, these two dinosaurs will continue holding the remote. We enjoy the actions oblivious of the fact that other interesting channels exist.Our national psyche is enslaved to the so-called tried and tested.
We Kenyans easily get intimidated with age. Some even shamelessly justify such shortcomings by quoting Wahenga who are just but waropokaji hiding under cluster of words (sayings) designed to suit every situation, often conflicting.
Emilio and Moi are now the best of friends like the embarrassment of December 2002 happened in Mars and not Kenya. Make no mistake politics is about playing it selfish under the cover of hollow objectivity. While Baba Jimmy stears the ship to nostalgic waters, Baba Gidi dreads anything abstract or revolutionary. And that provides the hip at which these expired politicians get joined. Kenya's present tokenism economic growth amounts to schooled slavery to the past glory of 1970s as practiced by the present regime.
It will take our national resolve, collective revolutionary mind and heart to wean and win Kenyans out of tokenism and sectarian loyalties. Save for few exceptional CEOs, Kenya's economic glitterati owe all their ill-gotten wealth to politicians. That is why only politics and religion witnesses growth even in gloomy periods. The common thread in both practices is to make people's mind take leave of absence from the brain and instead engage full gear of emotions.
You close your eyes, speak in foreign tongues and shout amen at the drop of a hat. In the process your rumbling stomach is accusing you of being irrational to give out your Ksh. 100 to a gold-bedecked Muiru/Wanjiru. In the end you go back to the office full on air burgers, yawning and defrauding the govt/employer with your sub-optimal output.
Swap the preacher with the politicians and get the true picture. We are in for nasty times and only we can save ourselves, but can we and are we ready for the long haul? You guess right. Meanwhile the flames continue to consume Kenya. Who will save Kenya from her own vultures like the goons they hire to cheat us on hating each other?
Until we chose to think outside the box, we remain boxed and wrapped ready for shipping to political Siberia.
When you see past known looters crafting new alliance with their successors, you know elections are nigh in Kenya. Fear of the unknown and a collective phobia sums it all. As we watch the political theatre, these two dinosaurs will continue holding the remote. We enjoy the actions oblivious of the fact that other interesting channels exist.Our national psyche is enslaved to the so-called tried and tested.
We Kenyans easily get intimidated with age. Some even shamelessly justify such shortcomings by quoting Wahenga who are just but waropokaji hiding under cluster of words (sayings) designed to suit every situation, often conflicting.
Emilio and Moi are now the best of friends like the embarrassment of December 2002 happened in Mars and not Kenya. Make no mistake politics is about playing it selfish under the cover of hollow objectivity. While Baba Jimmy stears the ship to nostalgic waters, Baba Gidi dreads anything abstract or revolutionary. And that provides the hip at which these expired politicians get joined. Kenya's present tokenism economic growth amounts to schooled slavery to the past glory of 1970s as practiced by the present regime.
It will take our national resolve, collective revolutionary mind and heart to wean and win Kenyans out of tokenism and sectarian loyalties. Save for few exceptional CEOs, Kenya's economic glitterati owe all their ill-gotten wealth to politicians. That is why only politics and religion witnesses growth even in gloomy periods. The common thread in both practices is to make people's mind take leave of absence from the brain and instead engage full gear of emotions.
You close your eyes, speak in foreign tongues and shout amen at the drop of a hat. In the process your rumbling stomach is accusing you of being irrational to give out your Ksh. 100 to a gold-bedecked Muiru/Wanjiru. In the end you go back to the office full on air burgers, yawning and defrauding the govt/employer with your sub-optimal output.
Swap the preacher with the politicians and get the true picture. We are in for nasty times and only we can save ourselves, but can we and are we ready for the long haul? You guess right. Meanwhile the flames continue to consume Kenya. Who will save Kenya from her own vultures like the goons they hire to cheat us on hating each other?
Until we chose to think outside the box, we remain boxed and wrapped ready for shipping to political Siberia.
Thursday 19 April 2007
Pulpit to Parliament: The Floodgates to Hell
It is all systems go as Kenyan men and women of the collar outdo each other in the mad rush into the murky waters of politics. The present scenario has proved a godsend opportunity in unmasking the plastic philanthropic posturing and religious tokenism from these pseudo shepherds.
It is one thing to have the luxury of spew opinionated sermons from the sanctity of the pulpit without any criticism. On the other hand, the political world is a different kettle of fish where the immunity offered by the pulpit is nothing but a rumour. A thick skin to stinging criticism is a must to stay a float in the political marsh.
The thin-veiled selfishness hidden under overt commercial considerations couldn't have provided rich fodder for potential political opponents. As the adage goes, the good deeds are interred with your exit from the pulpit and only your nasty side becomes your permanent shadow haunting every move you make.
Church must have known better the wisdom in perfecting the call of seek ye the economic kingdom first and the rest shall follow. After ripping their vulnerable congregations for years, it appears timely to invest in the only profession were serving selfish personal interest remains the roadmap to prosperity. It is harvest time for the enterprising prophets and prophetesses after cleverly tricking gullible Kenyans to sow faithfully for years.
Their blings and trademark garments would make the Arturs look like experts in Mutumab camera shoppers at Gikomba. The eloquent kings and queens of the pulpit can afford to shout themselves hoarse while permuting very few biblically catchy phrases. And before the hallucinated crowd shouts amen in unison, they find themselves religiously digging deeper in their pockets and purses for the last note (no coins please) to reward using the hot air with the speaker now foaming at the mouth.
It is now time to raise the stakes and the self-proclaimed servants of God, have a higher calling. Being neither foolish not geniuses, they expect nothing but unadulterated transfer of loyalty from the church to the political platform and into the voting booth.
Make no mistake, the Muirus, Wanjirus and Musyimis of these world are not naïve and they know grab the first opportunity when they see one beckoning miles away. Granted, they have all the constitutional right to seek any elective post in Kenya. But that said, they must be prepared to have their acts under the most powerful microscope once out there. There is no free lunch and theirs is a true baptism with fire.
To give credit where it is due, some of these collar men (no known woman) played a significant opposition role to Moi's dark era. Their courage and charisma is an asset to very few and stood tall. However, some of them can escape the scrutiny radar. Their consistency in being watchdogs has been left wanting since 2003, to say the least.
To feather their nests and make optimal political capital under the hallowed cover of the church, they have unwittingly pierced their moral balloons by supping with politicians. In accepting to serve two masters (church and politics) they have literally spread themselves too and the focus for the wide good lost in the process as evident in their occasional shameless pandering to the whims of the ruling elite. An example to demonstrate this is Rev. Musyimi and his role in the (anti)corruption steering committee. Call it what you may but his committee is a political appointment with nothing to show for it despite the obscene budget.
True, we need a break from the tired and tested political lot and if Mutava can breathe new lease of life into our leadership then why not. But the caveat remains his reasons for joining politics must be objective and above reproach. But Rev Mutava and his ilk are merely joining the ranks of other self-seekers with the belief in being rewarded for fighting injustice then the good people of God are playing Russian roulette with their morals and integrity that was painstakingly built over the years.
We maybe headed to either the political Canaan or abyss depending on what these political aspirants have up their sleeves. We only overlook the corrupt nature of our politics at our collective national peril. On an optimistic note we must start from somewhere and can only remain vigilant with our eyes wide open and ears firmly on the ground to see what change they bring to the political table. Kenyans may be just producing saviours or political mercenaries depending on what these aspirants’ political entry points are anchored on.
It is one thing to have the luxury of spew opinionated sermons from the sanctity of the pulpit without any criticism. On the other hand, the political world is a different kettle of fish where the immunity offered by the pulpit is nothing but a rumour. A thick skin to stinging criticism is a must to stay a float in the political marsh.
