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22:34
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
Update:04/28/2008 “Andrew is out of jail on Bond, he has to report to the police tomorrow.”
Thanks for the good news Emeka
This piece of news via the TED blog is terribly worrisome. Andrew Mwenda, arguably Africa’s most refreshing intellectual and journalist, has been arrested by Ugandan officials. More here.
This is utter injustice, and i am not even sure where to begin. For now, highlighting it on this blog seems to be one way, please highlight it on yours too, and I am sure some initiatives and online campaigns are being organized. Keep an eye on the TED blog for Updates.
Below is a picture i took of him last year at TEDGlobal. He is the one in the middle with glasses,looking at the Mamamikes remittance site, and speaking with Segeni.
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17:22
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
The horrid conditions of the IDPs has mutated to a new crisis. Meanwhile the curse of Ps has seen PORTFOLIO give birth to PROTOCOL crisis. Are we jinxed as a nation to be eternally diving into one political crisis after another? Well, we asked for all that befalls as dutifully shepherded by our DULY ELECTED leaders.
The IDP problem must be put into its right context. The truth be told, Kibaki is under immense pressure from his tribesmen to use his presidential powers to resettle them. The Kikuyu Diaspora is alive to the fact that the present political and power dispensation won’t last long. Kibaki is very keen to camouflage the TRIBAL push pretending to be oblivious of the fact that he is the SINGULAR CAUSE of the IDPs.
The protocol crisis is Kibaki succession brought forward albeit in disguise. The objective is to undercut the very force whose hand you are seeking to help you navigate choppy political waters. Don’t fool yourself for a second that Kibaki is above the political fray. The script playing itself is well rehearsed with his knowledge. While he wants to make Kalonzo feel appreciated as a saviour during tumultuous times, the GEMA power brokers will stop at nothing to undermine Raila politically.
Where do these serial goofs and cheap power plays leave the IDPs? These UNFORTUNATE Kenyans remain pawns in the selfish pre and post election game of TRIBAL SUPREMACY. An honest evaluation of the whole charade will reveal that Kibaki needed Raila as a cover to visit the IDPs. Since his BEDROOM swearing in, the THIEF-IN-CHIEF only made a technical appearance in Eldoret before and he knew what a waited him were he to ignore the ODM team.
Cultivate peace not legislate
Kibaki the marionette is captive to ETHNIC supremacists who cannot allow him the luxury of thinking outside the box. True leadership demands leading from the front and by example. Kibaki’s conceived his model of leadership from Kenyatta and weaned it under Moi. Expediency is his FORTE. He prefers quick fixes as the problem smoulders underneath to explode another day. To make resettling the IDPs an event and not a process is akin to placing the cart before the horse, but who cares?
The present IDP problem is symptomatic of our DECEPTIVE leadership. Kenya has been home to more than a million IDPs since 2005. But then these are LESSER Kenyans from the wrong geographical regions who are mere statistics. They cannot be any priority to the DULY ELECTED. Either Kibaki considers Kenyans as dunderheads who can be collectively duped or he can willfully serve them full course of his usual utter CONTEMPT when he preaches peace and reconciliation while remotely entertaining power wars on the same platform.
Peace is CULTIVATED and never LEGISLATED. You cannot afford a policeman for each displaced Kenyan. The IDPs are not naive and will not move back into their previous homes without guaranteed security from both their neighbours and government. Selective quoting of the constitution that you can own property anywhere won’t wash. It only leaves you wondering why that piece of legislation selectively and EXCLUSIVELY applies to only one part of Kenya.
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15:42
From: Words Much Like Poetry
Read This Entry & More At Words Much Like Poetry
need flows like swift staccato beats of a jazzy trumpet piece
through the vault like chambers of my mournful heart,
which in turn sings of its despair, in a quivering contralto,
notes sustained longer than their normal duration,
a fermata having been placed over each,
a song which tells of the lack of symmetry
my life has been in for far too long,
of the lack of a mode of proper arrangement
for the poor state of affairs my house is in,
telling of my desire for order.
fear of never accomplishing this task
grips me in relentless measures,
a composition to be played forte,
and which leaves one gasping and overwhelmed at the crescendo,
driving unmercifully home the fact that i am steward
to two of the next generation,
son and daughter of vivacious spirit,
and that they require a solid foundation to build upon.
