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15:03
From: Black Looks
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18 men have arrested in Bauchi State, northern Nigeria, on charges of sodomy. If they are found guilty the punishment is death. Even though previous guilty verdicts for sexual offences have not resulted in the death sentence, there is always a first time. As the LGBTI community in [...]
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14:12
From: REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
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Patrick Kariuki Muiruri is known for many things, the fiery Gatundu North legislator has been implicated in tea and coffee wars in his area, does not shy away from confrontations and most of all, “tells things as they are.” So, when PK said how poor journalists are, and that they survive on hand outs, he found some support from some parliamentary reporters. “It’s the truth and people don’t like admitting the reality, for once, I support PK,” said one parliamentary reporter. I decided to engage the journalist because it is the only way to know the way they feel. After all, it can be assumed PK was making reference to journalists based on his experience with them. Journalists in Kenya are heavily vilified for being lazy, poorly read and surviving on hand outs. Yes! It is true! Sample this, a correspondent from the Nation or Standard earns a retainer of shs 15,000 and the rest is calculated on contributions. The possibility of making shs 30,000 a month is tough for some. What correspondents earn in these two papers is what most staffers earn at the People daily and Kenya Times that is- shs 30,000. This means that if the journalist has a family, they can only live in Kayole, Mathare North and Kawangware. There is nothing wrong in staying in these areas but bear in mind that the same criminals you expect the journalists to write about rule these areas. So, there sets in greed, we all want to live beyond our means. But who is to blame, the journalists or the media owners who pay poorly? The other reason is that journalists mix with the movers and shakers of the economy, some of the, can only buy beer, not even food. The politicians and businessmen exploit the poverty loophole to use the journalists in the dirty games. Journalists are also guilty of agreeing to be used. For instance, journalists in rural areas, they have no official vehicles, have to use politicians’ cars to the function. If not the politicians’ cars, they use the DC or DO’s car. How do you expect a journalist who was given a ride from Mathioya to somewhere interior to report negative issues about the people giving a ride? There was this story of how some coast legislator kicked out a journalist from his vehicle because he had dared to contradict him. Unfortunately the journalist was left in the middle of the forest. So yes, journalists may be a shame, but is that not the story of our society? That is why it borders on immorality for a Kenyan journalist based abroad to hold themselves in their high horses and castigate Kenyan journalism (one actually did, and his comment was ill informed.) The conditions are different, they are tough, just like that civil servant has to withstand staying in Ruai yet expected to report to work at 8 am, and journalists too have their excesses and vices. By the way, you will be shocked that when it comes to handouts, the journalists in Nation and Standard get higher share because the newspapers are highly read. The other journalists get lesser handouts. We can lie to each other about journalism and single it out as the most corrupt but it may be a reflection of corruption in society. And as such there are very honest journalists who I know will not take your handout, it doesn’t matter the source.
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13:40
From: You Missed This
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archiveThere is something very important that I would like to clarify. Firstly, to make my point clearer, I will be forced to reveal one of my secret weapons. Although, as I have said here very often in the past, Mrs Kumekucha hates politics with a capital "H", I usually use her to gauge the response of the Kikuyu community to various hot political issues. And it has proved to be very accurate because true enough her exact honest reaction is exactly what I will end up encountering here in this blog and elsewhere from other members of the community. Today I was very nice to her and did a few things that I knew usually make her happy and put her in a good mood (I really love the woman to bits, even after 20 plus years). Then I presented to her the long revealing letter from Tom Mboya's son (published here) about his father's killers. Her first response surprised me; "Is this a strategy to help... Read more
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13:38
From: You Missed This
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archiveI must admit that I went through the same path of discovery that Lucas went through discovering about this great man, Joseph Odhiambo Thomas Mboya. I was a five years 6 months and 6 days old youngster living in Kakamega when he was gunned down. My father was at the Kisumu show when news of Mboya's shooting in Nairobi came through and a policeman colleague who happened to be a Luo cruelly quipped to him; "That was long overdue." Meaning that he had been a hunted man for a long time. Today I launch a campaign to generate support from Kenyans to demand that the government opens an investigation into the manner in which the issue of Tom Mboya's murder was handled and to reveal to Kenyans the identity of "the big man" mentioned in the trial of Nahashon Njenga, the man said to have pulled the trigger on the gun that felled Mboya. The president himself knows a lot because although... Read more
