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22:16
From: Walk of Kings:
Read This Entry & More At Walk of Kings:
Wow its been a while . I got caught up in so many things but Its never too late to get back to what matters . Its a new season .God is doing something new. Happy new year!!! I know its 11days late but its a new season and begining for me too . Lots of love
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16:51
From: Eyes on Kenya
Read This Entry & More At Eyes on Kenya
Kenyan novelist and play writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o published a comment today from the diaspora in the United States via BBC news. He compares the incident of the Eldoret church massacre with the massacres in Bosnia, Iraq and Rwanda. He then says that the “ethnic cleansing” must be separated from the accusations of a rigged election. To him it seems like a “co-ordinated program with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community.” He also says that Ethnic cleansing does not happen spontaneously, that it is almost always premeditated by members of the political elite, who usually do not have to suffer the consequences of their actions. He proposed an inquiry by the United Nations as necessary, that if political organizations have a “campaign on a program that consciously seeks to isolate another community as a community, then they ought to be held fully accountable for the consequences of their ideology and actions.” He continues to say that this should not only be the case if such is instigated by the government, but also if “such a massacre is inspired by a program of an opposition movement… “ He then says that they must be condemned “even when they (the campaigns) are clothed in progressive, democratic-sounding words and phrases.” In conclusion he urges “all progressive forces not to be so engrossed with the political wrongs of election tampering that they forget the crimes of hate and ethnic cleansing.”

Ngugi wa Thiong’o
We would like to add some remarks to Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s comment. We can not say that we could have foreseen what happened in post-election Kenya, not even after reading Ngugi’s novel “Wizard of the Crow”, “…where the ruling party and the opposition parities engaged in Western-sponsored democracy become mirror images of one another in their absurdity and indifference to the poor.”, as he writes. No doubt, it is a great novel with fitting reflections on Kenya’s and Africa’s political situation. But the book does not lift Ngugi wa Thiong’o to the position of the prophetess Cassandra as he implies. Despite the inadequateness of the Kenyan political Parties, one should take into account that ODM obtained so much support, because it was more likely to deliver the promised constitution. Of course, from the lookout of a prophetess, that might be very little, not bringing uhuru, not breaking the claw of the World Bank. But, decentralizing and sharing power, having control bodies against corruption, and elevation of human rights would have made a difference especially for the poor. Or in Binyavanga Wainaina’s words: “A Constitution that names and recognizes the tribal nations within our nation, that decentralizes some power and that includes us all in the process is possible.”

An 11-year-old survivor stands amid the burnt out ruins of the Kenya Assemblies of God Pentacostal church, where at least 18 people were burnt alive ,near Eldoret in western Kenya (from josephkaroki)
(more…)
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12:13
From: Marian's Blog
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At this stage in the Democratic primaries why would CNN or any media outlet exclude supporters of any major candidate? Today, Friday, CNN "domestic" service interviewed two Black South Carolina religioius leaders, Revs. Timothy Browne (Cleveland Chapel Baptist Church) and...
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9:25
From: Black Looks
Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
The Ushahidi team have now added some additional functionality to the site - Spread the word
* You can now SMS your report to +447624802635 with your mobile phone.
* You can email your reports and images to tips@ushahidi.com
* We have added a “Peace Efforts” [...]
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9:14
From: You Missed This
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After posting some pretty grim articles and pictures here over the last few hours, it is only fair that we now try something on a lighter note.
Believe it or not, some Kenyans who had their property looted at Mombasa have had it returned. It is said that looters on hearing that the property owners were going to consult witchdoctors to get their things back, hurriedly fell over themselves in a desperate attempt to return looted property.
According to sources, even Kikuyu entrepreneurs who generally have no interest in visiting witchdoctors took advantage of the fear in the people and started dropping names of a few famous ones at the Coast. The result has always been instantaneous. One owner of a wood furniture workshop in Mwandoni was shocked to see a huge queue of looters returning raw timber and furniture items one morning recently.
But according to some reports not all looters were so lucky. For instance some rowdy youths who raided a bar in the Likoni area landed in hospital soon after. The problem? For some unexplained reasons, they could not pass urine or stool. If this continues for a certain length of time it can be life-threatening.