but while fear is a masterfully written piece that resonates throughout,
determination flounders and is rarely heard or felt
beyond the threshold of my inner sanctum,
a place i frequently visit
and stand before my reflection in critical manner,
and though i bleat at myself sharp reviews, often scathing remarks,
i cannot seem to find the method necessary to acquire order.
what now shall i do,
what more can i do?
i must accept the path trodden well by others,
sacrifice must come again in great number
for rewards that are as grains of sand,
insignificant when they are but a few.
the time will come, however,
when determination is a powerful sound,
a concerto of unwavering movements,
a definitive fork that marks the place
where i can finally veer off course
and plot a route that is all my own.
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15:13
From: Rants, Raves & Reviews
Read This Entry & More At Rants, Raves & Reviews
6 brokers on the Watchlist according the Business Daily. Bob Mathews - In trouble once. In trouble again? Discount Securities - The owners tried to sell it at an inflated price but no-one bit at the time. Reliable Securities - In the news before. Jos Konzolo was the former NSSF head honcho. Crossfield - Securities - No idea. Solid Securities - Now NIC Capital. An operational matter or a problem with the prior owners. NIC Bank has enough money to keep them in business. NIC owns 60% of SS but I expect an 'internal' Rights Issue will increase their stake. Ngenye Kariuki & Co - A surprise on this list. It has been a 'steady' firm with a large retail base. The owner is a hands-on manager (unlike Nyaga Stockbrokers). Does any one have more to add on these firms? And a new broker- Chartered Capital. Info from Bankelele. I think the value of the 'licenses' will drop from the astronomical figures bid by Old Mutual (KShs 452mn) and Renaissance Capital (KShs 256mn). Rumours have it that there are another 4 new licenses waiting to be issued.
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13:01
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
 Prime Minister Raila Odinga left the country earlier today (Sunday) to undergo laser eye surgery in Germany. ODM Spokesman Salim Lone is quoted as saying: "Prime Minister Raila Odinga was traveling with his wife and will be back in Nairobi on Friday." Lone explained that the procedure was "minor laser eye surgery." Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki recently struck a power-sharing agreement after both men claimed to have won the Dec. 27 presidential election in a dispute that unleashed weeks of ethnically tinged violence. More than 1,200 people died and 300,000 were displaced. On Saturday, Odinga and Kibaki finished a three-day "peace tour" of areas hardest-hit by the postelection violence. Raila has been seen on many occasions dabbing his eye with a handkerchief. He attributes the "tears" to bad lighting in jail cells during his long nine-year stint in detention-without-trial, five years of which was in solitary confinement and incommunicado at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi. His only reading material during the detention was the Bible and Quran. Resources:
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12:17
From: AfriGadget
Read This Entry & More At AfriGadget
Makeni is a small town in Sierra Leone. Like the rest of the country, it is trying to recover from years of internal strife. Unlike the rest of the country, they have the Binkolo Growth Centre, a small industrial project near Makeni where the manufacture of small farm implements, tailoring, carpentry and blacksmithing takes place, and includes the use of disabled people. Two VSO volunteers, one from Kenya one from Canada, work to train and bring new ideas to the centre.
One such idea was to create a fuel replacement for their pickup by using local palm nuts, a by-product of the palm kernels, which are generally fed to pigs or used for fertilizer. Since diesel fuel for their truck runs approximately $5/gallon, it wouldn’t hurt to try.
It became clear that in our poor country the chief hurdles were getting the chemicals and the right equipment. The search was on for the chemicals and after quite a treasure hunt and more than a few bribes we managed to find 4 litres of Methanol and 5 kilos of Potassium Hydroxide (enough to make a good bomb I think)…
…Actually the whole scene was quite amusing. Here we were hoping to compete with the big oil producers in the back yard of a small village and using an untried collection of old car parts, old pipes and taps attached to a used chemical container, all put together in an image downloaded from the internet. Nonetheless we were fuelled by much excitement, with much of the local community looking on, wondering what on earth we were up to.
Read the rest of this great story, and see a lot more images, on Paul in Sierra Leone’s Blog!