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13:36
From: You Missed This
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archiveThe amazingly greedy and corrupt 9th parliament has given Kenyan voters yet another reason to vote it out en masse. It emerges that the parliamentarians were already drawing on allowances that had not yet been passed in the house. Read the details of this hard-to-believe but true tale now!Despite all the explanations we are getting from people like Finance Minister Amos Kimunya (hardly a neutral judge in this issue because he is amongst those who have enjoyed the illegal perks) there is no other word to describe what our legislators have been doing other than "theft." And on a grand scale. Stealing is taking that which does not belong to you. And even when thieves return what the have stolen, they are still called thieves. All this time, not a single MP stood up and blew the whistle on what was happening. Instead they all kept right on drawing and enjoying the money that was not theirs. I appeal to all Kenyans of good will that we use our voters cards to send the thieves home. No wonder they were all so keen on passing the media bill, they obviously have plenty to hide and what we know is just a tip of the iceberg. Read more
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13:35
From: You Missed This
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archiveMost folks are harassed for time and that is why people usually quickly skim through articles rather than read them. This habit is rampant online and that is why so many readers of this house never were angry at the controversial tongue-in-the-cheek post in this blog appealing for former cabinet minister incharge of internal security Chris Murungaru to be re-instated to the cabinet. It is also the same reason why many readers seem to think that I have accussed Kalmari of being the porn poster who has been a pest in this blog I DID NOT say anything of the sort. All I did was ask him to stop harassing our dear friend, Sue. Twice Kalamari has made comments that cannot be judged to be... Read more
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13:34
From: You Missed This
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archiveIn yet another detailed letter written to the Attorney General Amos Wako on 12th May 2006, which is in my possession a former judge lists various concerns over the grabbing of the land within the world famous Masai Mara game reserve. The judge goes on to mention the names of persons close to the family of President Kibaki whom attempts have been made to co-opt in the development of the land in a clever strategy by the alleged land grabber to ensure that he is untouchable and that he has some "insurance" against losing his grabbed "investment". Shockingly at one point in the letter the judge says, "I had mentioned that people like Mr. David Kibaki, My Jimmy Michuki and Mr Stanley Murage have been... Read more
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13:32
From: You Missed This
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archiveHelping To Maliza Your Stress Kenyans are going through some very hard times and so Kumekucha, the most read Kenyan political and news blog, has come up with an ingenious way to maliza stress for you. We've launched the exciting new Kumekucha's Badilisha Market, in conjunction with the Kenya Online Directory whose chief objective is to help maliza your stress by enabling you to easily acquire what you don't have without parting with any cash. You don't need cash to get what you want. Has it crossed your mind that you have something that you don't need which you can easily exchange for something you want? Or that you can even exchange your skills and services for whatever it is you want? Barter conserves cash and can give you what you want at a great discount and with no cash!!. Even people in business going through a lean period can indulge in... Read more
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13:07
From: Black Looks
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* Jessica Stern of the “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program” writes an open letter to President Thabo Mbeki on “Homophobic Violence” in South Africa
In recognition of National Women’s Day, we urge you to ensure that the criminal justice system is capable of responding sensitively, effectively, and promptly to incidents of sexual and hate-based [...]
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12:50
From: Walk of Kings:
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 " Some of Us are called by destiny ,We can't run or hide from it .(even though we have tried)All we can do now is embrace it " Joe NM Romans 8:28-30 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. Note:Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future.
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8:04
From: For Love and Money
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 Name: Morani Gender: Male Weight: 2,500 kilograms Age: 32 years Place of Birth: Amboseli National Park Residence: Ol Pejeta Conservancy Favorite snack; Maize/corn seeds in the afternoon Dislikes: Being sat/leaned on Likes; Being photographed with tourists Up-keep: $7,000 per year (yikes!) Other features: Poor eye site and pea sized brain Warning: Morani is a tame black Rhino. However, all animals may be unpredictable. You approach Morani at your own risk and Ol Pejeta Conservancy will accept no liability for any accident or injury that occurs as a result.