The thin-veiled selfishness hidden under overt commercial considerations couldn't have provided rich fodder for potential political opponents. As the adage goes, the good deeds are interred with your exit from the pulpit and only your nasty side becomes your permanent shadow haunting every move you make.
Church must have known better the wisdom in perfecting the call of seek ye the economic kingdom first and the rest shall follow. After ripping their vulnerable congregations for years, it appears timely to invest in the only profession were serving selfish personal interest remains the roadmap to prosperity. It is harvest time for the enterprising prophets and prophetesses after cleverly tricking gullible Kenyans to sow faithfully for years.
Their blings and trademark garments would make the Arturs look like experts in Mutumab camera shoppers at Gikomba. The eloquent kings and queens of the pulpit can afford to shout themselves hoarse while permuting very few biblically catchy phrases. And before the hallucinated crowd shouts amen in unison, they find themselves religiously digging deeper in their pockets and purses for the last note (no coins please) to reward using the hot air with the speaker now foaming at the mouth.
It is now time to raise the stakes and the self-proclaimed servants of God, have a higher calling. Being neither foolish not geniuses, they expect nothing but unadulterated transfer of loyalty from the church to the political platform and into the voting booth.
Make no mistake, the Muirus, Wanjirus and Musyimis of these world are not naïve and they know grab the first opportunity when they see one beckoning miles away. Granted, they have all the constitutional right to seek any elective post in Kenya. But that said, they must be prepared to have their acts under the most powerful microscope once out there. There is no free lunch and theirs is a true baptism with fire.
To give credit where it is due, some of these collar men (no known woman) played a significant opposition role to Moi's dark era. Their courage and charisma is an asset to very few and stood tall. However, some of them can escape the scrutiny radar. Their consistency in being watchdogs has been left wanting since 2003, to say the least.
To feather their nests and make optimal political capital under the hallowed cover of the church, they have unwittingly pierced their moral balloons by supping with politicians. In accepting to serve two masters (church and politics) they have literally spread themselves too and the focus for the wide good lost in the process as evident in their occasional shameless pandering to the whims of the ruling elite. An example to demonstrate this is Rev. Musyimi and his role in the (anti)corruption steering committee. Call it what you may but his committee is a political appointment with nothing to show for it despite the obscene budget.
True, we need a break from the tired and tested political lot and if Mutava can breathe new lease of life into our leadership then why not. But the caveat remains his reasons for joining politics must be objective and above reproach. But Rev Mutava and his ilk are merely joining the ranks of other self-seekers with the belief in being rewarded for fighting injustice then the good people of God are playing Russian roulette with their morals and integrity that was painstakingly built over the years.
We maybe headed to either the political Canaan or abyss depending on what these political aspirants have up their sleeves. We only overlook the corrupt nature of our politics at our collective national peril. On an optimistic note we must start from somewhere and can only remain vigilant with our eyes wide open and ears firmly on the ground to see what change they bring to the political table. Kenyans may be just producing saviours or political mercenaries depending on what these aspirants’ political entry points are anchored on.
Thursday 12 April 2007
Conspiracy To Kill Your Mother and Sisters
Some traditions and stereotypes won’t just go away no matter our exposure and education. The race and struggle to have a son and belittle daughters is as old as any African tradition you can think of. Forget the status in society and even education or religious standing, every family stands on a quicksand with a boy to baptize their names as mama or baba so-and-so.
Make no mistake, it is not just the African man who considers himself incomplete without a son to call his own. Women go over the top and in some communities it is even and acceptable sin to ‘browse’ outside the family for the right man capable of siring a son if the wife doubts her husband’s genes.
I will stick my neck and play the devil's advocate on behalf of my dear sisters. They are simply being real and African by struggling to measure and satisfy communal pressures. As for my brothers, it boils down to ego trips given that most of them have nothing to bequeath their so called heirs besides poverty in abundance.
Nothing could be further from the truth. What makes you think that the collagemate who used to beat you hands down all over sudden becomes a dimwit once you 'trick' her into marriage. And by the way if marriage is the principal cause of divorce then men are the principal causes and sources of all the turmoil in this planet.
And there lies our problems as a people. We are often slaves to our village roots despite exposure in life, unfortunately. A child is a child is a child. And trust me on this: (African) men address their insecurity by claiming to be superior to their women to sooth their bloated egos in justifying the mad race and rush for sons while treating daughters as lesser mortals.
We are shameless pretenders who create the impression that all is good in our houses and even when we are hitting the floor of the emotional pit. Now this is acidic bothers and please don't lynch me for saying the truth. I am sure to stir the hornet's nest. Emotions change with time and as the epidemiologist and statistician will tell you its one variable that is heterogeneous. So to stick to your old flame and emotional beliefs which you have definitely outgrown is to get stuck in a time warp.
The remedy? Be creative and as a software update your emotions and invest in your love life. If all fails, why not divorce officially. Hold your horse with tirades and save me the obtuse pretence. Marriage the singular cause of divorce so once married, divorce graces the other side of the coin.
That is not western brainwashing. And by the way, don't we live like them shamelessly borrowing their 'civilized' traits and only selectively trashing them when it serves our bloated egos? This is not playing the devils advocates and my brothers must see marriage for the institution that it is and not a factory for kids who end up being the necessary devils cropping out as biological accidents from our acts of being athletic around the waist.
Invest in your love life and reap the accruing dividends or perish emotionally as you cling to the empty and elusive shell of yore. Marriage and love life must be treated as dynamics otherwise you only reap the barbs and bitterness that will only drive you prematurely into your grave. Our sisters deserve better and they remain the only spices in our otherwise dull lives.
Make no mistake, it is not just the African man who considers himself incomplete without a son to call his own. Women go over the top and in some communities it is even and acceptable sin to ‘browse’ outside the family for the right man capable of siring a son if the wife doubts her husband’s genes.
I will stick my neck and play the devil's advocate on behalf of my dear sisters. They are simply being real and African by struggling to measure and satisfy communal pressures. As for my brothers, it boils down to ego trips given that most of them have nothing to bequeath their so called heirs besides poverty in abundance.
Nothing could be further from the truth. What makes you think that the collagemate who used to beat you hands down all over sudden becomes a dimwit once you 'trick' her into marriage. And by the way if marriage is the principal cause of divorce then men are the principal causes and sources of all the turmoil in this planet.
And there lies our problems as a people. We are often slaves to our village roots despite exposure in life, unfortunately. A child is a child is a child. And trust me on this: (African) men address their insecurity by claiming to be superior to their women to sooth their bloated egos in justifying the mad race and rush for sons while treating daughters as lesser mortals.
We are shameless pretenders who create the impression that all is good in our houses and even when we are hitting the floor of the emotional pit. Now this is acidic bothers and please don't lynch me for saying the truth. I am sure to stir the hornet's nest. Emotions change with time and as the epidemiologist and statistician will tell you its one variable that is heterogeneous. So to stick to your old flame and emotional beliefs which you have definitely outgrown is to get stuck in a time warp.
The remedy? Be creative and as a software update your emotions and invest in your love life. If all fails, why not divorce officially. Hold your horse with tirades and save me the obtuse pretence. Marriage the singular cause of divorce so once married, divorce graces the other side of the coin.
That is not western brainwashing. And by the way, don't we live like them shamelessly borrowing their 'civilized' traits and only selectively trashing them when it serves our bloated egos? This is not playing the devils advocates and my brothers must see marriage for the institution that it is and not a factory for kids who end up being the necessary devils cropping out as biological accidents from our acts of being athletic around the waist.
Invest in your love life and reap the accruing dividends or perish emotionally as you cling to the empty and elusive shell of yore. Marriage and love life must be treated as dynamics otherwise you only reap the barbs and bitterness that will only drive you prematurely into your grave. Our sisters deserve better and they remain the only spices in our otherwise dull lives.