(hat tip Emeka)
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12:04
From: The Displaced African
Read This Entry & More At The Displaced African
Hello! Hello! Hello!
I am now declaring this week:
The Week that Audio Built
Brilliant Title for a Week, Mwangi. But Why?
I am glad you asked. This week every single post that I will release will have some audio component to it. This all begins of course with:
The Welcome Message
You will notice on the banner at the very top of the site, there is now a small media player with the words:
Press play to hear a welcome message from Mwangi
I created this little player just so that I had a novel way of promoting and reinforcing what the blog is about and guiding y’all and helping y’all get the most out of the website.
However, the Weirdest Thing
Though I have had the good fortune of being on radio for a very brief period on my life, I still felt very self conscious and nervous about recording the welcome message. In fact after recording five takes I just gave up on trying to record, ” a perfect message wherein I am comfortable,” and decided it was better to put something up ASAP and tweak it as I went along.
NB: As I release this I am working on a new version of the welcome message so I should be changing the welcome message very soon, God willing!
So I have decided to get over my self-consciousness over my vocal abilities in the best way I know how:
A Week Where I Do Voice Posts….Well, Not Exactly
Every single post I will do this week will involve my voice in some way shape or form and the posts for this week are divided into two categories:
1) Podcasts
2) Guest posts
Podcast
Tomorrow, I release my first ever podcast (yay!). I recorded it a few weeks back and its about a true-angel-among-men (or rather women) who died a little over a month ago. This is me talking to my mother about this great lady. Please listen, learn and distribute the podcast as much as you can, because she truly is Africa’s own Mother Teresa.
Guest Posts
After asking for help last week, I am glad to say some of you gladly obliged. I will be releasing the guest posts that have been sent to me over the course of the week with brief audio introductions for each from yours truly. Feel free to consider me like the blogging MC.
The Hit List
The guests who have blessed me with prose are:
a) Jim, from the forum that feels like your favorite Aunty’s home, Kenyanzone.
b) Acolyte from “My part of the world” (well, it’s his part of the world, not my part, for you see….aaaaahhhhh whatever!)
c) Seinlife from well “Seinlife” where I can actually discuss healthy eating and not look like a loony.
d) Gal Africana representing ‘the Hagen’, Copenhagen that is, in her “search for sanity“.
I truly hope you enjoy and are nourished by the week of festivities I have lined up. See you in the comments section.
If the idea of a week of audio excites you then please subscribe to the site for free via either email or RSS to get the latest audio posts as soon as they are released.
Hope your ears enjoy,
Mwangi
PS: If you claim to have been born in Africa but don’t know who Zangalewa are…..sigh, you missed out man. Enjoy the silliness and the poetry that is Tibeeeeeee….Zangalewa!
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11:10
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
Read This Entry & More At Kikuyumoja's realm
There’s this story going round that the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) tapped an Afghan Ministry - which stirred up some dust on their work. The issue came into limelight when journalist of the SPIEGEL realized that they were also being monitored due to conversations they had with an Afghan Minister in the past.
Now, I am not the person to deliver any facts or details on this particular story, but I really have to wonder about some fellow Germans who apparently think that there’s anything wrong about this procedure…Well, is it?
I leave it to you to decide if an Intelligence Agency (responsible for foreign affairs) *should* use all available technical facilities to monitor all electronic communication. Obviously, this also is a a) a political decision and b) if *they* think it’s appropriate, they will do it - with or without a political or legal mandate.
What really worries me though is this new law in Germany that gives so much more power into the wrong hands and which enables them to monitor all electronic (communication) data within the country.
Only ~ 30.000 ppl out of ~ 80 Million registered with a lawyer in Berlin to impeach the Government on their behalf on this issue. I am one of them. We all HAD the chance of taking the Government to court on this stupid and dangerous law, but only a relatively few took the opportunity of doing so. Main excuse: “I don’t have anything to hide..”. As IF that was reason enough to accept this law without regarding the personal consequences this really implies. I did have some nasty conversations - even with relatives - on this issue and it always appeared to me that they never really wanted to understand the impact this will have on everyone of us in future. Ppl just dont’t want to understand it.
Oh, terrorism? “Terror(ism) is what they do to us”.
