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23:39
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
A friend recently asked me why I write so little these days. I am sure he is reading this. The truth is that I have been affected like all Kenyans by the way our country has been fed to the dogs by a few greedy individuals. And because of my nature of work, every day I come across information that makes me sadder about this whole circus. I find that I have less and less to write about and more and more to worry about. The truth is that the country is on the verge of some very serious blood letting and yet the outcome of the current peace efforts is rather predictable. Both sides have a plan “B” and are just going through the motions for the sake of their images. Kibaki is going to hang onto power and he’s pretty confident because despite Uncle Sam pretending that they want justice, they have been in on it all along. Remember that they were the first to congratulate Kibaki. Read this explosive post about how the US has used Colin Bruce and why. Raila is already looking to other means to bring the Kibaki government to its’ knees like mass action and “other legal ways” he says. While we wish Kofi Anan the best of luck, methinks it will be a wasted effort (judging from the information on the table). So dig in brothers, there is no quick fix here. How will these men be remebered?
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23:29
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
The recent elections and post-election riots in Kenya bring forward great sorrow and also give one pause. Is this another situation where Africans tear each other apart, one may ask? How is it that people who have lived next to one another can go after each other in what appears to be the wink of an eye? As odd as it may sound, I found myself, in reading about the Kenya crisis, thinking about an episode from Rod Serling’s legendary TV series The Twilight Zone. The episode is called “The Monsters are due on Maple Street” and it involves a power failure in a neighborhood that cuts the community off from the outside world and is completely inexplicable. A particular home, however, seems to continue to receive power. The family in that home has kept very much to themselves and has not been interacting with their neighbors. Suspicions fly that this family is either somehow connected to the power failure or knows something that they are not telling. The neighborhood ultimately erupts into violence. At the end of the episode, it turns out that aliens were behind the power failure, testing whether they can get humans to destroy themselves. Read more from Bill Fletcher Jr. here.
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18:55
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
According to information posted on the BBC website a few moments ago, the crisis talks led by Ghanaian President John Kuffuor have broken down. For this to have happened even before Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga met face to face is bad enough and spells doom for the future of this country. This is also extremely terrible new for all Kenyans who cherish peace and justice and whose hopes were all on the success of Kuffuor as AU Chairman. Both President Kuffuor and US Assistant Secretary of State, Ms Jendayi Frazer, were yesterday forced to extend their visits by a day after initially having failed to reach an agreement with the two Kenyan political parties. Both of them had been locked in lengthy meetings attended by a hoard of diplomats plus about four former African Heads of State and these meetings were still on going at the time of posting this. Since yesterday, Kuffuor and his team had been shuttling between the Pentagon House (Upper Hill) and State House Nairobi talking closed door meetings with the ODM and PNU teams. Yesterday's sessions went into late night and begun again early morning today. Press reports from Kampala had initially indicated that Government side (PNU) and the ODM had "agreed on a power sharing deal and the possibility of creating the post of prime minister. They had, however, differed on whether the holder should be given executive or ceremonial roles." Interestingly, yesterday the US Department of State sent a protest note to the Government for the naming of half of the cabinet before talks with the Orange side could commence. All those appointed to cabinet were sworn-in at state house this morning. At the same time, the former African Heads of State, led by Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, have termed recent events "an injustice on the people of Kenya". It is not clear what is the status of the initiatives of another peacemaker - Archibishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa who has also met both parties. PS: It looks like President Kuffuor is leaving the country (the government has announced) but Kuffuor has also indicated that a group of eminent persons (sounds familiar) lead by former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan (also a Ghanaian) will be taking up from where he left. Kuffuor says both parties are willing to talk.
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15:52
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
Following the President’s appointment of Kalonzo Musyoka as his Vice President, I have come face to face with the frothing, seething hatred for the man in the ODM’s ranks. It is true that the ODM do not need a reason to hate anything and anyone, the mere fact that you are not one of them is enough reason for them to throw insults at you and do their very best to strike in you the liveliest terror. I have read such sentiments in Lucas Mboya's recent comment and have myself suffered these attacks. Perfidy by now, is my nom de plume. Still, I cannot understand why the ODM hate Kalonzo so much. The ODM's leader in particular seems to harbour a particularly nasty grudge against the Mwingi MP which true to the nature of the party and its hacks in the Kenyan media has in the last week been faithfully relayed to the Kenyan people. Read more from John Victor Ogot here.