Tuesday 3 April 2007
Tolerance is the Answer, What was the Question?
Kenyans are probably the most politically conscious Africans. We are overtly political and spend a better part of our time when awake eating, drinking and even sleeping politics. Tribalism remains the hottest and most emotive of all our political talks and indulge into it with all the passion and vitriol depending on whom we are defending or vilifying.
Faint hearts would better not dare mention this smouldering topic leave alone risking the predictable bile and wasted emotions that overwhelm them from detractors wishing to differ with their point and opinions. But which is a lesser devil? Leave the virus go virulent or diagnose the malady and treat the cancer by clipping its potential mutations? Your guess is as good as mine, we must soil our hand to shame this primitive trait cast on us by selfish politicians and leaders.
An example is the ever green Kikuyu question which is a problem that is symbolically Kenyan. These guys constitute a nonignorable proportion (>20%) of our population. Their presence is felt (positively and otherwise) everywhere in all spheres of Kenyans' lives. And is the genesis of the wider problem.
At the risk of being branded insensitive, you will find more Kikuyus than any other bodies in any cosmopolitan morgue. These guys are every where and very hard working only that few take this attribute a step higher to the realms of 'hell for leather' - success at all costs. That is where they lose the plot with all the marks.
Unity in diversity is an overused catch phrase that is rarely understood. All are born equal and any claim of superiority only succeeds in isolating you from those whose shoulders you need to go both up and down. One would hate to imagine what the magnitude of tribal tension would be were Kenyatta to live longer?
The ever-smouldering Luo-Kikuyu divide remains a source of cheap stereotypes with some bordering on the absurd. Ask a Kikuyu bandying village bile at his Luo counterpart what is beef is and you can bet your last breathe that no honest nor factual reason will be advanced. Theirs is a generation smarting from the burden of inherited hatred courtesy of Jomo Kenyatta's political propaganda against Oginga Odinga. Why would a whole generation, majority of them born after Jomo died, inherit hatred propagated by politicians for expediency and packaged as unity call to protect our own?
If the Luos suffer from political herd mentality, then the Kuks suffer the same weaned on inherited tribal jingoism and hatred. The lake chaps have no moral grounds either to be herded like omena into one political sack. They must liberate themselves from those preying on their vulnerability.
Jaramogi was both a saint and devil (no stones please). He was objective enough to deny himself political seat for the wider good, Jomo's release. But he lost it by playing into old Jomo's hands to herd the Luos into a pack of rebels which they are still smarting from as the Kuks re-awakes Jomo's tribal spirits.
The truth is, you are naive to ignore the Luos and Kuks in Kenyan politics. But that said, these chaps must measure to civilized politics and stop practising the cheap brand of yore. You don't add any value to your persona by supping with the critic to your enemy, or do you?
We need each other and one more enemy is one too many. We must not mistake bravado, brinkmanship and fraud for entrepreneurship. Comparing them is not any different from the cheap types comparing Prof. Maathai's Nobel prize and Raila's hummer. It is comparison based on ignorance and the wrong premise.
The truism that him who is not travelled considers his mum the best cook couldn't be more apt in capturing the origins of our tribal posturing. Heightened tribalism can be latently traced to our education system. It is not an exaggeration to claim that some very bright Kenyans had problems adjusting to campus life after attending Ndethia primary and Ndethia secondary schools (due respect folks).
Being the village Stephen Hawkins may inadvertently go into your head while you remain oblivious of the fact that people from other cultures demand some decorum from your bravado. To such a guy, circumcision of the mind is a distant priority to chopping his foreskin. If only one would be a live to the fact that more than 75% of men the world over are not circumcised?
It is a global village and I must shed a tear for our Tz brothers and sisters. Like it hate it, Tanzanians have their strength in unity and lack of tribal tensions. It is both in bad faith and insensitive to pour scorn on your neighbour whom you have no luxury of choosing. By the way those chaps sense of 'upole' and mannerisms our capitalistic (read grabbing) endeavours resemble a mad rush among apes in the park unless to you trophy acquisition justifies the spilt blood.
Kenya remains just big enough for the accommodative many but also too small for the selfish few. We need each other and let us not fall prey to scoundrels who pass as politicians in tribal chiefs’ gabs. And we better act now for tomorrow might be too late. I rest my case.
Faint hearts would better not dare mention this smouldering topic leave alone risking the predictable bile and wasted emotions that overwhelm them from detractors wishing to differ with their point and opinions. But which is a lesser devil? Leave the virus go virulent or diagnose the malady and treat the cancer by clipping its potential mutations? Your guess is as good as mine, we must soil our hand to shame this primitive trait cast on us by selfish politicians and leaders.
An example is the ever green Kikuyu question which is a problem that is symbolically Kenyan. These guys constitute a nonignorable proportion (>20%) of our population. Their presence is felt (positively and otherwise) everywhere in all spheres of Kenyans' lives. And is the genesis of the wider problem.
At the risk of being branded insensitive, you will find more Kikuyus than any other bodies in any cosmopolitan morgue. These guys are every where and very hard working only that few take this attribute a step higher to the realms of 'hell for leather' - success at all costs. That is where they lose the plot with all the marks.
Unity in diversity is an overused catch phrase that is rarely understood. All are born equal and any claim of superiority only succeeds in isolating you from those whose shoulders you need to go both up and down. One would hate to imagine what the magnitude of tribal tension would be were Kenyatta to live longer?
The ever-smouldering Luo-Kikuyu divide remains a source of cheap stereotypes with some bordering on the absurd. Ask a Kikuyu bandying village bile at his Luo counterpart what is beef is and you can bet your last breathe that no honest nor factual reason will be advanced. Theirs is a generation smarting from the burden of inherited hatred courtesy of Jomo Kenyatta's political propaganda against Oginga Odinga. Why would a whole generation, majority of them born after Jomo died, inherit hatred propagated by politicians for expediency and packaged as unity call to protect our own?
If the Luos suffer from political herd mentality, then the Kuks suffer the same weaned on inherited tribal jingoism and hatred. The lake chaps have no moral grounds either to be herded like omena into one political sack. They must liberate themselves from those preying on their vulnerability.
Jaramogi was both a saint and devil (no stones please). He was objective enough to deny himself political seat for the wider good, Jomo's release. But he lost it by playing into old Jomo's hands to herd the Luos into a pack of rebels which they are still smarting from as the Kuks re-awakes Jomo's tribal spirits.
The truth is, you are naive to ignore the Luos and Kuks in Kenyan politics. But that said, these chaps must measure to civilized politics and stop practising the cheap brand of yore. You don't add any value to your persona by supping with the critic to your enemy, or do you?
We need each other and one more enemy is one too many. We must not mistake bravado, brinkmanship and fraud for entrepreneurship. Comparing them is not any different from the cheap types comparing Prof. Maathai's Nobel prize and Raila's hummer. It is comparison based on ignorance and the wrong premise.
The truism that him who is not travelled considers his mum the best cook couldn't be more apt in capturing the origins of our tribal posturing. Heightened tribalism can be latently traced to our education system. It is not an exaggeration to claim that some very bright Kenyans had problems adjusting to campus life after attending Ndethia primary and Ndethia secondary schools (due respect folks).
Being the village Stephen Hawkins may inadvertently go into your head while you remain oblivious of the fact that people from other cultures demand some decorum from your bravado. To such a guy, circumcision of the mind is a distant priority to chopping his foreskin. If only one would be a live to the fact that more than 75% of men the world over are not circumcised?
It is a global village and I must shed a tear for our Tz brothers and sisters. Like it hate it, Tanzanians have their strength in unity and lack of tribal tensions. It is both in bad faith and insensitive to pour scorn on your neighbour whom you have no luxury of choosing. By the way those chaps sense of 'upole' and mannerisms our capitalistic (read grabbing) endeavours resemble a mad rush among apes in the park unless to you trophy acquisition justifies the spilt blood.