All the victims believed that they had been caught in some “witchcraft trap” set by the owner of the business where they stole. If you have lived in Mombasa for any length of time you will always hear people saying that businesses are “protected” by some invisible forces.
In another episode some looters who had raided an Arab’s shop selling cloth materials died after suddenly falling sick soon after the incident. Their colleagues who were hospitalized only recovered after their relatives returned the looted property and the owner accepted to forgive them. One regular Kumekucha informer assured this blogger that people who were sick to the point of death recovered instantaneously when so called quick thinking relatives rushed to the owner of the looted property.
Despite the fact that there are many superstitious Kenyans who live in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western, Mombasa is the only area in the country where a lot of looted property has been voluntarily returned to their rightful owners by looters.
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8:58
From: Startups in Kenya
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Yesterday was a proud day for me. Our business incubator Genius Executive Centre launched the Genius Heal Kenya Initiative. This initiative's main objective is to assist families displaced by the Kenyan crisis through prayer and material donation (foodstuffs, clothes, blankets, toys etc.). With over seventy entrepreneurs as members of the Centre we are confident that this initiative shall make a real and positive difference in the lives of fellow Kenyans.
We have partnered with the Karen branch of the Red Cross to distribute the donations to the displaced families. Any contribution you can make towards this initiative is welcome.
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8:37
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
By Guest writer
I’m glad to see from your blog how involved Kenyans have become in their country’s affairs…we have come a long way.
But let us not get lost in the detail for too long; who rigged, how, when and where. Let us rise above discussing people and events that have taken place, and begin to discuss issues and propose ideas on how we can move this country forward
And on that note, here are my proposals:
There can and there must be BOTH justice (fairness, integrity) and peace (harmony, reconciliation, freedom from strife) in our country… not one or the other. Certainly, we should not let this matter go without justice being done, for obvious reasons. But at the same time we cannot allow that process to be enforced through violence.
The older generation is largely tribalistic…and unfortunately they’re the majority in leadership positions in government and business in this country. I look forward to the day when we can elect fresh leaders who’ve never participated in previous governments; people who’ve intermarried with other tribes (like I’m planning to do J ), and who therefore will not share the same animosity that our parents’ generation seems to be harbouring. Intermarriage is one way we can rid this country of that disease forever.
The other thing that will move this country forward is civic education. We’ve got to teach our people to discuss issues and value ideas as opposed to personalities. We can set very specific standards by which our leaders can be judged, and then aggressively educate our people in the grass roots on those standards and insight them to demand that the standards be met! Do people even know what MPs are supposed to do in parliament? Information is power! We ought to run this country like a business; there must be working systems in place that enable government institutions to run efficiently no matter who’s in power…if one does not perform, they just get fired! No one should be able to hold this country at ransom…whether they’re in opposition or the government. Long live Kenya !
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8:20
From: Kenyanentrepreneur.com
Read This Entry & More At Kenyanentrepreneur.com
I was watching this video and just shaking my head. Why? Kibaki paid a visit to the victims (okay, okay,…let me stop speaking in code). Start over.
Kibaki paid a visit to a camp in the Rift Valley that is now home to thousands of Kikuyu’s that have been displaced. In the middle of his speech, [...]