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7:18
From: stranded in me
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she's my beautiful 16 year old sister now deceased. 9 years ago just before midnight chuhi as we called her woke me up complaining of nausea, after alot of pestering i woke up, she was throwing up and being the genius i am i gave her milk coz she had ulcers. when i saw her condition was getting worse i ran to the neighbors for assistance we took her to hospital where the doctor refused to see her until i paid a consultation fee which i did, when finally he agreed to see her. he asked me "unaniitia nini hii ni maiti" "what are you calling me for this is a corpse!! util recently i hated doctors and out of principal i'll never date those heartless monsters although i know not all of them are. thats how one of the most friendly, vibrant, sometimes extremely annoying ever smiling, with a deep throaty laugh and beloved sister left this world. to date i haven't come to terms with the fact that ill never see her again. its a terrible way to live, the pain is as present now as it was then. God rest her soul. mom says i should let her go so she can rest in peace. i try, maybe i should try harder. its hard to let go of unconditional love. i know it was God's will but it still hurts like hell. she would always try to say hello in a sweet girlish voice but coz she had a husky voice, she'd never complete the hello. she unlike all of us knew how to spend wisely even at her young age, at 16 she was having sex and had a long term boyfriend, she was in 2nd form and an average student, she loved designing clothes from an early age, we'd always talk about how she'd be making all my clothes. i was always over protective of her. one day we were in town for a day out she was pressed to go to the toilet and i kept telling her to hold it until she pissed on herself..chuhi please forgive me for that. we both loved madonna and we'd play and dance to her music all the time. i miss her dearly, i love you kid sis... 
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7:00
From: stranded in me
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i'm still coming to terms with the fact that to love and be loved you have to accommodate the other person. its not enough to feel warm inside, genuinely happy etc. this has been a real challenge as im a super selfish person. for instance i'll be content with my mate making all the sacrifices coz after i love you isnt that enough? no its not. i have to make sacrifices too to accommodate them. this morning he wanted bread but i didnt feel like going to the shop coz i was feeling it will be like im at his beck and call/ submitting to his desires??(i dont know where that feeling came from but it did!!) but then he said something that got me to realize how trivial i was being- he does it too!! its not always me who does. though this is not a one-sided issue sometimes i see in his reaction that he's feeling that way.. its a rewarding thing to love n be loved but it has its moments of unbearable pain. for instance i enjoy flirting for flirting sake, after doing it , it dawns on me how disrespectful i was being and the amount of pain i cause him. now i've made a vow to not flirt coz its hurting the relationship which is a terrible thing as i hold that relationship highly and would hate to jeopardize it. when im angry i shut down i have all these thoughts running through my head but i dont voice them coz im like he doesnt give a damn! yet i know he listens to me... yes y'all a man who listens!! i truly have found a gem. sometimes im plain scared/paranoid like this time he'll leave me and i wont blame him coz i had my hands wrapped around some idiot who's name/face i cant remember to save my life and it wasnt that i wanted them its just that i wasnt thinking!! lets all toast to the ones we love!!!
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6:52
From: stranded in me
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today is a good day for love... my boyfie's sis is getting married! i've been invited to the wedding dinner and after party which im rather looking forward to although i don't know what to wear. i must say with my cynicism where marriage is concerned im pleasantly surprised at the amount of pleasure this event is bringing. it might have something to do with the last wedding i went to. my cousin got married in june and that wedding was fantastic. the grooms side of the family which i belong to was there in large numbers and we went on to party like only we know how to. i must say the whole family except one aunt who's a closet drinker enjoys a glass of wine which we consumed in large quantities and danced till our feet hurt and went on to dance some more. tonight im looking forward to this. i can laugh without a care as my braces are out!!
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4:42
From: assidous
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A Thought provoking poem.
