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17:42
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
Read This Entry & More At Kikuyumoja's realm
A animated flash advertisement when I logged off my webmailer led me to the page of Volvic fuer UNICEF, an initiative between (the water brand) Volvic and UNICEF that provides a simple marketing idea:
Buy 1 litre of Volvic naturelle water and they (Volvic) will pay the equivalent of 10 litres in form of financial aid to UNICEF - who are said to be drilling boreholes in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
Wow.
What a perfect way to improve your public image.
Nothing new though, the project has been up and running since 2005 now, and there’s a credible (German) journalist doing his “research” on the ground to see every donation is properly used.
Now, before I delve into the usual criticism when it comes to dev aid, lemme get this straight:
People in Europe WANT to help other - poorer - people and they want this aid to arrive as a 100% sum. Obviously, it’s a noble idea.
See that screenshot above? It comes from the Volvic fuer Unicef website and informs visitors about recent activities, tells them where Ethiopia is, which region will benefit and even - and that’s a bit strange, I think - provides us with a gallery of donors that have already logged in on that site and donated for this cause.
Now, those 92 boreholes/wells may not be such a huge figure to the groundwater discharge problem, but as far as I am informed, “water is in abundant supply on the world’s poorest continent” and “poorly managed”.
Poorly managed, oh yes indeed.
So what do you - dear readers - think about such an intiative, considering various complex aspects such as
a) the usage of a mismanaged, but proud and rich country like Ethiopia to highlight some burning Millenium Developement Goals?
b) private companies trying to raise their sales & creating a positive product image by donating a certain amount for an x quantity of sold goods?
c) consumer’s desires to share their relative wealth with other, less fortunate people on this planet in a politically correct way?
As for me, I am bit undecided. It always freaks me out when I see this kind of advertisement (Africa = poor = help needed) - as already seen the other day.
Even IF we share 1 Euro/pp with another nation of our choice - will things improve? And is it only a matter of financial aid?
What about poor management? What about those young academics who are educated abroad and then have to settle for a 300,- EUR/month job with a governmental institution once they come back? Are they going to be the Cheetah generation? Or are they rather going to stick to the rules and manage to climb the institutional job ladder in order to support their families and continue managing the mismanagement they’ve inherited from the retiring Hippos?
I think that Ethiopia does not really need this help. Sure, it’s a nice gift and comes for free + provides further income, but is this the way to help?
How do you feel about this?
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15:18
From: More to Life
Read This Entry & More At More to Life
It never ceases to amaze me how many words we have found to describe and categorize hate. If we just left the word as it is, hate, we might potentially force ourselves to take a good look at ourselves and perhaps, just perhaps; as the human race, make better decisions. And more than as the human race, as Africans be able to do the same.
What is going on in Africa, I ask? How did we get here? What really is going on? Forget all the explanations everyone is so quick to offer. What really is going on?
Xenophobia, racism, tribalism, bias (religios or otherwise) and all other words that we often use to describe situations. Say we expelled these from the english dictionary for a while. Say we couldn't use these words. If suddenly they had no meaning and were replaced by their more generic term. The term under which umbrella they all fall. Then the news headlines this year might read as follows.
"Kenya in turmoil as Hatred flares"
"No solution to Hatred in Sudan yet"
"South Africa burns as Hatred flares"
Passages within the stories covered by these headlines might include these words:
"Lessons not learnt from Rwanda when Hatred between its two tribes ended up in genocide" Or to be more effective, let's replace the word genocide with "the loss of numerous innocent lives"
It baffles me, completely, how people get here; how they get like this. How you get to believe so much that a group of people, whom you don't know by name save for maybe 0.02% of these group members, people one will never meet, and people who will most likely never cross your path. How you get to believe that eliminating them, 'these people' will make your life better. How you can be convinced that that would be the solution to your problems. How you can get here and cannot understand that you are your own worst enemy, I don't get it.
This is the sheer inability to look into the mirror and see one's own reflection.
It is completely unlikely that eliminating a certain kind of people, especially through death is the solution anyone has been looking for all their lives to get them to that happy place. That 'other people' have been the hindrance to your progress, especially when freedoms of access to the same things by and large have been established, save for social classes being the main division. To choose to kill, instead of to understand the path, the route needed to bridge one from poverty to wealth and then proceed to fight for the implementation and access of the tools needed to move from poverty to wealth;to draw an innocent person's blood and attempt to justify it under this guise; to be this selfish, this stupid, this worthless, is the epitome of human failure.