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15:45
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
 GUEST POST Dear Mr. Kivuitu, We've never met. It's unlikely we ever will. But, like every other Kenyan, I will remember you for the rest of my life. The nausea I feel at the mention of your name may recede. The bitterness and grief will not. You had a mandate, Mr. Kivuitu. To deliver a free, fair and transparent election to the people of Kenya. You and your commission had 5 years to prepare. You had a tremendous pool of resources, skills, technical support, to draw on, including the experience and advice of your peers in the field - leaders and experts in governance, human rights, electoral process and constitutional law. You had the trust of 37 million Kenyans! We believed it was going to happen. On December 27th, a record 65% of registered Kenyan voters rose as early as 4am to vote. Stood in lines for up to 10 hours, in the sun, without food, drink, toilet facilities. As the results came in, we cheered when minister after powerful minister lost their parliamentary seats. When the voters of Rift Valley categorically rejected the three sons of Daniel Arap Moi, the despot who looted Kenya for 24 years. The country spoke through the ballot, en masse, against the mindblowing greed, corruption, human rights abuses, callous dismissal of Kenya's poor, that have characterised the Kibaki administration. But Kibaki wasn't going to go. When it became clear that you were announcing vote tallies that differed from those counted and confirmed in the constituencies, there was a sudden power blackout at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, where the returns were being announced. Hundreds of GSU (General Service Unit) paramilitaries suddenly marched in. Ejected all media except the government mouthpiece Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. Fifteen minutes later, we watched, dumbfounded, as you declared Kibaki the winner. 30 minutes later, we watched in sickened disbelief and outrage, as you handed the announcement to Kibaki on the lawns of State House. Where the Chief Justice, strangely enough, had already arrived. Was waiting, fully robed, to hurriedly swear him in. You betrayed us. Perhaps we'll never know when, or why, you made that decision. One rumor claims you were threatened with the execution of your entire family if you did not name Kibaki as presidential victor. When I heard it, I hoped it was true. Because at least then I could understand why you chose instead to plunge our country into civil war. I don't believe that rumor any more. Not since you appeared on TV, looking tormented, sounding confused, contradicting yourself. Saying, among other things, that you did not resign because you "did not want the country to call me a coward", but you "cannot state with certainty that Kibaki won the election". Following that with the baffling statement "there are those around him [Kibaki] who should never have been born." The camera operator had a sense of irony - the camera shifted several times to the scroll on your wall that read: "Help Me, Jesus." As the Kenya Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists rescinds the Jurist of the Year award they bestowed on you, as the Law Society of Kenya strikes you from their Roll of Honour and disbars you, I wonder what goes through your mind these days. Do you think of the 300,000 Kenyans displaced from their homes, their lives? Of the thousands still trapped in police stations, churches, any refuge they can find, across the country? Without food, water, toilets, blankets? Of fields ready for harvest, razed to the ground? Of granaries filled with rotting grain, because no one can get to them? Of the Nairobi slum residents of Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, ringed by GSU and police, denied exit, or access to medical treatment and emergency relief, for the crime of being poor in Kenya? I bet you haven't made it to Jamhuri Park yet. But I'm sure you saw the news pictures of poor Americans, packed like battery chickens into their stadiums, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Imagine that here in Nairobi, Mr. Kivuitu. 75,000 Kenyans, crammed into a giant makeshift refugee camp. Our own Hurricane Kivuitu-Kibaki, driven by fire, rather than floods. By organized militia rather than crumbling levees. But the same root cause - the deep, colossal contempt of a tiny ruling class for the rest of humanity. Over 60% of our internal refugees are children. The human collateral damage of your decision! And now, imagine grief, Mr. Kivuitu. Grief so fierce, so deep, it shreds the muscle fibres of your heart. Violation so terrible, it grinds down the very organs of your body, forces the remnants through your kidneys, for you to piss out in red water. Multiply that feeling by every Kenyan who has watched a loved one slashed to death in the past week. Every parent whose child lies, killed by police bullets, in the mortuaries of Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret. Everyone who has run sobbing from a burning home or church, hearing the screams of those left behind. Every woman, girl, gang-raped. Do you sleep well these days, Mr. Kivuitu? I don't. I have nightmares. I wake with my heart pounding, slow tears trickling from the corners of my eyes, random phrases running through my head: Remember how we felt in 2002? It's all gone. (Muthoni Wanyeki, ED of Kenya Human Rights Commission, on the night of December 30th, 2007, after Kibaki was illegally sworn in as president). There is a crime here that goes beyond recrimination. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise. (John Steinbeck, American writer, on the betrayal of internally displaced Americans, in The Grapes of Wrath) Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi....kila siku tuwe na shukrani ("Justice be our shield and defender....every day filled with thanksgiving" (Lines from Kenya's national anthem) I soothe myself back to patchy sleep with my mantra in these terrible days, as our country burns and disintegrates around us: Courage. Courage comes. Courage comes from cultivating. Courage comes from cultivating the habit. Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing. Courage comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions. (Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner). I wake with a sense of unbearable sadness. Please let it not be true..... Meanwhile, the man you named President cowers in the State House, surrounded by a cabal of hardline power brokers, and a bevy of sycophantic unseated Ministers and MPs, who jostle for position and succession. Who fuel the fires by any means they can, to keep themselves important, powerful, necessary. The smoke continues to rise from the torched swathes of Rift Valley, the gutted city of Kisumu, the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa. The Red Cross warns of an imminent cholera epidemic in Nyanza and Western Kenya, deprived for days now of electricity and water. Containers pile up at the Port of Mombasa, as ships, unable to unload cargo, leave still loaded. Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, the DRC, all dependent on Kenyan transit for fuel and vital supplies, grind to a halt. A repressive regime rolls out its panoply of oppression against legitimate dissent. Who knew our police force had so many sleek, muscled, excellently-trained horses, to mow down protestors? Who guessed that in a city of perennial water shortages, we had high-powered water cannons to terrorize Kenyans off the streets? I am among the most fortunate of the fortunate. Not only am I still whole, alive, healthy, mobile; not only do I have food, shelter, transport, the safety of those I love; I have the gift of work. I have the privilege to be in the company of the most brilliant, principled, brave, resilient Kenyans of my generation. To contribute whatever I can as we organize, strategize, mobilize, draw on everything we know and can do, to save our country. I marvel at the sheer collective volume of trained intelligence, of skill, expertise, experience, in our meetings. At the ability to rise above personal tragedy - families still hostage in war zones, friends killed, homes overflowing with displaced relatives - to focus on the larger picture and envisage a solution. I listen to lawyers, economists, youth activists, humanitarians; experts on conflict, human rights, governance, disaster relief; to Kenyans across every sector and ethnicity, and I think: Is this what we have trained all our lives for? To confront this epic catastrophe, caused by a group of old men who have already sucked everything they possibly can out of Kenya, yet will cling until they die to their absolute power? You know these people too, Mr. Kivuitu. The principled, brave, resilient, brilliant Kenyans. The idealists who took seriously the words we sang as schoolchildren, about building the nation. Some of them worked closely with you, right through the election. Some called you friend. You don't even have the excuse that Kibaki, or his henchmen, might offer - that of inhabiting a world so removed from ours that they cannot fathom the reality of ordinary Kenyans. You know of the decades of struggle, bloodshed, faith and suffering that went into creating this fragile beautiful thing we called the "democratic space in Kenya." So you can imagine the ways in which we engage with the unimaginable. We coin new similes: Lie low like a 16A (the electoral tally form returned by each constituency, many of which were altered or missing in the final count) We joke about the Kivuitu effect - which turns internationalists, pan-Africanists, fervent advocates for the dissolution of borders, into nationalists who cry at the first verse of the national anthem . Ee Mungu nguvu yetu Ilete baraka kwetu Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi Natukae na undugu Amani na uhuru Raha tupate na ustawi. O God of all creation Bless this our land and nation Justice be our shield and defender May we dwell in unity Peace and liberty Plenty be found within our borders. Rarely do we allow ourselves pauses, to absorb the enormity of our country shattered, in 7 days. We cry, I think, in private. At least I do. In public, we mourn through irony, persistent humor, and action. Through the exercise of patience, stamina, fortitude, generosity, that humble me to witness. Through the fierce relentless focus of our best energies towards challenges of stomach-churning magnitude. We tell the stories that aren't making it into the press: the retired general in Rift Valley sheltering 200 displaced families on his farm, the Muslim Medical Professionals offering free treatment to anyone injured in political protest. We challenge, over and over again, with increasing weariness, the international media coverage that presents this as "tribal warfare", "ethnic conflict", for an audience that visualises Africa through Hollywood: Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond. I wish you'd thought of those people, when you made the choice to betray them. I wish you'd drawn on their courage, their integrity, their clarity, when your own failed you. I wish you'd had the imagination to enter into the lives, the dreams, of 37 million Kenyans. But, as you've probably guessed by now, Mr. Kivuitu, this isn't really a letter to you at all. This is an attempt to put words to what cannot be expressed in words. To mourn what is too immense to mourn. A clumsy groping for something beyond the word 'heartbreak'. A futile attempt to communicate what can only be lived, moment by moment. This is a howl of anguish and rage. This is a love letter to a nation. This is a long low keening for my country. Shailja Patel
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14:35
From: Me, Life & Everything
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Rendezvous: 2335hrs
Prolixity: Short, well maybe
Mood: Ecstatic
Whereabouts: Home
Track: If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Simply Red
Just like that…honest it did, I unpacked the DVD, slid it into the drive bay and as soon as it was “swallowed” it reared up and lunged for my jugular. I made away and hid shivering in the bathroom while [...]
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13:55
From: You Missed This
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 The trial of former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor in The Hague marks another milestone in the international democratization process and respect of human rights especially in the third world countries of Africa. One certainly hopes that Kenyan leaders are following events at the Hague! Ex-President Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is accused of funding Sierra Leone's former rebels, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) by selling diamonds on their behalf and buying weapons for them. RUF fighters were notorious for hacking off the arms and legs of the civilian population with machetes, as well as killing, raping and robbing them. Charles Taylor, born 59 year ago, is the first African leader to face a criminal trial internationally and is charged with having command responsibility for the rebels' atrocities. He has pleaded not guilty. It would seem obvious to the world that Taylor will not be the last ex-African president to face similar charges. If what Kenyan civilians are experiencing in Nyanza, Western, Nairobi, Rift Valley and Coast Provinces, then it would not be too far-fetched to imagine Mwai Kibaki in a similar ICC trial facing charges that would make RUF crimes look like child's play. The Kenya Red Cross and the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Nairobi Womens Hospital have all been reporting horrendous cases of police executions, gang rape of women and children, burning of buildings with people locked inside, machete hacking of unarmed civilians. Incidentally, a majority of these crimes against humanity are undoubtedly committed by police and paramilitary forces. Mwai Kibaki, through his Internal Security minister, has the sole command responsibility for the atrocities by the security forces.    These images, captured by an AP photographer shows harmless babies and other dead bodies of civilians in a Kenyan morgue last week. The other shows a group of armed police assaulting an unarmed civilian during the riots. Interestingly, it remains the sole responsibility of the government of Kenya to investigate, arrest and institute charges against any other person who is found guilty of having committed any crimes against humanity, something they have completely failed to do, instead only selectively arresting disenfranchised ODM demonstrators on flimsy charges like arson, unlawful assembly, robbery with violence, etc etc. How dreadful considering the more than 1000 people dead and still counting. It has not been lost to observers that residents of Mt. Elgon, Kuresoi, Molo and even in Mathare slums of Nairobi have not known peace for the entire period of Kibaki's first term and before ODM came into existence. Cases of beheadings and armed raiders were all too common in the Kenyan press for the period 2003-2007, culminating into a damning report by the KNCHR to the effect that up to 8000 civilians - mainly from Central Province - were killed by police in the year 2007 alone! Meanwhile, this blogger is encouraged by President Kibaki's visit to Burnt Forest yesterday. The president and his entourage were escorted by more than eight land rovers full of armed GSU paramilitary personnel whom the residents have accused of harming them. One also hopes that those other Kenyan refugees camping at Jamhuri Park, Kisumu Airport and Malaba on Uganda side will not be forgotten during these presidential tours.
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12:00
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
[EDIT 20:21]
"Moving on" is a phrase I've heard bandied about a lot of late.