I Wanna Be Yours
I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
Breathing in your dust,
I wanna be your Ford Cortina
I will never rust,
If you like your coffee hot
Let me be your coffee pot,
You call the shots,
I wanna be yours.
I wanna be your raincoat
For those frequent rainy days,
I wanna be your dreamboat
When you want to sail away,
Let me be your teddy bear
Take me with you anywhere,
I don't care
I wanna be yours.
I wanna be your electric meter
I will not run out,
I wanna be the electric heater
You'll get cold without,
I wanna be your setting lotion
Hold your hair in deep devotion,
Deep as the deep Atlantic ocean
that's how deep is my devotion.
~ John Cooper Clarke
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2:52
From: You Missed This
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Kumekucha Stop Press: Breaking News
One of Tom Mboya’s surviving sons has broken his many years of silence this morning and released a statement that will no doubt send shock waves across the country and beyond.
Ironically his father was slain at the age of 39 and it is at that age that Lucas Mboya has broken his long silence to demand justice for the heinous assassination of his father.
Here is his letter to Kumekucha followed by the statement in full in the next post;
Jambo.
My name is Lucas Mboya.
I have been visiting this blog since i came across it a year or so ago while
searching some documents on my father. I am impressed with the quality of the
dialogue and it would appear that the people who frequent it are well informed and
opinionated. I dont agree with all I find but that’s healthy.
Nevertheless I have not come across anyone who has such determination to keep in esteem the name of my father, Tom Mboya. As such I am indebted. That will not make me agree with your principles and or ideas but certainly I take seriously your position and that of your regular commentators.
I have attached a letter from myself on circumstances that I believe led to the death of My father. This has left me angry, frustrated and bitter. It would appear that successive Governments in Kenya are either too incompetent, ignorant, unwilling or afraid of doing 'justice' to the murder of Tom Mboya. The trial that was should go down in history as a sham. A complete farce of judicial procedure.
But that unfortunately is what Kenyans have come to expect from their judiciary.
I commiserate with the family of the late Pinto, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko and many others where state complicity was obvious in their deaths yet judicial proceedings as usual were inadequate.
I am a very very very angry man.
Regards Lucas Mboya
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2:44
From: You Missed This
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Kumekucha STOP PRESS: BREAKING NEWS Whoever killed Mboya made one mistake. They should have killed me too because If I can expose them I will, be they dead or alive. And I do believe that the real architect of Mboyas’ murder is alive and well.
My name is Lucas Mboya. I am 39 years old. My father, the late, great, Thomas Joseph Mboya, died violently at 39 years old. My late brother Peter Mboya, died violently at the age of 39 years old. (10 months apart). If there is some jinx that prevents a Mboya man from passing 40 years old. Let me take this opportunity to get a load off my chest.
When my late father died I was I had been on God’s good earth for 21 months.
As I grew up I had to grope my way around trying to find out who my father was and why he had been killed. Answers I got ranged from ‘he was a criminal and CIA agent’, to ‘he was next in line for the Presidency’, which I do now believe was the case.
What I would like to do now is explore the real reason why Tom Mboya was killed and by whom. I will for legal reasons make many references to a book, ‘Tom Mboya, The Man Kenya Wanted to Forget”, David Goldsworthy.
My goal is to first get Kenyans to understand that I believe my fathers’ death was the point in Kenyas’ history that the two most influential tribes parted, both publicly and permanently and this acrimony has been the root cause of most of the political problems Kenya has had to date. Additionally, I do believe that without a genuine ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ in place Kenyans will never breach the tribalism gap that has been entrenched in our psyche.
Its’ no secret that Kenya politics is not about policies, but about tribes and communities. As a result rampant corruption abounds. It is simply not possible to deal with corruption without dealing first with tribalism. Tribalism feeds corruption.
Lets’ also understand that appreciation of ones tribe and customs is right and important. What is wrong is assuming that because ones tribe is different, that therefore ones tribe or community is better, or has rights that others should not enjoy. The saying from “animal farm’, ‘ all animals are equal but some are more equal than others’ comes to mind.