Poverty hurts more when one starts to believe they are entitled to other people's stuff. Poverty is difficult but it is no excuse for commiting crimes. Suffering is to be abhored, but cannot be escaped by inflicting the same upon others. And poverty requires patience and understanding to overcome. Some so much, that as parents, sometimes what the options are is to establish that the necessary changes have been put into place, are being put into place progressively, so that the next generation has hope. Poverty and suffering cannot be resolved by throwing entire communities and nations into a state of despair. Instead, hope must prevail. And this cannot be achieved through bloody means.
There isn't a single lesson Africa hasn't learned yet. Maybe, just maybe, if we start using core terms, such as hatred, and people and murder in place of the more decorated and somewhat redemptive terms such as xenophobia, and foreign persons and cleansings; maybe then we can really start to hear things. And maybe then we can take stork of what exactly it is that we are partcipating in.
All of it is murder. By coveting thy neighbor's wealth, btw. You get so mad that they are wealthy that you believe they must be stealing from you and even without any evidence of such crimes against yourself, you take a weapon and strike them their death blow. Murder. period.
No sugar coating. Just plain generic terms and meanings.
After all if it requires that much explanation, someone is probably trying to hide something. Perhaps guilt.
Get it together, Africa. Get it together. Your people need you.
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13:03
From: The Displaced African
Read This Entry & More At The Displaced African
Before we get into the festivities for the day, let me say a public congratulations to the founders of Ushahidi for winning Net Square and please stop by White African and express your love and support.
Africans collectively are probably the best educated group of middle managers the world over. We love employment.Entrepreneurship is for these crazy Westerners. Employment is OUR natural habitat.
When we are born, we all want to work in some big corporate office and wear a very expensive suit and just enough cologne so that everyone can whiff the money as you walk on by. We are taught to expect the long days in meetings, the powerpoint presentations and the water-cooler-oops-this-is-Africa-where-it-doesn’t-work-so-let’s-say-the-
tea-room-where-you-boil-some-tap-water-with-some-fantastic-tea-leaves while you complain about the pain in the Gluteus that your boss is being.
Right next to this love of employment is a hatred and fear of entrepreneurship. Africans don’t like risk and taking chances. We don’t care if the top 50 billionaires are predominantly business owners who created new niches and sub-niches in the marketplace, we reason the 500 poorest folk were probably trying to do the exact same thing. We hate the fact that entrepreneurship means responsibility, especially when we fail…boy do we loathe and dread failure.
And so the typical African likes to stay in their cushy office and make fun of anyone who might try something as crazy as entrepreneurship. The key to this one is quite simple:
Marvel at whatever job title the African may present to you and always keep in mind the story of someone who started some really stupid business that ended up failing. This will amuse the African and remind them why they do the 9 to 5 thing in the first place.
To understand the habits and likes of the African person, make sure you stay up to date via RSS or email: The blog is updated daily.
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12:44
From: Startups in Kenya
Read This Entry & More At Startups in Kenya
As one of the new owners of Safaricom (granted that I get at least some 100 shares after the massively oversubscribed IPO) I take a keen interest in its (Safaricom's) financial future. I'll try not to repeat what has probably been written, blogged, sms'ed, posted etc. a thousand times over in other fora and instead give my own two sumunis on what I believe lies in wait for this behemoth. I'll warn you first that most of what I write here is speculative and should not form the basis of your investment decisions. In my last post I mentioned I would talk about how Safaricom is transforming itself into a financial company. It seems that now everyone else is sitting up and taking notice. For anyone who followed the release of S'coms spectacular financial results released a couple of days ago you would have noted how their trumpted their M-PESA product yet at the same time tried to assuage banks that they were not in competition with them. Give me a break! Now that I will be attending AGMs (which might probably be online ;) since the estimated shareholders number 750K) I would really put to task the board if they did not convert themselves into a bank. Picture the economic landscape and make your own conclusion: 1. M-PESA is fabulously successful, notching up over 2M users in a short period of 12 months, with another potential 8M in line to become users. 2. The margins for M-PESA are fantatistically high, e.g. when you are charged KSh. 30 for sending KSh. 100; Safaricom's only direct cost is the cost of the SMS which they send to the recepient and to you (about KSh. 1 cost). Since they have partnered with dealers to undertake the actual cash handling they need not worry about branch overheads. 3. Safaricom's Average Revenue Per User is dropping as they approach saturation in urban areas and extend their network to rural areas, and they will be looking to increase revenue through other products. 4. The GK has promised that calls will be KSh. 2/minute this time next year, which means that Safaricom will need another cash cow. 5. In March Business Daily reported that Safaricom was trying to extend M-PESA into UK but were restricted by a number of conditions, one of which was the need to have a banking licence. 6. Safaricom has set very high standards for itself both financially and innovatively, and the only direction its new shareholders will allow them to go is up. 7. Kenya is severely underbanked (about 10-15% of the population banks) and there exists a huge market for easy to access banking services (my house help already asks me to deposit her wages into her M-PESA account) 8. Competition from Telkom and Econet (and the resurgent Celtel) this year will mean need to create more revenue from elsewhere. I'm sure that if I thought hard enough I can come up with plenty of other reasons why becoming a bank is a natural progression for this company.