Kenya remains just big enough for the accommodative many but also too small for the selfish few. We need each other and let us not fall prey to scoundrels who pass as politicians in tribal chiefs’ gabs. And we better act now for tomorrow might be too late. I rest my case.
Tuesday 27 March 2007
Kenya at her Historic Tribal Best
Recent developments and appointments to key government position brought back the emotive tribal debate to the fore. Both critics and detractors are waxing lyrical and defensive with all shades of opinions to support their case. Bu all said and done, tribalism remains the singular malady whose nasty consequences continue to eat into both our conscience and moral fabric.
There is no justification to vilify Kibaki or protect him provided we understand the generation and school of thought he was weaned on. It's total waste of breathe and I would humbly suggest to you Kenyans with a future to look upto to tackle the root cause of this cancer. I am not naive to its prevalence and I know it will take ages to correct but we would be dancing ourselves lame before scoundrels for politicians who sold our soul for cheap populism and expediency.
It is the height of utter insensitivity to brand dimwits professors of politics just because they cause so much bloodshed. On the same vein, what is this madness to jump to the defence of academic dinosaurs whose economic models can't be programmed i any known language?
Spare us the balderdash please and lest seize the opportunity slipping between our fingers to address TRIBALISM. I speak my mother tongue with pride, but the identity end there and I wouldn't care a hoot if the language belonged to the apes.
We are all born equal and any sense tribal superiority is not only a farce but living a lie at best.
True, Kikuyus constitute more than 1 fifth of Kenyans. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the disparity. Stop insulting the collective intelligence of Kenyans. We know negative 'sms, when see one and amount of unsolicited level 100 series of lectures will wash.
Granted, even in a cosmopolitan morgue you are more likely to find more Kuks than Digos but management of public affairs doesn't take such a simplistic version of reasoning. Kenya belongs to all of us and anybody indulging in self-deception that they belong more than others are busy erecting castles on quicksand.
You don't need to be psychic to decode the arrogance and loaded ignorance lurking behind every comment that pretends to exorcise and rationalize the tribal devil.
We are simply, conveniently and unwittingly packaging stereotypes with lofty but empty phrases. Ours is a superlative act of intellectual dishonesty. An argument takes a typical Kenyans turn when you start seeing magnified side shows being prominently elevated to the VIP table of ideas. We can continue bandying all the existing tired catch words while we conveniently let the tribal virus mutate within at our collective peril.
Kibaki is Kenya's president and you can't pocket him unless you entertain the self-deception of 'ni wetu' ilk. Being a public figure, he can't afford to avoid visitation by flies patronizing the beautiful road he strolling on. Trivializing and tribalizing weighty matters takes the wind off our moral sail and we become no better than the pilloried scoundrels we pass as politicians. We are a betrayed generation and no amount of peddling of street wisdom will rescue us from this hole unless we take an honest hard look at ourselves and work together towards reclaiming out nationhood and motherland.
There is no justification to vilify Kibaki or protect him provided we understand the generation and school of thought he was weaned on. It's total waste of breathe and I would humbly suggest to you Kenyans with a future to look upto to tackle the root cause of this cancer. I am not naive to its prevalence and I know it will take ages to correct but we would be dancing ourselves lame before scoundrels for politicians who sold our soul for cheap populism and expediency.
It is the height of utter insensitivity to brand dimwits professors of politics just because they cause so much bloodshed. On the same vein, what is this madness to jump to the defence of academic dinosaurs whose economic models can't be programmed i any known language?
Spare us the balderdash please and lest seize the opportunity slipping between our fingers to address TRIBALISM. I speak my mother tongue with pride, but the identity end there and I wouldn't care a hoot if the language belonged to the apes.
We are all born equal and any sense tribal superiority is not only a farce but living a lie at best.
True, Kikuyus constitute more than 1 fifth of Kenyans. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the disparity. Stop insulting the collective intelligence of Kenyans. We know negative 'sms, when see one and amount of unsolicited level 100 series of lectures will wash.
Granted, even in a cosmopolitan morgue you are more likely to find more Kuks than Digos but management of public affairs doesn't take such a simplistic version of reasoning. Kenya belongs to all of us and anybody indulging in self-deception that they belong more than others are busy erecting castles on quicksand.
You don't need to be psychic to decode the arrogance and loaded ignorance lurking behind every comment that pretends to exorcise and rationalize the tribal devil.
We are simply, conveniently and unwittingly packaging stereotypes with lofty but empty phrases. Ours is a superlative act of intellectual dishonesty. An argument takes a typical Kenyans turn when you start seeing magnified side shows being prominently elevated to the VIP table of ideas. We can continue bandying all the existing tired catch words while we conveniently let the tribal virus mutate within at our collective peril.
Kibaki is Kenya's president and you can't pocket him unless you entertain the self-deception of 'ni wetu' ilk. Being a public figure, he can't afford to avoid visitation by flies patronizing the beautiful road he strolling on. Trivializing and tribalizing weighty matters takes the wind off our moral sail and we become no better than the pilloried scoundrels we pass as politicians. We are a betrayed generation and no amount of peddling of street wisdom will rescue us from this hole unless we take an honest hard look at ourselves and work together towards reclaiming out nationhood and motherland.
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Majimboism: Reinventing the Political Wheel?
ODM-K politicians have made majimboism a principal plank in their campaigns to to cheat Kenyans of their votes. Packaging regionalism in new linen makes these chaps believe that theirs is the best political gift to Kenyans after independence. Nothing could be further from the truth and our sly politicians are simply stuck like an old record regurgitating old stuff that has no relevance to our present problems. Shorttermism remains the guiding principle of most politicians. All they do is to scheme using voters as ladders for political expediency.
Majimboism is the epidemic whose symptoms already have Kenya bleeding from ethnic hatred. And if we were to legalize it then God have mercy. For starters, the whole ODM-K brigade’s argument for majimbo is pegged on the wrong premise. Even before we engage ourselves in the debate, we must accept the truth that the timing couldn't have been any worse. Kenya is boiling with tribal tension that only needs a spark to explode. The ODM chaps are alive to this fact and want to take advantage for political expediency at our collective peril.
The merit and demerits of majimbo are neither here nor there. With individualized and/or regionalized rule, majimboism will be the icing on the cake on emergence of tribal chiefs ready to sell their tribesmen pound of flesh to cobble up tribal collisions. All we need is structured administration build on institutions that can operate independent of the office bearers. Simple put must go back to the basic and not even entertain the idea of taking us back to Misri, as my brilliant granny often wisely warned.
Why would we create mayhem to unsettle the prevailing peace among tribes? Our cheap politics that has perfected the paradigm of our turn is the bane in this political madness. A fair distribution of wealth and resources would make us be tribeless.
Unless we stop providing an elastic and indefatigable backs for our politicians to ride on, we are inadvertently abetting the speedy slide of our motherland into abyss. We must stop these politicians from playing the small tribes against the perceived large ones.
All are born equal and any trace of calibration into superiority is the height of deception in attept to jutify living a lie. Such cheap propaganda are anchored on simplistic and unproductive leadership. We must resist the lure to opt for cheap plastic options in the face of gigantic problems. Regionalism is no panacea to the present sickening spate of tribalism among Kenyans. If anything it will only succeed in fuelling the vice.
With no dependable institutions, we are simple inviting ourselves to into the jungle with all its unpleasant laws. Lest we want to create unviable 42+ jimbos for each tribe, Kenya and Kenyans must retrace their values and agree to either grow together of severally exterminate each other. There is success story anywhere in the world on this. So why pretend to have discovered the tools to reinvent a rusty wheel? I rest my case.