It irritates me as much today as it did the first time I heard it, cleverly slipstreamed into conversation around the imbroglio we as Kenyans find ourselves in.
You hear it used like this:
We need to move on ...
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11:37
From: Eyes on Kenya
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Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf was one of the few persons capable to deliver a comical relief during a time of war, a time that almost by definition, is a time free of any humour. As the Iraqi Information Minister he became famous to the world as “Comical Ali”, with even T-shirt and cups being sold with his picture and his quotes. Even fan-sites were dedicated to him. On his daily press conferences he announced the military victories of the Iraqi army and the failure of the invasion, despite all evident facts. In his final speech as the Iraqi Information Minister he vociferated:
“There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!”,
with US infantry tanks almost in firing rang to where he was speaking. Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf was just the spokesperson of Sadam Hussein’s system, but he spoke the arrogant language of an elite that either was willing to lie beyond imagination, ignoring the fact that everyone is noticing those lies, or an elite that totally lost its own sense for reality. Either way, it was a system that had already lost everything, not willing to give up, no matter how many of their own people suffered or died.
“Lying is forbidden in Iraq. President Saddam Hussein will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts.”
“because we will behead you all”
It seems that Kenya has found its “Comical Ali” in Dr. Alfred Mutua, spokesperson of Kibaki’s government. Even before the election he was known as a verbal acrobat, being cable of making long statements without any content, like:
“We are in the process of putting together a team of experts well versed in the necessary required areas so that they can join their counterparts from other countries participating in the inquiry,” (quote)
or “The reasons are confidential and are best known to the minister,”(quote)
But he was also very capable of agitating and attacking in the name of the government.
 (c) by Gado
Since Kibaki swore himself into power, Alfred Mutua seemed to have put quite a distance between him and reality. First of all he denied that there were violent conflicts all over the country. With international media coverage and horrifying reports about Police brutality and ethnic clashes, he changed his mind and stated, that only about 3 percent of the country’s 34 million people were effected. “Kenya is not burning and not (in) the throes of any division.”(AP) Leaving aside that this number bares any facts and much more people were “effected” by the crises, Mutua did not seem to be much worried about the Kenyan people or he had a sever problem with arithmetics: 3 Percent of 34 Million is more than one Million people! Any crisis of this dimension would alert any government in the world.
But then his scale or the scale of the government he is speaking for is a different one:
“We have not yet reached a Somali like situation to allow mediators to come to our country,” he told at a news conference. (Nation)
Does this really mean the Kenyan people have to suffer to the extent a civil war and total anarchy, before this government will except mediation?
“What will they (international mediators) come and do that we have been unable to do as Kenyans?” (AP)
How about peace, Mr Mutua? The Kibaki government proved an incapability in handling the crisis on its own, neither could it provide safety to its people, nor could it provide humanitarian aid without millions of Dollars from the international community. With the almost total stand still of East-Africa’s economy and Ugandan military on high alert at Kenya’s border the conflict has reached an international dimension.
Many approaches to mediate have been made, and it was Alfred Mutua’s job to discredit everyone of them. Starting with honourable Desmond Tutu, about whom he said, that he is not invited by the government and is welcome as any other “tourist”.
Can someone, who speaks like this about the one of the few Nobel Peace Prize winners, who really deserves to be one for dedicating his life for Peace, Freedom and Unity in Africa, have anything else on his mind than civil war?
After Tutu nobody really expected that the effort by the African Union and its present President Kufuor would bring any results. Even before he came to Kenya, Mutua stated, that Deputy Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula travelled to Ghana to explain that
“the political and electoral situation in the country and that we are able to deal with criminals” to Kufuor. (source)
No, he is not referring to those who rigged the election as Criminals and bodies. Bodies pilled up in mortuaries, full of Police ammunition leave not doubt as to what Dr. Alfred Mutua is talking about.
Again Mutua denied that the AU would even try to mediate:
“They [Kufuor and Kibaki] are age-mates and friends and Kufuor is coming to have a cup of tea with him.” (Guardian)
What will he say about Kofi Annans intention? He has come to play cricket?
Let us not forget, that after all, he is nothing but a messenger. But he is delivering the news of a system, that shows no interest in Peace, a system that knows it will not sustain in a Democratic environment and can therefore show its infinitive arrogance of power. And as long as we see Dr. Alfred Mutua delivering those messages on TV, on radio or in newspapers, we can be sure that that Kenya is still in crisis.
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10:38
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
[EDIT 20:21]
“Moving on” is a phrase I’ve heard bandied about a lot of late.
It irritates me as much today as it did the first time I heard it, cleverly slipstreamed into conversation around the imbroglio we as Kenyans find ourselves in.
You hear it used like this:
We need to move on as a country and go about our business.
Or like this:
Yes, the process was flawed. But we need to move on.
Or like this:
So Kibaki appointed a cabinet before the coalition talks. The country needs to function. We need to move on.
Excuse me, but “moving on” is about the most absurd thing we can do now. Patently so.
500+ people have been killed. 300,000+ have been displaced. Businesses and homes have been destroyed. Friends have turned against friends. People have been chased from their homes in the middle of the night. People have lost everything. Some people have lost everyone.
In light of the above I am of the opinion that NO, we FUCKING CANNOT MOVE ON!
The wisdom in “Moving on” is questionable indeed. Are we to forget the dead, the burnt, the destroyed, the shearing of Kenyan society as we know it? Are we naive enough to believe if we don’t address the causes that led to this situation they will pack up like good little boys and bid us adieu?