I also intend to make a formal request to the Kenya Government and the Chief Justice in particular to give me and make public the transcripts of the trial of one, Nahashon Njenga who was accused and sentenced to death for the murder of Tom Mboya. This I believe is my God given right. I am Mboya’s his son and I want to know what happened and if I feel justice was not done, then I have the right to pursue whatever justice I can get in any manner that I can get it under Kenyan and International Law.
Whoever killed Mboya made one mistake. They should have killed me too because If I can expose them I will, be they dead or alive. And I do believe that the real architect of Mboyas’ murder is alive and well. By the time you finish reading this piece I am sure that not only will you understand who I am talking about but you will be able to join the dots and see why I believe this man (and others) were responsible.
In Goldworthy’s book, his chapter on ‘The Politics of Survival’ He says:
‘At any rate, by late 1967 the new factional lines were clearly visible: so much so that talk of ‘Kanu’ A and ‘Kanu B’ was becoming quite common. On one side ‘Kanu A’ was the formidable coalition which we have referred to so far as the inner group, but which was variously know as the ‘Kikuyu group’, the ‘Gatundu group’, the ‘Court’: Mungai, Njonjo and Koinange, all very close to the President and with them Moi (vice president since early1967 in succession to Murumbi) and somewhat less powerful Kukuyu such as Gichuru, Kiano and Kibaki (though on issues of economic policy Kibaki and others usually stood with Mboya)…………………………….On the other side was Mboya. He too had his multi tribal supporting group which at ministerial level included Ngala (Giriama), Ayodo (Luo), Sagini (Kisii), Otiende (luyha), Nyagah (Embu) and Eliud Mwendwa (Kamba). In general he had the backing of the Kanu Luo, the anti-Ngei Kamba, the pro Ngala Coastals, and MP’s from the North East. All told there were perhaps 60 of the 158 Members. A third group, including at ministerial level Argwings Kodhek and Angaine was generally seen as neutral……….
“The Gatundu group’s jealousy and fear of Mboya emerged with extreme clarity at a private meeting of the full Kanu parliamentary group in March 1968, the first time the issue was directly joined in such a large gathering and in the presence of Kenyatta himself. Subsequent leaked accounts had it that it was the Attorney General who led the attack…….Njonjo delivered an address full of aspersions against Mboya’s ambitions and his American connections. Mboya argued back strongly. Then there was a crucial intervention on Mboya’s side by Bruce McKenzie – a man uniquely placed in more ways than one, not one of the Kikuyu group but certainly enjoying its confidence. He reminded Kenyatta of the story of the monarch ‘whose kingdom prospered while his able son did everything but which fell into disarray after the king disposed of him when jealous courtiers spread lies about him and his ambitions. In this case Mzee listened and the attack failed.’
It is clear from this incident that there was a cabal in Government that were determined to see Mboya out at any cost, led by Njonjo.
The Government at this stage (1967) set up a committee with Kenyatta’s approval to propose a succession formula to replace the existing one under which if the President died in office the Assembly would elect a successor for the balance of his term (this formula had ironically been drafted by Mboya and Njonjo in 1964).
According to Goldsworthy, the Gatundu group now feared that ‘if Mboya were given an opening under ….(these) arrangements he could mesmerize parliament and ensure his own election’.
He continues ‘Accordingly in March the Government introduced a constitutional amendment bill providing that if the President died, the vice President would automatically succeed him for the rest of his term.. Mboya’s position was saved, however by the genuine anger and resentment of almost all of the back-bench MP’s at this further erosion of parliamentary power. Confronted by their flat refusal to pass the bill, the government – meaning essentially the Gatundu group – presented in April a revised version under which the vice president would succeed for six months after which there would be a national election.
‘In May, while this was being debated Kenyatta suffered a mild stroke. Thereupon Njonjo and Moi, without consulting Cabinet hurriedly put up a third version whose effect was to retain the six-month interim president but to reduce his powers in certain areas. Obviously with this further watering-down they hoped for quick Parliamentary approval. Still concerned above all to block Mboya, they however added a completely new clause raising the minimum age of Presidential candidates from thirty five to forty (Mboya was thirty nine). And again here they miscalculated.