My colleague Chris also blogged on this in English earlier this year in a very comprehensive article.
Now, according to this article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), all e-mail traffic of the named Afghan Ministry is said to be done via Yahoo!.
And this is exactly where I thought: WHAT THE….why-o-why are they still using Yahoo!?????
Take Afghanistan and replace that word with any other country. ANY! I am sure there are hundreds or thousands of potential victims out there (including me) who haven’t yet really protected their online activities or who don’t even know about how to engage protective measurements.
We do have a Federal Office in Germany - the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik - that provides directives and trainings on how to secure your online activities. Only, they are not being applied in this particular case, because if they were serious on this, they could have told the Afghan Ministry to stop using Yahoo! & other free (unsecured) webmailers. And politicians often aren’t the ones who think in IT-security terms. Hell, who does? So if they don’t know, it’s easier to spy on them. Simple as that. Besides, everyone knows that everyone is spying on everyone.
Case in point: I’ve seen many many fellow ppl working in the Government of Kenya who were using free webmailers. If you were interested in monitoring them, just wouldn’t need advanced equipment. And with the Government having access to GSM monitoring equipment, even cellular phones aren’t fully protected.
I believe there’s no 100% secure concept out there to protect you from any tapping or DDoS, so it’s up to you to decide what and to which extent you want to communicate online.
Another analogy to Kenya:
Six of the 20 Afghan cabinet ministers had spent part of their lives in Germany and spoke German, the newspaper said. Farhang holds a doctorate from the University of Cologne and taught at the University of Bochum before returning home. (source)
As long as there are interests and investments at stake, there will always be a monitoring of other parties, governments or just indivduals. With or without a political mandate, with or without any moral obligations and regardless of any “good relationships” with deployed politicians. Raila of course knows this, but hey: as long as the GoK keeps on buying Mercedes and strucks some maintenance deals for the fleet - why worry?
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10:51
From: White African
Read This Entry & More At White African
There are a number of technology companies from South Africa that have had no small amount of success. I want to take a minute to highlight two of them though, because I think they show something important.
The decision you have to make when deciding to create a technology business, a web or mobile application in Africa, is whether it’s something for the local market or international. Very few companies are solving for both. In my examples you’ll see Mxit, a company solving for a local problem, and Synthasite, a company solving for an international problem.
For those who don’t know, Mxit created a java-enabled chat application for mobile phones that decreases the cost per message compared by ~90% of a normal SMS message. They have over 7.5 million users after just a few years in action, and are the staple communication system for young mobile users in South Africa. It’s a phenomenon, and they’re looking to expand internationally.
Synthasite is the free web site creator and publishing platform, designed and created in the mold of any Web 2.0 app coming out of the Silicon Valley. Vinny, the founder, tells me that they have over 70k users and are increasing that by 1000 each day - which puts them as one of the top 3 services like this in the world. They have just moved 1/3 of their operations to San Francisco, with 2/3 of the company still in Cape Town.
Both of these companies had completely different strategies: local and global. These companies serve to prove that any developer in Africa with a good idea that solves a problem, and has the drive to see it through, can be incredibly successful. It’s inspiring, and I hope that more of Africa’s web developers will see the opportunities all around them.