“Moving on” is precisely what got us into the situation we are in today. For 44 years we have been moving on, paying scant attention to the underlying problems that have befallen us, in the fond belief that “we are a peaceful people” and “Kenya is an island of peace and stability”. We moved on in the face of disparities of education, opportunities, wealth, camaraderie and class.
I would not be in the least bit surprised to hear some of the political elite, upon hearing that Kenyans are going hungry, wondering, like a woman not too long ago who lost her head, why they “didn’t eat cake”.
Moving on will only ensure that come 2012 we will be writing blog posts and newspaper articles precisely like the ones we have been doing the past fortnight. Moving on will just give another set of us the opportunity to be “shocked and saddened” that this happened on our land. Moving on will just ensure that our children (if we survive to sire them) will merrily and ignorantly make the same mistakes we did.
Have we learnt nothing from the past 2 weeks?
Indeed, stupidity is doing the same thing twice and expecting the same results.
We need to find out the reason our country exploded and take steps to correct them, so that our future generations will be spared what we have gone through. We need to find out what the problem is now, and address it decisively. Before we get peace, we must have justice.
So no, dammit, we FUCKING CANNOT MOVE ON! 44 years ought to have shown by now that moving on doesn’t bloody work!!!
Oh, and for those of limited imagination, let me remove all ambiguity. Justice does not mean throwing stones and destruction and violence!
By saying we can’t just move on I am not saying we should not go back to work and get on with our lives. I’m not saying you stay home and await developments! Au contraire! What I am saying is that we cannot go back to the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil business as usual that we have been at for the last 44 years.
It’s not Kibaki and Raila throwing stones and wielding pangas and burning houses. It’s me and you. I am not naive enough to believe that the sight of Raila and Kibaki shaking hands and hugging will magically stop the fighting and people can move back to their homes from which they were chased. Because that is not about to happen.
Working and going about our business as usual will not address the issue of why friends have butchered friends. And until we find out exactly what circumstances led to that and correct it TODAY we shall be reliving this experience perpetually.
Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Life as usual is not an option.
AOB
Alfred Mutua, our resident Oompa Loompa, always manages to take my breath away with his effortless ability to introduce rocking chairs into a room full of blind cats. Every time the grinning Proudfoot Hobbit has his earnest face behind a camera, the osmotic pressure of the external environment causes his grey and white matter to seep from the areas of high concentration within his cranium, leaving behind doesn’t matter.
It takes an exceptional type of foolishness to say the following with a straight face while 400 of your fellows have been killed
“They [Kufuor and Kibaki] are age-mates and friends and Kufuor is coming to have a cup of tea with him,” Mutua said.
Bloody hell. Kufuor flew all those miles for a cup of tea. Villages looking for that special member of their community can contact me
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© M :: tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008.
Comment On Moving On
Category: Elections, Hubbub, Politics.
   
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10:28
From: My Life is...Mochalicious!
Read This Entry & More At My Life is...Mochalicious!
?thgir ot tfel morf etirw syawla ew od yhW
Just incase you didn’t get that……..
Why do we always write from left to right?
Ok…you can tell I have time on my hands. Actually I am bored.
Other than the excitment from the motherland, this year started off well. After all, I ushered it in with Mr Mocha…….aawwww! (Sitaki kusikai, [...]
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9:08
From: Black Looks
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At the beginning of a project like this the technology portion can seem to be the hardest to get off the ground. In the end, it’s just the tool, and the hard work will come from people in the field who are working with NGO’s to keep this information accurate and to chronicle as much [...]
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7:13
From: Kenyanentrepreneur.com
Read This Entry & More At Kenyanentrepreneur.com
“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive” - William F. Buckley
I know the idealists are still talking about things like peace and justice and they’re all waiting for Kibaki to resign and all that, but I am going to move on from these pie in sky ideals because I’ve pretty [...]
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5:37
From: You Missed This
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How Will Mwai Kibaki Be Remembered?How Will Raila Odinga Be Remembered?My mind just can’t come away from the photograph in this recent post, posted by Phil of young toddlers and kids huddled together in a city morgue. My question. When they give figures of the dead, do they count this children? Or are they considered not people? This is hardly time to apportion blame but since I started this blog my reputation has grown from never cowering from saying things as they are. When I see those dead bodies of innocent little ones who knew nothing, many of them could not even speak a tribe I am reminded of crucial steps along the way that led to this national disaster. 1. The refusal by Mwai Kibaki to postpone the national referendum on the constitution in 2005 despite pressure from various sources who said the political and ethic temperatures were too high. 2. The decision by Mwai Kibaki, Daniel Moi and others to allow the 2007 general elections to be rigged in broad daylight and in full view of International observers. They knew very well what the consequences would be but somebody must have said; "We can sacrifice a few peasant lives, it will blow over." Let the people responsible be haunted to their graves by this photograph of harmless dead toddlers and by the hoardes of other dead toddlers who never even had the dignity of ending up in a crowded morgue and were left lying in the streets and fields of Kenya. 3. Raila Odinga’s failure to stand up and say; let the presidency stay, but let the killings stop. He would have saved many lives had he done this. 4. Mwai Kibaki’s attitude that all is well and let people go back to their normal activities. The president got an angry response yesterday in the Rift Valley when the Kenyans he was addressing him (Mostly from the Kikuyu and Kisii community) retorted angrily and asked the president which schools he expected them to take their children to next week when they have all been burnt down. 5. The media’s silence even as atrocities are happening on the ground under the pretext that reporting certain incidences will incite more violence. 6. Kenyans and others leaving comments in this blog who focus their entire energies on defending one political party while threatening and warning this blogger of dire consequences for incitement. One wonders who is forcing them to read Kumekucha when they can simply move on to other “less inciting sites.” I report to no paymaster and I will always speak my mind. The picture of those dead babies still haunts me so… Kenyan man in tears in SudanWorld Bank boss' secret memo on Kibaki shocks the worldFull shocking report of election fraud.