Majimboism is the epidemic whose symptoms already have Kenya bleeding from ethnic hatred. And if we were to legalize it then God have mercy. For starters, the whole ODM-K brigade’s argument for majimbo is pegged on the wrong premise. Even before we engage ourselves in the debate, we must accept the truth that the timing couldn't have been any worse. Kenya is boiling with tribal tension that only needs a spark to explode. The ODM chaps are alive to this fact and want to take advantage for political expediency at our collective peril.
The merit and demerits of majimbo are neither here nor there. With individualized and/or regionalized rule, majimboism will be the icing on the cake on emergence of tribal chiefs ready to sell their tribesmen pound of flesh to cobble up tribal collisions. All we need is structured administration build on institutions that can operate independent of the office bearers. Simple put must go back to the basic and not even entertain the idea of taking us back to Misri, as my brilliant granny often wisely warned.
Why would we create mayhem to unsettle the prevailing peace among tribes? Our cheap politics that has perfected the paradigm of our turn is the bane in this political madness. A fair distribution of wealth and resources would make us be tribeless.
Unless we stop providing an elastic and indefatigable backs for our politicians to ride on, we are inadvertently abetting the speedy slide of our motherland into abyss. We must stop these politicians from playing the small tribes against the perceived large ones.
All are born equal and any trace of calibration into superiority is the height of deception in attept to jutify living a lie. Such cheap propaganda are anchored on simplistic and unproductive leadership. We must resist the lure to opt for cheap plastic options in the face of gigantic problems. Regionalism is no panacea to the present sickening spate of tribalism among Kenyans. If anything it will only succeed in fuelling the vice.
With no dependable institutions, we are simple inviting ourselves to into the jungle with all its unpleasant laws. Lest we want to create unviable 42+ jimbos for each tribe, Kenya and Kenyans must retrace their values and agree to either grow together of severally exterminate each other. There is success story anywhere in the world on this. So why pretend to have discovered the tools to reinvent a rusty wheel? I rest my case.
Friday 16 March 2007
African Ghosts Back With Vengeance
If we ever imagined that the dark era of bad African political manners are gone, then we need repentance because current events have disabused of this in a large scale. The bad old days are back with a vengeance with our despots and striving to outdo each other in silencing their opposition and media, both perceived and real.
Dinosaur leaders rule by borrowing bad political manners from their peers. Down south senile Mugabe is speedily driving his beautiful country into abyss and here I Kenya, Kibaki seem to be keenly taking note and proving such an astute student.
The Kenyan government has done it again, having both feet stuck in the mouth. What a primitive show of might in silencing the media. While the world press recently splashed on their front pages a battered Morgan Tsangirai's in the hands of Mugabe’s police, Kenya is threatening to outdo Zimbabwe.
We can condone errors of commission but such grandiose abuse of our national pride, freedom, must be resisted at all cost. We must defend the media and press at all cost lest we lose all that we have gained in the last 15 years. Comparing present freedom to the dark ages of Moi is to feed us on tokenism which we must resist and reject. Whoever authors spins for Kibaki’s government must have been weaned on colonial mentality. Harassing innocent Kenyans working hard to measure to the working nation call is an unprovoked upfront of our collective intelligence. The timing couldn't have been worse in an election year.
Kibaki's propensity to shoot itself in the foot is unparalleled and we must stand up as a nation to shine light in all the dark shades of our leadership. The role of journalists in this endeavour is irreplaceable and we only keep quiet at our own collective peril. Attempt to intimidate the media in this era of information highway is not only destined to fall flat on its ugly face but is also symptomatic of what dinosaurs we have for leaders. The police engage in wild goose chase by shamelessly wasting tax payers’ money in harassing professionals sweating to put food on the table while murderers roam Mt. Elgon unhindered maiming and raping innocent Kenyans.
Ours is a country in the 21st Century led with models of the 1960s. We must reclaim our motherland from these fraudsters in demanding freedom of the press lest we perish both individually and severally. Choosing the cheap option of lynching the messenger and conveniently avoiding the message is the height of intellectual naivety at best and dishonesty at worst.
And our so-called elites are no better than their village mates except they cloth their rawness in eloquent English. They always start an objective argument with loaded facts but no sooner than you read a paragraph than you get confronted with their stories trapped in hole of bad-mouthing. We all appear intelligence in public but remain shameless tribalists in private. It is incumbent upon us to redeem and reclaim our motherland by stripping its leadership of political scavengers now and not tomorrow.
We must refuse to played against each other while imbibing cheap stereotypes. Each one of us is born into a tribe and we must proudly speak out native tongues. But the identity end there and we must embrace and defend Kenyans as one people devoid of prejudice. Otherwise being the country of conspiracies against each other we are destined to collective doom. Politics is a game and the heat it generates is mostly felt by the less-valued loud-mouthed rather than the key players. We must sober up and not be cheap and fast in making insinuations that are akin to character self-destruction. We need not take offence on behalf of our tribal chiefs knowing that we remain the grass that suffers when the bulls fight. When a fellow human being employs reasoning from the lower faculties, they only succeed in making apes look geniuses.
Dinosaur leaders rule by borrowing bad political manners from their peers. Down south senile Mugabe is speedily driving his beautiful country into abyss and here I Kenya, Kibaki seem to be keenly taking note and proving such an astute student.
The Kenyan government has done it again, having both feet stuck in the mouth. What a primitive show of might in silencing the media. While the world press recently splashed on their front pages a battered Morgan Tsangirai's in the hands of Mugabe’s police, Kenya is threatening to outdo Zimbabwe.
We can condone errors of commission but such grandiose abuse of our national pride, freedom, must be resisted at all cost. We must defend the media and press at all cost lest we lose all that we have gained in the last 15 years. Comparing present freedom to the dark ages of Moi is to feed us on tokenism which we must resist and reject. Whoever authors spins for Kibaki’s government must have been weaned on colonial mentality. Harassing innocent Kenyans working hard to measure to the working nation call is an unprovoked upfront of our collective intelligence. The timing couldn't have been worse in an election year.
Kibaki's propensity to shoot itself in the foot is unparalleled and we must stand up as a nation to shine light in all the dark shades of our leadership. The role of journalists in this endeavour is irreplaceable and we only keep quiet at our own collective peril. Attempt to intimidate the media in this era of information highway is not only destined to fall flat on its ugly face but is also symptomatic of what dinosaurs we have for leaders. The police engage in wild goose chase by shamelessly wasting tax payers’ money in harassing professionals sweating to put food on the table while murderers roam Mt. Elgon unhindered maiming and raping innocent Kenyans.
Ours is a country in the 21st Century led with models of the 1960s. We must reclaim our motherland from these fraudsters in demanding freedom of the press lest we perish both individually and severally. Choosing the cheap option of lynching the messenger and conveniently avoiding the message is the height of intellectual naivety at best and dishonesty at worst.
And our so-called elites are no better than their village mates except they cloth their rawness in eloquent English. They always start an objective argument with loaded facts but no sooner than you read a paragraph than you get confronted with their stories trapped in hole of bad-mouthing. We all appear intelligence in public but remain shameless tribalists in private. It is incumbent upon us to redeem and reclaim our motherland by stripping its leadership of political scavengers now and not tomorrow.
We must refuse to played against each other while imbibing cheap stereotypes. Each one of us is born into a tribe and we must proudly speak out native tongues. But the identity end there and we must embrace and defend Kenyans as one people devoid of prejudice. Otherwise being the country of conspiracies against each other we are destined to collective doom. Politics is a game and the heat it generates is mostly felt by the less-valued loud-mouthed rather than the key players. We must sober up and not be cheap and fast in making insinuations that are akin to character self-destruction. We need not take offence on behalf of our tribal chiefs knowing that we remain the grass that suffers when the bulls fight. When a fellow human being employs reasoning from the lower faculties, they only succeed in making apes look geniuses.