Ministers and MP’s of almost all persuasions were angry at so blatant a manouevre; and the Assembly refused once again to be taken for granted. Moreover Kenyatta soon recovered, and was incensed to find his close lieutenants apparently assuming him as good as dead and busily ensuring their own security. He intervened personally to withdraw the bill and in a turbulent cabinet meeting – in which, it is said, ‘Kenyatta told off Moi and Njonjo is scorching terms’ a fourth and final version was worked out’.
From these accounts and from discussions with friends and relatives who were mature at the time I have concluded that clearly, Njonjo, Koinange and Mungai were determined to get my father out of the way of Presidential succession and were becoming more and more desperate by the day especially as Kenyatta’s health faltered. Moi as Vice President was the pawn they would use to thus consolidate themselves in case of Kenyatta’s demise.
My father I believe was interested in power. But not for the reasons the others wanted the same.
Goldworthy says ‘Mboya felt, then, growing dissatisfactions with the international development effort, and more especially with the economic behaviour of the Western powers. To this should probably be added a disenchantment with the attitudes and behaviour of African ruling groups themselves. Mboya certainly felt that policy – making and administrative elites should be properly paid for their leadership role; but massive and rapid capital accumulation through the opportunistic fusing of political, administrative, and business roles was a different matter. It must have appeared to him as a perversion of the whole developmental purpose, and as something of a betrayal of the ideas he had tried to work out for Kenya and Africa. As Gertzel puts it,
“Mboya stood essentially for a rational economic development as opposed to any short-term policies that might benefit one group at the future expense of the country as a whole. He argued explicitly for broad limits of planning within which the politics of influence must be contained…. It implied a challenge to any one group that wanted immediate benefits at the cost of future development, and was likely in particular to arouse opposition from a burgeoning economic class” .
And again ‘Of course he was ambitious to get and keep power; and it was surely true that Mboya, perhaps more than any other member of the Governing elite, sought to use power in the social interest’.
To me it is clear that a rift had emerged between Mboya and the Gatundu group led by Njonjo based on their fear and jealousy of him and the fact that they saw power as a means to rapid financial accumulation which was against Mboya’s ideals. Such a person would not do as a President in their eyes.
Goldworthy says the final straw was when it became clear to the Gatundu group that without Mboya (Odinga was already out) they would not be able to keep anything in Nyanza (this despite the fact that they had already attacked and decimated all of Mboya’s power bases).
They clearly thought that Mboya was a walkover and their demonstration of power would bring him in line. They were gravely mistaken. Mboya’s attitude was one of indifference when it came to issues of Kanu’s political prowess in Nyanza. As such;
‘In May 1969 a by election was held in Gem constituency to elect a successor to Argwings Kodhek who had been killed in a car accident. Gem had been that rarity, a Kanu held seat in Central Nyanza. Mboya both as party Secretary-General and as the sole remaining Luo minister at the highest level was naturally expected to spearhead the Governments campaign on behalf of it’s Luo candidate. But this time he stayed right out of it, and it fell upon Mungai to lead Kanu’s campaign. Mboya’s unspoken message seemed to be: let them see what they can do without me.
Kanu’s candidate was crushed. In the view of some, this incident was for the inner group the final straw: the factor which hardened them against Mboya once and for all’.
In the final anaylsis. Mboya was murdered and he had seen it coming. But he was not prepared to compromise on his ideals.
Who had the motive to murder him?
Who had the capacity to do it?
Who had the ability to cover it up?
In mboya’s trial, my understanding is that the prosecution failed to follow up on an allegation made by a senior Police officer to the effect that when they were interrogating Njenga he had said, ‘why ask me, why not ask the big man’? the prosecution failed to follow this in the trial. In addition I understand that the family lawyer, one Fritz De Souza was not allowed to cross examine the suspect? Why would this be so? Does it make sense? unless there was a deliberate attempt by the powers at the time to avoid that question.
Yours sincerely
Lucas Mboya
Read the complete article at
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10:59