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7:58
From: REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
Read This Entry & More At REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
Dennis Wambugu is a very disappointed man. He is disappointed because Kenyans do not seem to host most of their websites at the local Internet Service Provider (ISP). Wambugu, who heads Get2Net, a local ISP, feels that too many Kenyan websites are hosted abroad yet the same services can be provided locally. He argues that Kenyan businesses and organizations need to make deliberate efforts to support the local industry, like most South African entities do. Wambugu vented his frustrations when questioned whether Get2net would have the capacity to host a website and guarantee that it will always be accessible. While he had a right to be frustrated at the lack of faith in local web hosting, the local ISPs have left a lot to be desired, in their support and back up of client’s content. The costs are also inhibitive. Sample this: yahoo.com charges shs 1,300 ($20) annually to host a site while a local ISP charges at least shs 24,000 ($ 370) to host the same site annually. But Wambugu defends the local costs saying that yahoo.com can afford to charge shs 1,300 because they have a million sites to host. This means that the company can make $ 20 million from hosting a million sites annually. Compared to local companies, he says that the higher the number of clients hosting locally, the lesser the charges. This is because companies can invest in better servers and expect to recoup the costs within the year. But people wonder; why spend a lot of money hosting locally while a minimal cost will give massive space abroad. The answer lies in acts of patriotism. Most South African companies take pride in having a .co.za website and hosting it locally. Then they ensure that they demonstrate their proudly South African sign. Whether it is a local or regional corporation, they are hosted locally and have South Africa’s country code (.co.za). In this respect, the issue of cost of hosting seems to lack meaning because we have Kenyan corporations hosting abroad, yet they have the money to host locally. However, some people hosting abroad speak of lack of reliability and lack of proper support by Kenyan ISPs as the reason they host abroad. For instance, if there is power black out and the building has no generator, then the site will not be accessible. With hosting companies abroad, they seldom have problems of power failure and when they do, there is always back up. Meaning that businesses progress and there is no information/ content. But Wambugu defends this position arguing that most ISPs in Nairobi are located in modern buildings with powerful generators, making sure that client support is available 24 hours a day. Besides, Wambugu agues that most ISPs mirror their server contents with other off shore servers in Australia, US, Canada and UK. This way, the local ISP ensures the websites are available all the time. The whole hosting debate could be demystified if the government works out a program for educating the public on the amount of money and time it takes to access a site which is hosted abroad. This will lead to more debate about development of local content and hosting capacity within the district level. Reliable country wide connectivity will allow establishment of ISPs within the local level. For instance, if a youth group starts up an ISP at the district level and approaches local businesses and government authorities, they can work out a way to host the sites at minimal fees depending on the sites. This will offer more employment opportunities at the local level and more people can appreciate the essence of developing quality websites. Connectivity has been a thorny issue and with the promise of the sub marine optic fibre link becoming real, the costs of connectivity will come down. There are also two satellites in orbit –NIGCOMSAT and RASCOMstar, which are bound to improve Africa’s space segment. Though the two geostationary communications satellites will face challenges of pricing and technical support, they may achieve the objective of lowering cost of bandwidth within the other satellites beaming to Africa. The cost of bandwidth and support aside, Kenya needs to find a way to support local initiatives and help grow the local industry. For instance, Safaricom limited made its shs 17 Billion profit out of local calls, not international calls. Indeed, the international calls are mainly made using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), available in most cyber cafés. Kenya needs to remain competitive efficiently and quickly. There is so much potential but there must be deliberate effort to support one another. That feeling of patriotism must be promoted through marketing by the Kenya ICT Board. But patriotism alone is not going to improve our country’s technical abilities. There needs to be investments by local ICT industry so that services can match those offered abroad. Local ISPs need to invest in state-of-the-art data centres comprising ultra high-quality connectivity, networking gear, climate control, and security and power systems. Hosting facilities need to be monitored 24/7/365 state-of-the-art network operations centre and if a problem arises, the technical team must be able to help! To attract more websites, host companies need to have connectivity from several leading Internet hosts, both International and local Kenyan backbone internet providers. Regarding connectivity, the ISP must be in a position to achieve 99% network uptime for customers based in Kenya. Prices must be competitive and must be in a position to customize websites depending on the customers hosting requirements. With these developments, Kenyans will have more faith in local web hosting and possibly Kenyan companies can host larger corporation websites as well as upcoming businesses.
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7:34
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
Read This Entry & More At Kikuyumoja's realm
It just took me less than 2 minutes to donate some mbeca to the Red Cross Society in Kenya - online, via mamamikes.com.

With your support we will buy food, slippers, blankets, clothes, sanitary products, etc. All these items are going to the Kenya Red Cross Society. Who are distributing them to Kenyans in need.
Your action will make a difference. The more help, the bigger the difference. Please act.
If you have some money left to share with those who will make good use of it and are willing to use an online payment service, please feel free to contribute via a service such as mamamikes.com.