[Image courtesy of Rafiq via Flickr]
 
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3:38
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
 President Mwai Kibaki , left, and Prime Minister Raila Odinga , right, wave at a crowd of Internally Displaced persons(IDPs) in the Kenyan town of Naivasha Saturday, April 26 2008 as they toured the area to preach peace and reconciliation Most of the 157,000 IDPs living in camps still cannot go home more than four months after a disputed presidential election unleashed weeks of ethnically tinged bloodshed. For far too long now, this country has been treated to the tired old line. Constitution says this, constitution says that, blah blah blah. It is so ironic because the same constitution, everyone agrees, is responsible for a myriad of problems facing the country and is actually overdue for a major overhaul.Because of the same constitution, the electoral process has always been tipped to favour the incumbent and in 2007, ECK's Kivuitu took full advantage of a constitutional vacuum to declare Mwai Kibaki as president. It is my considered opinion that Raila Odinga and ODM are not in anyway obligated to participate in peace rallies organized by President Kibaki. But by graciously accepting to do so, some PNU politicians are already mistaken in assuming that ODM must see to it that IDPs are re-settled. To make matters worse, the minor protocol incident between the Prime Minister and the Vice President has already resulted in the IDPs saying that they will not return home. In these peace missions, it is now apparent that the VP is a heavy liability rather than an unifying asset and his attempts at gaining relevance is producing reverse consequences. Perhaps we ought to listen to Rift Valley MPs who are opposed to this hurried resettlement missions. The fact is that IDPs were present in Kenya even before the post elections violence broke-out; but it never received presidential attention. That’s right folks. The period between the 2005 referendum and the 2007 general elections saw Kenya become home to an unprecedented one million IDPs spread all over the country. This is the highest number of internal refugees anywhere in the world for a country not at war. I did not for once hear the Kiunjuris of this world insist on immediate resettlement of these hapless Kenyans. As presidential candidates, Kalonzo or Kibaki never bothered to highlight the plight of these forgotten citizens the current ODM MP for Mt. Elgon was nominated to run for the seat while in police custody on trumped-up charges. As head of state, and commander in chief, the president himself has never concerned himself with the state-sponsored insecurity that existed in some of the violence hotspots like Mt. Elgon, Kuresoi and Molo. It has not escaped anyone’s attention that because the majority of these so called IDPs in Rift Valley are from a certain ancestry, it has suddenly caught the attention of the powers that be we actually have Kenyans who are living like refugees in their own country. As we speak, the government is at war with its own citizens in Mt. Elgon through a massive military operation. Do you see where Hon Kapondi, Hon Ruto and Hon Bett are coming from? Back to the current peace mission in Rift Valley, it is an open secret that DULY ERECTED Kibaki would never have attempted to embark on a peace tour without the POLITICAL SHIELD that is Raila Odinga. After being forced to a agree to share power with ODM, the PNU coalition partner is using the discredited constitution to once again politically undermine the ODM by purporting to rank the Prime Minister as a junior to the Vice President. As the PM rightly told the President, these sort of juvenile games are what is creating problems kule mashinani (at the grass roots). The people know that the VP happens to be a miserable presidential candidate who was resoundingly rejected at the polls. The two leading contenders amassed votes that were more than TEN TIMES what the VP got. Now, now, the constitution says that this is the individual who will automatically take over power should our current president become incapacitated. God forbid! Regardless of what the constitution says, the facts arising out of the unique circumstances of early this year are; - The 2007 presidential vote was heavily discredited and even the ECK cannot ascertain who the winner was. (One political party known as ODM-K, unashamedly supported the release of disputed presidential results).
- Two political parties (ODM/PNU) signed a peace accord to create a grand coalition as equal partners in order to make this country governable.
- The VP and PNU ’half loaf’ cabinet remain answerable to the President and serve at his pleasure, while ODM ‘half loaf’ cabinet serve at the pleasure of the PM who is only answerable to parliament. How then Raila as PM be subordinate to Kibaki's 'servant' so to speak? My understanding is that Raila’s ODM and Kibaki’s PNU are EQUAL partners.
- The accord says that the PM shall be the leader of the party with a majority of MPs in parliament. Unfortunately, some civil servants who should have retired when Moi and KANU were ousted from power, want us to believe that the VP is above the PM. The VP himself can hardly say he commands loyalty from his 15 ODM-K MPs.
- The recently released CAPF report on political parties election funding indicates that although the VP’s party was the lowest in terms of expenditure….its sources of cash were from former president Moi, Uhuru Kenyatta and George Saitoti amongst other 'ghost donors' – all of whom endorsed and strongly supported the candidature of PNU’s Mwai Kibaki. The ODM-K and its candidate never had any intentions of being elected to rule this country but rather to withhold votes that would have naturally ended up in favour PNU’s opponents. A further proof of this was the party’s disgusting behavior in the election despute and its hastiness in jumping into bed with PNU for purposes of blackmailing the president to part with the vice presidency and cabinet positions in order to obtain legitimacy. Puuuulease!