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5:17
From: bankelele
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Citigroup (CITI) - Limited impact on economy if political crisis is resolved. It Matters little to the economy who won the election as private sector will continue to drive growth - Share sell off at NSE could be a good buying opportunity as economic fundamentals unchanged - President will use police and military to clamp down on protests which themselves will not last more than a few weeks - Parliament loyalties will be split by president as MP’s vote with their stomach - There’s little the international community can do besides pushing for reforms. - Also in the pre-election period, the opposition may have been falsely buoyed by opinion polls which are not sound (& could the same thing have happened to Obama in New Hampshire ?) Renaissance Capital (RENCAP) - Crime wave has emerged under the guise of political riots - Government may take all 12 nominated seats in parliament - Reemergence of the civil society and NGO’s as source of political pressure and search for solution - Main threat is if two parties don’t agree so may revise down the 6 – 7% GDP projections. - Also prices have not factored in the chaos, so investors should hold off on buying. Thanks to Silaha for the 2 reports – and who has also blogged some post-election predictions for Kenya Treasury Officals:– from Business Daily- Damage on the economy could cut the projected growth by as much as a half, if not worse. As agricultural, financial services and tourism sectors are likely to under perform - Treasury could be forced to craft a stimulus economic package to help reconstruct the affected regions and - Lower the interest rates in the economy. Central bank Governor - from Reuters- Kenya can still achieve 8% growth in 2008 - Disruptions were temporary and will have a major impact on GDP growth - Shilling’s depreciation was due to holiday period - Safaricom IPO in first quarter of 2008 - Interest rates will not change World Bank(Hat tip Kumekucha) There’s a controvery brewing of the World Bank’s assessment of the election and resultant crisis Excerpts;
- The considered view of the UN is that the ECK announcement of a Kibaki win is correct. More irregularities of consequence on the Odinga side than on the Kibaki side.
- The process of arriving at the result created a crisis of confidence due to missteps by (a) the ECK chair (who joked about possible rigging during a news conference), (b) the vocal EU observer who was not thorough and precise in analyzing information provided to him (c) the lack of preparation by Kibaki’s party in dealing with a highly media-savvy opposition.
-Moving forward. One option being explored is getting them to agree to a recount which, by law, has to be done through a petition to Kenya’s High Court. Eminent persons from abroad would monitor this recount. Meanwhile, Kibaki would proceed to form a Cabinet, possibly with some participation by Odinga supporters. It is unclear what would happen if the exercise arrived at a different result from the ECK decision. The gamble is that this would not happen and that even if it did, both sides would have a face-saving way to accept a change in course via-a-vis their supportersThis is not the first time the first time that the land-lord-tenancy arrangement between the President and the World Bank has been put to question – see here and hereFinally; Not sure if she’s a banker, but Kenyanentreprenur argues that what Africa needs are development minded dictators since we are not ready for democracy – and i hope we won’t be having this debate in 2012! My own take is that the people at the Coast, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western provinces need to start rebuilding their lives and their industries - otherwise they will be left behind. Rioting in your own community is dumb as you destroy businesses that deliver services and create jobs within the community. So pass that message along with any peace & sympathy messages you convey. Also watch NTV's great Voices of Reason program on Youtube that looks at pre- and post-election issues (more on that later).
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5:16
From: Black Looks
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“The Naked Option: a last resort,” is a feature documentary highlighting the struggle by women of the Niger Delta against the multinational oil companies and military occupation by the Nigerian Federal Government.
The film is still in production but based on the preview and from comments by activists in the ND it should be [...]
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3:16
From: Kenyan Pundit
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By Kui
I have never found it so hard to wrap my mind around the phrase ‘Happy New Year’ before. The sun is shining outside my window. I am on my way back to the rest of my life overseas. I am glad to be alive. But somehow, in another locality, the locality where my [...]
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3:13
From: Kenyan Pundit
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By Nits
he call for immediate new elections as a way forward out of the current crisis is not a feasible solution. Elections in order to be credible to all sides must be free, fair, and transparent. This is not possible given the current state of Kenya. The last estimate of displaced people is now nearly [...]
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3:08
From: Kenyan Pundit
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By Kenneth Karanja
Let me start on Dec. 24, 2007. My friends and I met to finalize on our investment plan for Kenya. We were planning to buy shares and build some hostels. Loans were to be taken, several hundred thousand. We were all ecstatic that the economic growth in Kenya would allow us to return [...]