Saturday 10 March 2007
One Country, Two People
Our national obsession with everything materialistic has taken criminal dimensions of leather for hell proportions. Nothing demonstrates better this divide of me against than our political leaders. A closer look at any of their actions smacks off utmost betrayal of the fake objectivity and sensitivity they proclaim from the rooftops. They are in a continuous state of competing among themselves to curve exclusive selfish niches for themselves albeit without any trace of tact to disguise their ill motives.
A case in point would suffice to demonstrate this mad rush to be ‘different’. The ODM-K's London trip that never was is just the miracle that Kenyans needed to unearth the quicksand on which they anchor their political hopes. Right from the organizers to the guests, the whole thing was a disaster that occurred before its conception. They had danced themselves lame before even the music started playing and now all they have to show for it is nothing but tons of eggs splashed on their faces. Shame on them.
Behind this facade lurks the unpleasant Kenyan culture of aspiring to belong to a class, political and/or economic/social. The ODM-K leaders wanted to set themselves a side as special Kenyans deluding themselves that their self-manufactured problems can only be solved within earshot of the queen. Speak of colonial mindset. These are chaps out of touch with reality wasting funds that they would better invest in saving lives of starving Kenyans. But alas, you can't preach to the converted, or can you?
Seeing Kalonzo bandying high-sounding words in accusing unknown shadows who have hijacked ODM-K betrays his hitherto lyrical waxes last weekend in Western when he chose to prematurely become generous with unsolicited news about the London bonding. Boy, don't sharks have a sharp nose for blood? Trust Deya to smell an opportunity a mile a way to invest in prospective immunity. Mudavadi deserves a medal for being prophetic to cleverly evade embarrassment - he knew he had no chance and Ruto can't put a spin on the backlash. Solidarity for a course is one thing but solidarity to sanitize a stinking character is the height of political naivity and arrogance to the electorate.
ODM-K leadership must sober up and stop being led with a leash on their noses following the the scent of euphoria and emotions. A deep reflection would have prompted them to an honest soul-searching that would have helped them see the embarrassment in advance. Now they have been hanged out both individually and severally to dry. Product of premature campaign and plastic confidence? We need not bother nor wait for time to tell. They have fatally shot themselves in the foot and their goose is as good as cooked and digested.
A case in point would suffice to demonstrate this mad rush to be ‘different’. The ODM-K's London trip that never was is just the miracle that Kenyans needed to unearth the quicksand on which they anchor their political hopes. Right from the organizers to the guests, the whole thing was a disaster that occurred before its conception. They had danced themselves lame before even the music started playing and now all they have to show for it is nothing but tons of eggs splashed on their faces. Shame on them.
Behind this facade lurks the unpleasant Kenyan culture of aspiring to belong to a class, political and/or economic/social. The ODM-K leaders wanted to set themselves a side as special Kenyans deluding themselves that their self-manufactured problems can only be solved within earshot of the queen. Speak of colonial mindset. These are chaps out of touch with reality wasting funds that they would better invest in saving lives of starving Kenyans. But alas, you can't preach to the converted, or can you?
Seeing Kalonzo bandying high-sounding words in accusing unknown shadows who have hijacked ODM-K betrays his hitherto lyrical waxes last weekend in Western when he chose to prematurely become generous with unsolicited news about the London bonding. Boy, don't sharks have a sharp nose for blood? Trust Deya to smell an opportunity a mile a way to invest in prospective immunity. Mudavadi deserves a medal for being prophetic to cleverly evade embarrassment - he knew he had no chance and Ruto can't put a spin on the backlash. Solidarity for a course is one thing but solidarity to sanitize a stinking character is the height of political naivity and arrogance to the electorate.
ODM-K leadership must sober up and stop being led with a leash on their noses following the the scent of euphoria and emotions. A deep reflection would have prompted them to an honest soul-searching that would have helped them see the embarrassment in advance. Now they have been hanged out both individually and severally to dry. Product of premature campaign and plastic confidence? We need not bother nor wait for time to tell. They have fatally shot themselves in the foot and their goose is as good as cooked and digested.
Wednesday 21 February 2007
Shooting Suspects is Killing Intelligence
The prevailing state of insecurity in Kenyan in general and in our major cities in particular is a sign of deep-rooted cancer in our values as a nation. Resorting to the cheap options of shooting gangsters is akin to immaculately addressing a festering wound that will eventually send us all to our graves.
Our values as a society have been shaken to the core and we must promptly re-evaluate the relevance of our present laws, morals and living philosophy. The spate of wanton destruction of lives is the epitome of our callousness in how cheap a price we attach to life. It’s no rocket science to see the need to going back to the basics of civilized living. Interest groups will predictably and shamelessly bandy high-sounding clichés to explain our predicament. Nothing could be further from the truth, behind their lofty slogans lurks unadulterated selfishness principally tailored to protect their turf to remain relevant for donor funding. Granted, they shout out very valid and sound arguments albeit subjective.
Our country is on fire as a result of living in a serial state of denial for perishable political goals. The obscene gap between the haves and the have-nots has erased any trace of pretence in living the cherished communal lives as Africans. We must see the forest for the trees and stop blaming our shadows and enemies from without fro our own shortsightedness. A total and honest rehabilitation of our egos and values is not negotiable.
Life must be respected for the sacred entity it is and nobody has any authority of play God in taking it away, ex-judicial or otherwise. When the police shoot suspects in cold blood they are simply committing murder which is inexcusable and unforgivable. The law is not naive to grant them the power to immobilize and interrogate such suspects. By killing them, the law enforces are unwittingly killing the evidence and intelligence they desperately need to plan and maintain the country’s security. Unless the police force are inviting us to entertain the rumour that they are merely eliminating their accomplices in crime for fear of being exposed.
Resorting to archaic Hammurabi’s law of an eye for an eye is cheap philosophy that only succeeds in making the whole world blind. Extra-judicial deaths are simplistic and defeat both our legal and moral fibres. Its incumbent upon all of us have an honest re-examinations of ourselves and engage meaningful intellectual discourses devoid of cheap emotions which will only succeed in destroying lives and breaking families. It’s simple, you can’t rehabilitate the dead and two wrongs never made a right
We don’t have the head to merely separate our ears but the gray matter is what makes us different from the inhabitants of the jungle. Unprofessional bravado and chest thumbing from the police makes them no different from the insensitive thugs they hunt. Their beastly actions on TV during prime time news makes one wonder whether any of our kids can contemplate ever being a policeman unless they want to play uninteresting inferior versions of Hollywood thrillers. The police commissioner had done well by rallying Kenyans against the most wanted criminals. But the uncivilized ending eroded the goodwill. Even Lucifer on his knees does not deserve a bullet in his head unless we are comfortable with the nasty scenes of innocent kids watching live movies on the streets and in the estates.
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the value of life or detest destruction of any of its components . Every Kenyan must teach, understand, respect and practice the cardinal values that define as a society lest history judges us harshly for having laid foundation for the culture to the future generation. Unless we do this and fast, then we are inadvertently busy cutting deals with the devil to undermine God’s singular gift to humankind, life.
Our values as a society have been shaken to the core and we must promptly re-evaluate the relevance of our present laws, morals and living philosophy. The spate of wanton destruction of lives is the epitome of our callousness in how cheap a price we attach to life. It’s no rocket science to see the need to going back to the basics of civilized living. Interest groups will predictably and shamelessly bandy high-sounding clichés to explain our predicament. Nothing could be further from the truth, behind their lofty slogans lurks unadulterated selfishness principally tailored to protect their turf to remain relevant for donor funding. Granted, they shout out very valid and sound arguments albeit subjective.