If anything, we can only rely on Kenyans helping each other.
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7:31
From: REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
Read This Entry & More At REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
Martin Kimani was very amused when an aspiring parliamentarian, suggested that he would ensure there is a digital village in Molo. Kimani did not understand how the villagers in his Tombo village could get to understand and appreciate technology yet they do not even have access to clean water and most of them do not have jobs. As a graduate, it is manifest that Kimani does not see the role of the digital villages because the government or the concerned Civil Society Organizations had not done enough to popularize the project. For Kimani, the question was simple; do we have to begin as a digital village before we can become digital towns, digital cities, and eventually a digital country? His argument raised important questions regarding grassroots preparations for the digital villages’ project. It is time that Kenya embraced technology but it should start from the level of cities and towns before moving to villages. Why would you want to have solar powered computers while all you can do is check mail and chat with strangers abroad? If government records were online, then people would congregate in cyber cafés in the city instead of lounging at the ministry offices. Others would go to nearest towns and seek to access information and services online. Eventually, astute business people will bring internet to towns to lessen the distance. Just like it happens when people get new district headquarters, the distance is made shorter. People will appreciate technology more. With the critical mass, people will move the services to the local level, where two villages can unite and come up with one kiosk, whether powered by electricity or solar, it will achieve the objective. This formed the basis for Kimani’s argument. To him, Nakuru should be a fully digital town, then Molo before finally moving to Tombo village. By the time connectivity comes to Tombo village, locals will already know about it. If you ask the people behind the project, they say those who say the project should start from the cities are prophets of doom. And they have their reasons too. They say everybody should have a chance to understand and use technology, whether in the village or in the city. Indeed, Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication says the government is in the process of digitizing all records from the chaotic ministry of lands to the judiciary. But this process has taken long! Imagine one can not even pay rates online. I think the e-transaction should be priority. Let us pay for the government bills we know and then we can do the 1970s search tomorrow. The e-transaction debate can be left for another day! According to Dr. Ndemo, starting January, the ministry will start implementation of the digital villages’ project at the village level. First assignment will be to collect sample census data. If successful, the exercise shall be rolled out in all constituencies. By this time, Dr. Ndemo expects the youth to borrow from the youth fund or any microfinance institution and invest at least Ksh. 100,000 required to set up a digital village with two PCs. The ministry says it will provide training in entrepreneurship. Ideally the digital villages are expected to raise the bar on service delivery and make the government more efficient. But without proper training and demystification of myths around technology, the whole project may just be a flop. It is expected that the government will outsource most of the non core services like answering queries and customer care, among other services. Adds Dr. Ndemo; “The strategy is to get the youth accustomed into strict deadlines before they get to work for multinationals. Once we start marketing, I am sure they shall get outsourced local customer care. I think local companies are ready to focus on their core activities by outsourcing non-core services”. The emphasis on government services is not to say that the private sector will not benefit from the project. This is only because 90 per cent of the people who come to Nairobi every morning from the rural areas usually visit government offices for one reason or the other. Some of them are simple queries that could be solved at the click of a button. There is no doubt that technology is a great leveler. It can give people from all walks of life access to information which they can turn into knowledge and improve their lives. E.g. farmers can share local information and successes and give each other tips on successful farming. In education, students and teachers can design strategies on improving education by sharing information online. Various regions can develop their teaching materials. All sorts of people can use the digital villages to improve their skills. For instance, in the morning have unemployed youngsters who use the equipment to teach themselves new skills. In the afternoon, school teachers and school goers come to complete projects and update their PC literacy. In the evenings it's open session - all kinds of people of any age use the facility. This way, the community will buy into the project so that the digital villages can eventually become community projects. The idea is definitely noble; the villages can help foster an entrepreneurial spirit in Kenya but that spirit needs to be nurtured. The idea still boils back to the question of local content. How do we encourage people to write histories of their clans, families and villages so that younger generations can access them in future? How do we tap the knowledge held by our grand parents and store it online? How can Kenyans use technology to inform future generations of our past? That will be the daunting task that the government will have to address. Companies can partner with the government and design strategies to make the ICT villages a success. This can take corporate social responsibility to a new level.