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2:32
From: You Missed This
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Even as the peace efforts in Nairobi, now being led by current AU chair and president of Ghana John Kufuor got under way in earnest yesterday, the Financial Times of London has released a shocking story involving a leaked memo by the World Bank Kenya country director Colin Bruce. The confidential memo has raised concerns amongst senior World Bank officials that the Washington-based lender’s assessment of the Kenya government and especially president Kibaki’s administration may have been compromised by too close a relationship between Mr Bruce and Kibaki. It has even been mentioned that Mr Bruce lives in a house owned by the Kibaki family which raises conflict of interest possibilities. The memo allegedly gave false information claiming that it was the considered view of the UN that the ECK announced Kibaki win was correct. The UN immediately denied this and observers were puzzled over the fact that virtually every election observer had given the verdict that the just concluded presidential elections were fatally flawed. So why was Mr Bruce so determined to paint a different picture? It has been lost on many observers that Mwai Kibaki’s contacts in the World Bank are excellent because he has known many people in the organization for years dating back from the days he was a finance minister in President Kenyatta’s administration. This is probably one reason why a government that some feel is much more corrupt that even the Moi regime has enjoyed relatively good rapport with the World Bank and has continued to receive hefty funds even after such huge scandals as Anglo Leasing were brought to light. It would seem that the World Bank has just ignored the corruption and pressed on with giving Kenya a lot of finances. Even more interesting is the fact that Mr Bruce seems determined that the World Bank should ignore the current crisis and continue dealing with a government that has just named individuals who have been linked to major corruption scandals like Kiraitu Murungi and George Saitoti. Both have been “cleared” by Kibaki friendly institutions. This is rather ludicrous because for instance George Saitoti’s name featured prominently in a leaked Kroll report. Anybody who read that report will cringe at this man being allowed anywhere near public funds or a position where he can do some of “the deals” portrayed in the damning Kroll report. Read Financial Times article released in today’s edition of the newspaper. It is instructive that Kibaki’s naming of his partial cabinet shows that he has already reneged on major promises he gave in the run up to the election. Kibaki had vowed that he would have a “clean hands cabinet” and one with youths and more women. This has clearly not happened. But even worse is the fact that 7 of the 17 ministers named so far are from the Mount Kenya region. Clearly Kenyans are dealing with a man who never means what he says and the general feeling is that there is shock countrywide as Kenyans get to learn more and more about somebody they thought they knew well. P.S. Even more insensitive was the move to appoint a Kikuyu (George Saitoti) to the position of Minister in charge of Internal security where he will have to take the lead of hunting down perpetrators of the violence which are mostly other tribes against members of his Kikuyu tribe. It will be virtually impossible in the circumstances for him to look impartial.
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2:14
From: You Missed This
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I have received the following emails from concerned Kenyans on both sides of the divide;Bwana Chris, Why aren't your "impeccable" sources giving you information on who is ordering the burning down of houses in Eldoret? Or is it a case of selective amnesia? Please go ahead and address this issue. There is no one in Eldoret who stole people's votes. Furthermore, even Bishop Korir has said that the attacks are not spontaneous as the ODMers would like us to believe. I acknowledge the fact that Raila lost unfairly but the kind of suffering visited upon the Kikuyus in Eldoret is in bad taste. The Kalenjin even have the audacity to burn down houses in the presence of the president, the Standard reports. ----------- Hi Kumekucha, First lemmie thank you for the wonderful job you did during the elections and the aftermath. I relied more on your updates than the conventional news channels. This will be long so brace yourself! As I write this, I have tears welling in my eyes once more. I thought I was through with that until I reported back to the office today after a 3 weeks break. I live and work in Khartoum, Sudan and every single person I have met so far in the office today is asking me - What Happened??. The Sudanese who have had civil war for over 2 decades have always looked up fondly to Kenya as a haven of peace in Africa. How could a country that helped them end their civil war degenerate into a near çivil war in just a few days? What broke my heart was when one of my clients who is a respected figure in the society walked into my office, embraced me and broke into a long emotional prayer for Kenya to regain it's "rightful place in Africa" and end the babaric killings! How could things go so wrong for Kenya? Did you know that Sudanese have even named their children and one city "Naivasha"after the peace accord that was signed there? I used to hold my head high here due to the respect they gave Kenyans. Within weeks now we have to hold our heads down in shame trying to explain why we are killing each other viciously??? All that because we have greedy leaders willing to cling on to or gain power at all costs while sacrificing Kenya at the altar of Greed and Deceit? Why dear Lord I ask? Why? What did we do to deserve this? I'm a Luo who was born and brought up in Kericho (Kalenjin land), schooled in Kikuyuland, lived and worked in many regions of Kenya and married a wife who has Kamba, Meru and Somali blood. WHY SHOULD I SUDDENLY BE MADE SO AWARE OF MY TRIBE? I shudder when I try to think of how long it will take to heal the wounds of this past week's events. What will I tell my children when they grow up? That once upon a time we all used to live peacefully as one nation until one day the goverment tried to steal the elections and we started killing each other based on what tribe we are from! Would they understand that? On the political front our leaders should get their act together. Kenyans should demand that! It was such a shameful act and gross notoriety for the current government to steal the elections blatantly in broad daylight. The ECK and especially Kivuitu should bear the brunt for helping this government to abet such a henious crime against Kenyans. The blood of all killed in the aftermath will haunt him day and night! The reality however is this: The moment Kibaki and his cabal of friends decided to rig the elections, that was the time we should have realised that he has become totally numb and his conscience was long DEAD! (it was in a coma before that). Therefore Raila and the ODM team as well as all those calling for demos, mass rallies, protests etc to put pressure on him are just wasting their time! That won't move them as they are in a comatose stage conscientiously and in a state of hypnosis to greed and power. A negotiated end to the current stalemate should be given high priority and Raila and Kibaki brought face-to-face. However I believe the purpose should be to put together an interim government that would prepare for fresh presidential elections in 3-6 months. A GNU just wont work and Kenyans and the international stake holders should just stop dreaming. Kibaki's 'half cabinet' is a very clever ploy to divide ODM: Announce that he wants to form a GNU and catch the ears of the greedy and selfish elements in ODM who do not appreciate the fundamentals of the cause...play on their desire to want to be ministers....eventually creating division and cracks in ODM! What should be next if option if an interim government doesn't see the light of day? I feel that instead of ODM resorting to protest and other antagonistic measures they should instead take up their place in the opposition in parliament. Now before ODMers skin me alive let me explain myself: 1. If ODM believes that it has the interest of Kenyans at heart then their leaders can help constitutionally in parliament to seal all loopholes that were used by the Kibaki regime to rig the elections. 