Our country is on fire as a result of living in a serial state of denial for perishable political goals. The obscene gap between the haves and the have-nots has erased any trace of pretence in living the cherished communal lives as Africans. We must see the forest for the trees and stop blaming our shadows and enemies from without fro our own shortsightedness. A total and honest rehabilitation of our egos and values is not negotiable.
Life must be respected for the sacred entity it is and nobody has any authority of play God in taking it away, ex-judicial or otherwise. When the police shoot suspects in cold blood they are simply committing murder which is inexcusable and unforgivable. The law is not naive to grant them the power to immobilize and interrogate such suspects. By killing them, the law enforces are unwittingly killing the evidence and intelligence they desperately need to plan and maintain the country’s security. Unless the police force are inviting us to entertain the rumour that they are merely eliminating their accomplices in crime for fear of being exposed.
Resorting to archaic Hammurabi’s law of an eye for an eye is cheap philosophy that only succeeds in making the whole world blind. Extra-judicial deaths are simplistic and defeat both our legal and moral fibres. Its incumbent upon all of us have an honest re-examinations of ourselves and engage meaningful intellectual discourses devoid of cheap emotions which will only succeed in destroying lives and breaking families. It’s simple, you can’t rehabilitate the dead and two wrongs never made a right
We don’t have the head to merely separate our ears but the gray matter is what makes us different from the inhabitants of the jungle. Unprofessional bravado and chest thumbing from the police makes them no different from the insensitive thugs they hunt. Their beastly actions on TV during prime time news makes one wonder whether any of our kids can contemplate ever being a policeman unless they want to play uninteresting inferior versions of Hollywood thrillers. The police commissioner had done well by rallying Kenyans against the most wanted criminals. But the uncivilized ending eroded the goodwill. Even Lucifer on his knees does not deserve a bullet in his head unless we are comfortable with the nasty scenes of innocent kids watching live movies on the streets and in the estates.
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the value of life or detest destruction of any of its components . Every Kenyan must teach, understand, respect and practice the cardinal values that define as a society lest history judges us harshly for having laid foundation for the culture to the future generation. Unless we do this and fast, then we are inadvertently busy cutting deals with the devil to undermine God’s singular gift to humankind, life.
Tuesday 13 February 2007
All Heat No Light
It is the season again of grand promises and talk that are never meant to be respected. Kenyans should brace themselves for more free-flowing advice and messages of intent from aspiring politicians. The truth is that it's another cog in the vicious circle wheel of deceit that we will never come out of.
Kenyans politicians have perfected the art of shameless cheating. Add to this mix our uncritical approach to electing leaders provided they speak out mother tongue and all you get is an exotic recipe for disastrous leadership. We need not blame our politicians for any wrong since without our votes they won't be there. If anything we get the leaders we deserve.
Our greed and thirst to succeed wealthwise at any cost has inadvertently blinded us to observing any tenet of morality. With the hefty salaries for MPs, our parliament has become the most sort after address for job seekers who mostly happen to be retirees or crooks or both. They are ready to invest their ill-gotten wealth to grease our hand with their eyes singularly trained on the handsome tax-free packages.
Look around you and all you see is plenty of motions without movement. Roads are being demolished to give an impression of pending works. Your guess is as good as mine, all these are aimed at hoodwinking us into believing that something is being done. However, once we do that the politicians will be all smiles to bunge laughing at our folly.
My take is to trust nobody pretending to be having the answers to all our problems without telling us what he has done in his or her small way to make our country different. Our generation stand the risk of stagnating eternal and being held hostage by the dinosaurs who have rapped our motherland. As we worship money, the fallacy of wealth at whatever cost will definitely come to haunt us forever. We must rise above pettiness and resist being misused. Let us not be deluded any more that we are the leaders of tomorrow. The future is here and now and we must seize it to shame the scoundrels masquerading as our saviours.
Kenyans politicians have perfected the art of shameless cheating. Add to this mix our uncritical approach to electing leaders provided they speak out mother tongue and all you get is an exotic recipe for disastrous leadership. We need not blame our politicians for any wrong since without our votes they won't be there. If anything we get the leaders we deserve.
Our greed and thirst to succeed wealthwise at any cost has inadvertently blinded us to observing any tenet of morality. With the hefty salaries for MPs, our parliament has become the most sort after address for job seekers who mostly happen to be retirees or crooks or both. They are ready to invest their ill-gotten wealth to grease our hand with their eyes singularly trained on the handsome tax-free packages.
Look around you and all you see is plenty of motions without movement. Roads are being demolished to give an impression of pending works. Your guess is as good as mine, all these are aimed at hoodwinking us into believing that something is being done. However, once we do that the politicians will be all smiles to bunge laughing at our folly.
My take is to trust nobody pretending to be having the answers to all our problems without telling us what he has done in his or her small way to make our country different. Our generation stand the risk of stagnating eternal and being held hostage by the dinosaurs who have rapped our motherland. As we worship money, the fallacy of wealth at whatever cost will definitely come to haunt us forever. We must rise above pettiness and resist being misused. Let us not be deluded any more that we are the leaders of tomorrow. The future is here and now and we must seize it to shame the scoundrels masquerading as our saviours.
Tuesday 6 February 2007
Supping With the Devil
Success at any cost seems to be the plastic guiding light in our lives as Kenyans albeit latently. Don't get me wrong for painting the virtues of success in bad light. But what I mean here is success that is exclusively rolled into the depth of your pockets.
We have unwittingly placed price tags on virtually everything upto and including our morals as a nation. The hitherto revered title Mzee which conveyed honour and respect is nowadays bandied with abandon to anybody who can doll out handouts to sycophants. what is more, these so-called tycoons end up misconstruing their priced fame into popularity contests with eyes shamelessly trained on political price. Do I need to belabour the awful quality of leaders we have? Well, you guess is as good as mine.
Money has turned into a god that controls every facet of our lives and its scent makes us go gaga with no element of sophistication. My heart bleeds for the young generation of Kenyans who will refuse to take up their university places because they have been admitted to study BA arguing that such courses have no future (read money) for them. We couldn't be more naive and short-sighted.
To equate education to wealth is to cuddle inverted priorities. It is comparison based on the wrong premises to say the least and flawed at worst. One leads to the other and the converse is not true. Ask Njenga Karume what his wish is to have and money would not be one of them. He could be able to pay all Kenya civil servants for a whole year frok his pocket but he can't buy the cognitive powers that are only imparted in formal classroom.
True, you don't need a degree to qualify as an intelligent and wise Kenyan by village standards. But come to think of it folks, the psychomotor and affective skills have their own limitations in the absence of their cognitive cousin. Make no mistake, I am not demonising wealth per se. But the truth remains that the rich fools have succeeded in trashing the quality of what lies in between our ears by brainwashing to only value what they have, mourn what we lack and devalue and despise what we possess. Tell me dear Kenyans, who is the smarter one now?
We are busy hawking our treasured certificates in the market for the highest bidder to sample and shit on. We even shamelessly call some village semi-illiterate professor of politics just because they can shrewdly play us against each other using ill-gotten wealth for their selfish survival. If only we could take a minute to reminice and reflect on what it takes to earn a degree leave alone obtaing a PhD before you scale the academic ladder to be a professor! It amounts to a disgraceful insult to our collective intelligence as Kenyans in general and to the diligent dons in particular. No wonder the latter are left envying the space occupied by sardines in a tin as they squeeze themselves in metal contraptions going by the name of matatus.
We must return to and appreciate the basics of life and more importantly respect the value of education for what it is. Education must not be left at the mercy of political sharks and turncoats. It must be left to professions because it remain the singular known foundation of any success and development. Until that is done, we are inadvertently ruining our lives and motherland in advance and that is no worse a sin than supping with the devil.