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6:58
From: Me, Life & Everything
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Rendezvous: 1558hrs
Prolixity: Rambling
Mood: Grouchy
Whereabouts: Work
Track: If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Simply Red
I am not know for Neo-Soul Thursday was yesterday fabulous music blaring out of whatever speakers were in my vicinity, haki Capital should pay me for viral marketing, its only fair. Ask my boss, he has to listen to it whenever I [...]
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5:29
From: KA-INVESTOR
Read This Entry & More At KA-INVESTOR
Safaricom - Their IPO is scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2008. Probably in early March. I expect this to be a barometer of investors confidence on the market after the post election skirmishes - They incurred a loss of over Ksh400 million in the post elections violence - their 10/5 bob offer has bee extended to January 15th. Celtel - Launches a new cheaper pamoja service that will see its customers enjoy cheaper calling rates of up to 30% lower than the current charges - I can’t wait to see what Safaricom will come up with in response to this. Remember when Celtel came up with their ‘one bob offer’, Safaricom responded with a 10/5 bob offer. - Celtel lost over Ksh.200 million due to the post election violence Econet - Has sold 49% of its shares to an Indian communication company Essar Communication Holdings. I hope this will enable them roll out the much a waited third mobile phone service line. - This will most definitely increase competition in this industry leading to price cuts for the consumers.
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2:16
From: You Missed This
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Preamble: Following publication of an article in this blog titled “Charles Taylor Now, Mwai Kibaki Next?” a number of readers have challenged the author to publish all photographs of victims of police brutality. Note that the bodies are intact but with head/body injuries inflicted by gunfire or other means as opposed to crude weapons. Another reader has aptly suggested “……that this forum provides substantiated facts and insist on use of civil language when exchanging opinions. Otherwise you will find people quoting from it and spreading untruths which will not help us heal the land.” Other readers may find these photos disturbing but the author’s considered opinion is that the truth shall set us free and put this country on the path to justice. Related Links:        
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1:59
From: Hapa Kenya
Read This Entry & More At Hapa Kenya
To understand the genesis of Kibaki's intransigence and [recent] odd behaviour, look no further than Ms. Martha Karua's interview with the BBC here. Vindictive, tactless, irrelevant, blinkered, absurd, out of touch – no adjective can quite describe her toe-curling performance. What planet does this woman live in? http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/progs/08/hardtalk/karua_09jan.ram or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7179270.stm Listening to Karua's sullen, selective apportioning of blame, it's hard to see how the peace effort would have amounted to anything other than a tourist visit for President Kufuor and Ms. Jendayi Fraser. It's also obvious that the interviewer and Sir Edward Clay were having a laugh at her expense. I have given up on Kibaki, but I'm still holding out for Kenya. Will Koffi Annan succeed? Let's wait and see.
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1:44
From: You Missed This
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Two things have shocked me today. 1) The realization that the people who were involved in the rigging (cooking) of figures during the just concluded general elections are still at it. 2) The realization that some of the people involved read this blog religiously. On Monday Jan 7th 2007, I posted the following remark in one of my posts; Monday, January 07, 2008 Nime-RIG, Muta do? Excerpts of Richard's email to Kumekucha;"Are you aware ECK is yet to release the final tally to Kenyans? The 1 million votes that gave Kibaki the final figure are yet to be broken down. The Meru and Central Kenya 90% turnout was never carried by the press..."
Kumekucha's comment: They're probably still cooking.Yesterday a notice (paid advertisement) appeared in the newspapers finally releasing those results. They were signed by disgraced ECK Chair Samuel Kivuitu. But wait a minute... Today Kivuitu has denied that he had anything to do with the notice or the figures. The piece that appeared in today's Standard says in part; "I wish to say I did not submit this report or authorise my name to be used for its publication. The use of my name is a falsification," said Kivuitu.