2. They will be best placed to do the above because an existing regime will not bother to seal loopholes that they can use to this to their benefit whenever needed e.g. in 2012. This will be a long-term plan with long-term benefits for the country as it will be a fallacy to even try after 3 months to run the elections again under the same constitutional and institutional status. Some of the areas that ODM can use their might (albeit slim) in the parliament to help make things right are: 1. Pass the IPPG "rules" and entrench them in the constitution to strengthen the institutions that have a direct bearing on the running of elections i.e. ECK, Judiciary etc to make them TRULY independent and well respresentative. This will include passing bills that abolish the powers of the president to directly nominate Comissioners and pass this on to an independent body subject to ratification by the parliament (Chapter III Sec 41 of the constitution) 2. Make laws under the Electoral Commision act that will ensure the electoral votes are declared at polling stations and the final votes for each constituency declared publicly and copies given to the party agents PLUS accredited observers and the media. Failure to do so by any Returning Officer would be punishable by law. 3. Pass bills allocating funds from the treasury to develop the ICT infrastructure of the ECK (instead of paying shady contractors!) This will avoid cases of lame excuses like "The Returning Officers have switched off their phones'!! OMG Kivuitu! In this day and age when CNN, BBC et al can report 'LIVE' from Burnt Forest to Atlanta??? 4. Pass laws barring the ECK Chairman from announcing Presidential poll results as long as one contesting party has raised in writing to the commission (not courts!) credible issues that will put doubt to the announcement of results that will be seen to be free and fair. 5. Pass appropriate laws giving a reasonable timeline to conclusion of election petitions (6 months?) 6. Pass laws preventing legislators jumping from one party to another and keeping their seats as long as they have not written to the Speaker to declare this. The party leader should be given the powers in law to declare in writing to the Speaker that a legislator in his party has defected as long as he can prove this e.g. by associations, pronouncements, joining the cabinet without the Party Leaders approval etc. He will then be required to seek re-election afresh! This will prevent the president poaching on ODM legislators to build a majority in parliament or frustrate passing of bills that are of constitutional nature. All these may take long but for the sake of the country's peace and survival it might be a sacrifice worth taking for the benefit of our beloved Kenya. It's time for all the elected leaders that Kenyans are looking up to to stand up and be counted. I'm tired of seeing the heart-rending scenes coming out of Kenya! Who will explain to those poor kids why they are refugees sleeping in the cold in their own country? How will we teach the young orphans to trust humanity and love one another when they saw their parents brutally murdered or even burnt alive. You just need to watch the movie Hannibal Rising and the thought of what we have done to these children will send a cold chill up your spine! While we are imploring our fellow citizens to stop the killings, the government should also immediately stop the shoot-to-kill order to the police! Does Michuki still think that he is hunting down Mau Maus so as to be rewarded by colonialists? How archaic! And to think the country is in their hands! These leaders (you know them) belong to the Museums of Infamity as fossils!!! Saitoti will be too timid to do anything after being helped massively to rig in Kajiado North. As for now I'll just keep on having to repeat myself trying to answer the question on everyone's lips here.......What Happened to our role model Kenya? PS: On a lighter note - One of the Sales Managers (a Sudanese) in my company was talking to a team member who had reported his sales achievement figures wrongly. He told him "not to do a Kibaki on him"and get his fugures right! Kibaki has made us the laughing stock of the world because he is so incompetent he cannot even rig an election "quietly"! I'll keep praying... Billy
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2:12
From: stranded in me
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i'm an angry woman right now, the violence being meted out on people due to their affiliations gets me so angry i cant breath. as a result i have this to say, all you motherfuckers out there who think that your tribes mates are more superior than others are misguided fools. if you condone the kicking out of particular tribes from an area then motherfuckers take your small mindedness to fucking space its unoccupied by humans, start your own superior race out there and live the rest of your existence there. my sympathies go out to all Kenyans who have been displaced, who have lost family members, who've been raped or beaten for being of a certain tribe. to the hooligans out there committing these crimes may God unleash his fury on your sorry arses. 
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1:57
From: stranded in me
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Whats in a name? alot. finding the name for this series has been interesting. just thought i'd share. being the creator of this series i have a love affair with it that the rest of the team doesnt. the first time i had the task of naming it, i tried several names then would bounce them off anyone unlucky enough to listen. the first name was tit and tarts- Dear Lord what was i thinking!! to my defense since the story has always been about couples i used tits for men coz i think men love tits more than we do. tarts because there are times when sex is used in exchange for something it could be a favor, money, to get them to leave you alone for awhile, to prevent them them from straying whatever. this name didnt go well with the conservatives. when i heard that mnet was searching for a series i tweaked the story and then named it till death? the script that i proposed to mnet had this name and is posted on www.simplyscripts.com. Mnet then felt this title was prohibitive it changed to makao close. which has since changed to bahati close.
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1:21
From: Hapa Kenya
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President Kibaki endured embarrassment at the hands of post election demonstrator who burnt houses barely 200m from where he was addressing a peace meeting. In his usual absent mindedness, he could not immediately realize what the crowd was beckoning him to see as they shouted him down with the chants of, "Angalia, wanachoma nyumba zetu nyuma yako… (Look! They are burning houses behind you)". In clear display of his ignorance of the prevailing circumstances, Kibaki went ahead to tell the angry crowd to take their children to school beginning next week. The crowd again interrupted him asking, "Tutawapeleka wapi? Shule zote zimechomwa (Where will we take them? Schools were all burnt),"
For the third time, the victims interrupted the President, protesting at his directive that they channel | |