Taabu
We have unwittingly placed price tags on virtually everything upto and including our morals as a nation. The hitherto revered title Mzee which conveyed honour and respect is nowadays bandied with abandon to anybody who can doll out handouts to sycophants. what is more, these so-called tycoons end up misconstruing their priced fame into popularity contests with eyes shamelessly trained on political price. Do I need to belabour the awful quality of leaders we have? Well, you guess is as good as mine.
Money has turned into a god that controls every facet of our lives and its scent makes us go gaga with no element of sophistication. My heart bleeds for the young generation of Kenyans who will refuse to take up their university places because they have been admitted to study BA arguing that such courses have no future (read money) for them. We couldn't be more naive and short-sighted.
To equate education to wealth is to cuddle inverted priorities. It is comparison based on the wrong premises to say the least and flawed at worst. One leads to the other and the converse is not true. Ask Njenga Karume what his wish is to have and money would not be one of them. He could be able to pay all Kenya civil servants for a whole year frok his pocket but he can't buy the cognitive powers that are only imparted in formal classroom.
True, you don't need a degree to qualify as an intelligent and wise Kenyan by village standards. But come to think of it folks, the psychomotor and affective skills have their own limitations in the absence of their cognitive cousin. Make no mistake, I am not demonising wealth per se. But the truth remains that the rich fools have succeeded in trashing the quality of what lies in between our ears by brainwashing to only value what they have, mourn what we lack and devalue and despise what we possess. Tell me dear Kenyans, who is the smarter one now?
We are busy hawking our treasured certificates in the market for the highest bidder to sample and shit on. We even shamelessly call some village semi-illiterate professor of politics just because they can shrewdly play us against each other using ill-gotten wealth for their selfish survival. If only we could take a minute to reminice and reflect on what it takes to earn a degree leave alone obtaing a PhD before you scale the academic ladder to be a professor! It amounts to a disgraceful insult to our collective intelligence as Kenyans in general and to the diligent dons in particular. No wonder the latter are left envying the space occupied by sardines in a tin as they squeeze themselves in metal contraptions going by the name of matatus.
We must return to and appreciate the basics of life and more importantly respect the value of education for what it is. Education must not be left at the mercy of political sharks and turncoats. It must be left to professions because it remain the singular known foundation of any success and development. Until that is done, we are inadvertently ruining our lives and motherland in advance and that is no worse a sin than supping with the devil.
Taabu
Saturday 3 February 2007
Our Generation are Tribeless
Mention Maina Kiai, John Githogo, Mwalimu Mati and what strikes your conscience is integrity and steadfastness. But what do Kenyans have for these gallant sons of ours? Well, as Githongo would say, most fools would think he is a sell out betraying his own tribesmen. But to these three people their tribal identity ends at their names period.
Unlike most educated Kenyans who will chase leather even at the expense of kissing hell they don't give a hoot. Time has come for Kenyans to get the leaders we deserve. We cannot afford to be slaves to our present crop of selfish and corrupt politicians who we vote year in year out because they will shamelessly grease our palms with ill gotten wealth.
Time is now and we have the ultimate weapon, vote. We must urge and push the true sons and daughters of Kenya to come out, role their sleeves and dirty their hand in politics because as Kwame Nkurumah said eons ago 'seek ye political kingdom and the rest shall follow'. To argue otherwise is the height of political and practical naivety. In Africa politics greases every cog in our lives and we must put a stop to the dinosaurs we have for leaders.
We can't afford to waste this election year lest we end up entertaining the resultant stinking stench for the next five years. I urge every Kenyan proud of his or her motherland, which I don't doubt you all are, to rise about our cheap ethnic roots and make out country and a shining example in the continent and the while wide world. Please, fellow Kenyans rise up and put your country on the global map for all the right reasons. I promise to do my part please join me, won't you?
Taabu
Unlike most educated Kenyans who will chase leather even at the expense of kissing hell they don't give a hoot. Time has come for Kenyans to get the leaders we deserve. We cannot afford to be slaves to our present crop of selfish and corrupt politicians who we vote year in year out because they will shamelessly grease our palms with ill gotten wealth.
Time is now and we have the ultimate weapon, vote. We must urge and push the true sons and daughters of Kenya to come out, role their sleeves and dirty their hand in politics because as Kwame Nkurumah said eons ago 'seek ye political kingdom and the rest shall follow'. To argue otherwise is the height of political and practical naivety. In Africa politics greases every cog in our lives and we must put a stop to the dinosaurs we have for leaders.
We can't afford to waste this election year lest we end up entertaining the resultant stinking stench for the next five years. I urge every Kenyan proud of his or her motherland, which I don't doubt you all are, to rise about our cheap ethnic roots and make out country and a shining example in the continent and the while wide world. Please, fellow Kenyans rise up and put your country on the global map for all the right reasons. I promise to do my part please join me, won't you?
Taabu
Friday 2 February 2007
Stop Digging, We are in Deep Hole
Kenya, mama Kenya, are we a cursed lot? The new millennium seemed to have smiled on us only to realize six years down the road that all our hopes were anchored on quick sand. Our country of enormous potential has become a captive of selfish politicians masquerading as leaders. Tribalism has become our bane and if your name or accent doesn't betray your ethnic roots, one is prompted to enquire your dad or grandfather's home town for a clue of your ethnicity.
Our so-called leaders are a shameless lot to say the least. Strictly speaking they have no trace of leadership hosted in their sadistic shells for human beings. Their sense of memory is totally impaired and what they claim to do in our interest amounts to nothing but abusing our collective intelligence as Kenyans. Look around you and show me one honest Kenyan politician and I will bequeath you all my earthly possessions. This is no empty rhetoric nor just a hollow challenge but I am sure of retaining my meagre belongings at the end of the bet.
Ours is the only country ruled by dinosaurs who pretend to know everything while foolishly priding themselves in being graduates of Makerere. Granted, Makerere used to be the regional Harvard-equivalent. But to stick you head in the 21 century and shamelessly shape our national destiny on academic models of yester-millennium, is not only naive but the height of intellectual dishonesty at best and plain stupidity at worse.
We are all slaves to thieves of the last generation who control every aspect of our lives. Anytime they pretend to be making things move, they only succeed in sending smokescreens to maintain the status quo. We need and must have a rejuvenation and redefinition of our nationhood. The last 40 years is wasted and the less we mourn about it the better. We must have our eyes and energies singularly trained on the price of the wider picture that is the forest and stop entertaining the plastic view of the detracting trees. Need I say more? I bet not lest I spoil the broth, arise Kenya, arise.
Taabu
Our so-called leaders are a shameless lot to say the least. Strictly speaking they have no trace of leadership hosted in their sadistic shells for human beings. Their sense of memory is totally impaired and what they claim to do in our interest amounts to nothing but abusing our collective intelligence as Kenyans. Look around you and show me one honest Kenyan politician and I will bequeath you all my earthly possessions. This is no empty rhetoric nor just a hollow challenge but I am sure of retaining my meagre belongings at the end of the bet.
Ours is the only country ruled by dinosaurs who pretend to know everything while foolishly priding themselves in being graduates of Makerere. Granted, Makerere used to be the regional Harvard-equivalent. But to stick you head in the 21 century and shamelessly shape our national destiny on academic models of yester-millennium, is not only naive but the height of intellectual dishonesty at best and plain stupidity at worse.
We are all slaves to thieves of the last generation who control every aspect of our lives. Anytime they pretend to be making things move, they only succeed in sending smokescreens to maintain the status quo. We need and must have a rejuvenation and redefinition of our nationhood. The last 40 years is wasted and the less we mourn about it the better. We must have our eyes and energies singularly trained on the price of the wider picture that is the forest and stop entertaining the plastic view of the detracting trees. Need I say more? I bet not lest I spoil the broth, arise Kenya, arise.
Taabu
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