"It seems like some outside force has pushed for its publication otherwise whoever published it would have sought my consent for the use of my name," he said of the paid-up advertisement booked by the commission’s secretary, Mr Joel Tsola.Wow!!! Gosh!!! What the??!!! Well, folks, the plot thickens. Despite strong but secret support from the Americans, the credibility of this Kibaki administraion is being bombarded every day. Just how much more punishment can it take? I must say that I am very surprised at the clumsiness of the election riggers. Even now when there is no pressure from anybody, couldn't they get something as simple as publishing figures which the ECK chairman does not agree with, right? This clumsiness is what has brought blood shed in the country. My take is that if they wanted to rig they would have done it intelligently and neatly so that nobody has any proof. I thought retired president Moi was on their side, why didn't he give them a few tips? Had they gotten that detail right, hundreds of Kenyans, including children who are now dead would have been still alive. Read the full Standard article here. Some of the images that can't leave my mind. Dead toddlers from the election violence at the City Morgue in Nairobi.
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0:00
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Monday, January 24, 2000
Orengo's Crying Wolf, Fangs at his ThroatBy JOHN GITHONGO
Kenyan politicians are given to claiming from time to time that their "political enemies" have hatched plots to kill them and/or have "poured money to finish them politically." The idea is to enhance their "profile," to show that they are a serious political threat to the powers that be. Kenyans no longer take such claims seriously.
The problem with this is that it is easy to overlook genuine claims by politicians whose lives are indeed in danger. I for one now believe that James Orengo, the Ford-Kenya MP for Ugenya and Shem Ochuodho, the National Development Party of Kenya (NDP) MP for Rangwe, are in mortal danger.
Both leaders hail from the Luo community and have been locked in an acrimonious political tug-of-war with the undisputed political giant from that part of Kenya – Raila Odinga, who heads the NDP. On the face of it, the disagreement is essentially over Mr Odinga's "strategy" of "co-operation" with the ruling party Kanu. Orengo and Ochuodho, with their contrarian views, have served to diminish Raila's stature as the political supremo of Luoland, thus also denting his credibility as someone who can bring a large and totally solid bloc of support to the table when negotiating with President Moi politically. The political contest between Raila and the two MPs, Orengo in particular, has been probably the most intense internal opposition slugfest since the reintroduction of political pluralism in Kenya.
It has also been the most violent. Several times in the past couple of years, Messrs Orengo and Ochuodho have found themselves confronted by stone-wielding gangs of Raila supporters baying for their blood. Many of these incidents have happened upcountry but have been unique for the violent intent of these gangs. A keen survival instinct would appear to have saved Orengo from nasty injury or worse on a number of occasions.
In the second week of January, Jim Orengo and Shem Ochuodho were attacked outside parliament by a gang of youths carrying knives, whips and stones. They had just left a meeting of the Stakeholders Support Group (SSG) – an informal grouping of MPs and civil-society activists who are questioning the impending resumption of aid to Kenya by the IMF. Orengo's driver saved the day when he did a quick U-turn and fled the stone-throwing gang. Meanwhile, Shem Ochuodho's car had been rammed by the Mitsubishi Pajero of an NDP politician. The People Daily described the youths as NDP supporters, saying they were heard shouting the party's slogans.
The fracas coincided with an attempted demonstration by university students opposed to the parliamentary select committee on constitutional reform, who were also attacked by the thugs. Passers-by were caught up in the melee, notably Leonard Ng'an'ga, an insurance salesman whose brutal beating was captured on television. Wananchi and MPs who spoke to the press after witnessing the attack on Orengo and Ochuodho were shocked by its viciousness and concurred that the aim appeared to be the murder of the two MPs.
The problem for Orengo and Ochuodho is that the authorities don't appear unduly perturbed that someone is trying to bump them off.
When a group of politicians rushed to the CID headquarters to report the crime, the officer on duty told the Kabete MP, Paul Muite, "If you know that not much will be done, why are you here?" Something was done last week. Orengo was charged with "incitement" and appeared in court, while five of his attackers "recorded statements" with the police and were released. It would be sad if after what we know and after all that has happened, a few months down the road we find ourselves writing obituaries or "get well soon" cards for people whose fears were so justifiable and so apparent to all Kenyans.
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