I wonder which brew intoxicates some of these PNU geezers. As the country tries to undo the sad consequences of Kivuitu’s irresponsible actions, the President must forthwith stop politicking with the resettlement of IDPs. In any case, the two grand coalition partners are EQUAL and should be the ones to make these peace missions on the ground. The VP’s presence and antics only helps to re-open old wounds and prolong the agony of IDPs. The IDPs quagmire requires political statesmanship, comprehensive land reforms as well as sustainable homeland security. I personally do not see Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka making delivery or even having a role to play in any of these! And this is not just me, the IDPs themselves have booed and jeered him severally at separate venues. Is anyone listening?
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3:19
From: Eyes on Kenya
Read This Entry & More At Eyes on Kenya
Abdilatif Abdalla alihojiwa kwa simu na mtangazaji wa Idhaa ya Kiswahili ya Sauti ya Ujerumani, Mohamed Dahman. Mahojiano haya yalitangazwa katika kipindi, Dunia Yetu, baada ya matokeo ya uchaguzi mkuu wa Kenya mwaka 2002, na siku moja baada ya Mwai Kibaki kuapishwa kuwa Rais mpya wa Kenya.
UTANGULIZI (MOHAMED DAHMAN): Mnasikiliza “Dunia Yetu” leo asubuhi kutoka Radio Deutsche Welle, Cologne. Na sasa umewadia wakati wa kuwadondolea yale yaliyoko katika safu yetu ya uchunguzi kutoka hapa na pale ulimwenguni. Asubuhi ya leo, mwanaharakati mashuhuri wa Kenya, Abdilatif Abdalla, anajiunga nasi kuzungumzia matarajio ya Wakenya kufuatia ushindi mkubwa wa kihistoria, wa muungano wa upinzani wa NARC, uliokiondoa chama cha KANU madarakani.
Kenya imepata Rais mpya, Mwai Kibaki, ambaye jana ameapishwa kushika wadhifa huo, kufuatia ushindi mkubwa wa muungano wa upinzani wa NARC dhidi ya chama cha KANU kilichokuwa kikitawala nchini humo, ambacho kilikuwa madarakani tokea uhuru wa nchi hiyo hapo mwaka 1963.
Abdilatif Abdalla ni mwanaharakati wa mageuzi ya Kenya tokea miaka ya 1960. Hapo mwaka 1966 alijiunga na chama cha upinzani cha KPU cha Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, na kuja hata kutumikia kifungo cha miaka mitatu gerezani, kuanzia mwaka 1968, chini ya utawala wa rais wa kwanza wa Kenya huru, Jomo Kenyatta, kwa kuandika makala zenye kukosoa serikali. Baadaye aliendeleza harakati hizo kupitia chama cha MWAKENYA, kilichokuwa kikiendesha harakati zake chini kwa chini katika miaka ya 1980. Asubuhi hii, Abdilatif Abdalla, ambaye hivi sasa ni mhadhiri katika Chuo Kikuu cha Leipzig hapa Ujerumani, amepata fursa ya kujiunga nasi. Na kwanza kabisa anatuelezea jinsi alivyozipokea habari hizo za Wakenya kuleta mabadiliko nchini mwao kwa njia ya kidemokrasia.
ABDILATIF: Imani yangu ni kwamba Wakenya hawataona kwamba hii ni hatua ya mwisho wakaanza kulala, bali hii ni hatua mojawapo tu ya kwendea kwenye lengo ambalo Wakenya wengi wanalitaka. Lakini kwa jumla ni habari ya furaha.
Halafu kumewekewa matarajio makubwa sana kwa Kibaki na muungano wake huu wa upinzani wa NARC: kwamba ameahidi kuwa Kenya sasa itakuwa na elimu bure ya msingi, ameahidi pia kwamba ataondoa utawala wa rushwa kwa sababu Kenya imeorodheshwa kuwa ni nchi mojawapo yenye serikali iliyotopea rushwa duniani. Halafu pia kuna swala la kufufua uchumi wa nchi uliozorota mno; miundombinu ya Kenya pia iko katika hali mbaya; serikali imeambiwa kwamba siyo safi, haifanyi kazi. Kwa hiyo sasa watu wanataka serikali safi inayowajibika, inayoaminika. Kwa hiyo ukitizama, Abdilatif, mambo hayo ni mengi, makubwa, na utekelezaji wake utahitaji wakati. Huoni hapa kwamba panaweza pakazuka kishindo?
Abdilatif: Kwa upande mmoja inaeleweka - kwamba kwa sababu nchi ya Kenya imekuwa katika hali hiyo mbaya kwa muda mrefu sana, kwa hivyo itakuwa ni kazi kubwa. Hizo ahadi zilizotolewa ni ahadi ambazo, kwa hakika, maadamu kuna nia – na iwe ni nia swafi na nia thabiti – nafikiri Wakenya kwa kuwa wamechoka na hali hii (na hapa haitategemea serikali peke yake, maana serikali peke yake haiwezi kufanya kitu, wala viongozi hao watakaounda serikali, peke yao hawataweza kutimiza lolote, ikiwa Wakenya wenyewe nao hawatashiriki na kushirikishwa katika kuibadilisha hali hii). Kwa hivyo, ikiwa kutakuwa na siasa nzuri na nia - tena thabiti na swafi - nina hakika mambo yataweza kutengenea, lakini yatachukua muda mrefu. Na Wakenya yataka wasiwe na pupa na haraka ya kutaka mambo yabadilike haraka haraka, maana hayataweza kubadilika.
Na tukija kwa upande wa KANU na Moi, wengi wanasema kwamba kitu ambacho watu hawawezi kukanusha kwamba ni mchango mkubwa wa Moi kwa Kenya – au tuseme, labda, ni hazina ya maana aliyowaachia Wakenya - ni amani: kwamba wakati wa utawala wake amejitahidi sana kuhakikisha kwamba amani inadumu Kenya.
Abdilatif: Katika hizi harakati za kisiasa, kuna watu chungu nzima ambao kwa muda wote huu ambao KANU imekuwa katika utawala, wameuwawa; watu wengine wamefungwa magerezani; watu wengine wameteswa kwa sababu ya kuwa na ujasiri wa kusema tu kwamba mambo yanakwenda vibaya na ni lazima yabadilike; na mambo mengine kadha wa kadha. Kwa hivyo, ikiwa watu wenyewe (walikuwa) hawana usalama, watu wenyewe (walikuwa) hawana hakika mtu kesho akiamka atakula nini, au mtoto wake akiwa mgonjwa (alikuwa) hana pesa za kumpelekea hospitali; hiyo pia ni sehemu katika amani ya nchi (ambayo haikuwako).
Halafu imeelezwa pia kwamba huu ushindi wa NARC umetokana na vitu viwili: kura ya kuukataa utawala (yaani kuikataa KANU na Moi), na matokeo – wanachosema kwamba – kama vile ni ya mapinduzi yaliyokuwa yakitokota kwa miezi sita iliyopita. Tukija kwa upande huo wa mapinduzi, changamoto kubwa mara nyingi inaonekana baada ya mapinduzi. Kwani ni kawaida kwa mapinduzi kuwala watoto wake wenyewe. Je, kwa upande wa NARC jambo hili halitotokea na kuja kusambaratisha chama hicho?
Abdilatif: Naam, kama ilivyo kawaida tena, wanasiasa wengi wamejiunga na NARC zaidi kwa maslahi yao ya binafsi kuliko kwa maslahi ya nchi au kwa maslahi ya wananchi wa Kenya. Kwa hivi sasa itaonekana kwamba labda wote wameshikamana. Lakini baada ya muda fulani kupita (na ikiwa serikali mpya hii kweli inataka kuleta mabadiliko, sioni vipi katika baadhi ya viongozi ambao wamo katika NARC hivi leo wataweza kuwa na madaraka katika serikali hii ya sasa). Maanake ni watu wale wale ambao walikuwa katika serikali ya KANU iliyopita, na wamefanya vitendo vichafu kabisa vya kuihujumu nchi na kuwahujumu wananchi, kwamba watu hawa wataweza kubadilika. Mimi hilo nina wasiwasi nalo sana. Kwa hivyo, hii ni hatua ya kwanza tu. Nina hakika kila tukiendelea mbele huko, ni lazima itabidi kuweko na mchujo mkubwa sana ikiwa kunatakikana kupatikane mabadiliko ya kweli katika nchi ya Kenya.
Abdilatif Abdalla, mwanaharakati mashuhuri wa mageuzi nchini Kenya.
- MWISHO -
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