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10:31
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
…and the tribe that lacks reading skills If you are one of those chaps who believe in coincidences and believe that yours truly here is merely in love with conspiracy theories, then you will have plenty of fun reading today’s post. A few days ago in a post here I asked where First lady Lucy Kibaki was. I also shared some information about her health that had come to my attention. The very next day she made her first public appearance for months. Mere coincidence? (By the way, it is not enough for her to be “seen” and photographed by the media, Kenyans need to be told where she was all that time and the state of her mental health. After all it is possible to remove somebody from some institution for them to pose briefly for the press and then quickly return them. We need a statement, even if it is the usual lies from Dr Mutua.) Also Published today; Hold off Kajwang: Power Brokers Plead With KibakiThe Raila Factor: A Stark reminder---------------------
Actually there are numerous other cases that I can quote here that will shock most of you. However I will mention just two more.
Weeks after the disputed presidential elections, I wrote a post here about how the electoral commission was yet to officially release the final results of how president Kibaki “won” the elections. Barely two days later those results were suddenly released and the signature of the electoral commission chairman was even forged to facilitate that process. Mere coincidence?
Then there was this cabinet meeting where this PS went and forwarded ideas lifted straight out of this blog on how best to rein in the tribal monster in Kenya and related problems facing our nation. (read the story HERE for yourself). Mere coincidence?
I do not believe in coincidences and I am certain that some very important and powerful persons in the land read this blog religiously every day. I am also certain that not everybody who reads us wishes us well. The campaigns to discredit Kumekucha have been on for a long time and the strategy has always been to use the age-old propaganda trick which is based on the premise that if you repeat some falsehood enough times, sooner or later people will start to embrace it as the truth. But nothing has fascinated me more in recent days than the frenzied activity here since I was forced to leave the country for a safer destination. Those carrying out the “campaign” and those of you who are observant enough will be able to quickly pick out what I am talking about in the comments sections of my posts. HINT: Look for a pattern. Why do most of our beloved Kikuyu brethren lack reading skills? Another very sad pattern that is clearly visible to regular readers of this blog is the fact that most of our Kikuyu brothers and sisters have serious problems with their reading skills. Very few of them indeed (like Wanjiku Unlimited, Ritchie, Fave and a few others) are able to read a post and understand its’ contents.
Amazingly the rest tend to see RED the minute the word “Kikuyu” appears anywhere. They will always conclude that the post or comment is bashing the house of Mumbi. I have watched with amusement as some balanced commentators here have been dragged into long and endless arguments by readers who hardly bothered to read their comments before spewing out all sorts of vitriol. Some regular contributors here will even quickly spew counter posts wholly written in well hidden parables in what they see as a way to counter “the attack” on their beloved house of Mumbi. I can only shake my head in wonder and offer my sincere sympathy and condolences to my dear brothers and sisters with reading challenges whenever the word “Kikuyu” is used. In fact I will not be surprised if this post is seen as an attack on my dear Kikuyu brothers and sisters. Yet the focus of this post is on the challenge of reading skills on the African continent rather than on silly tribes. We can of course look at the whole thing from a different angle. It is probably Wanjiku Unlimited and company who do not know how to read. Maybe they are not sharp enough to see all the deadly barbs aimed at the house of Mumbi. What do you readers think? Are they the ones lacking in reading skills? Although I am trying to add a light note here, the truth is that I grieve in my heart as I write this post because when people cannot read and cannot respond to arguments and points without getting emotional, it simply means that there is no hope of ever effectively tackling the problem at hand. The Greeks once ruled the world simply because they became the first to develop the art of debate and to take the human race away from the age old habit f settling arguments physically in some sort of high noon shoot out where the man left standing is the one who was right and the one lying in a pool of blood in the dust was “dead” wrong (hence the expression). Are you aware that there are very many people who ended up “dead” wrong when they said the earth is round rather than flat? I declare today the day for all Kumekuchans to develop their reading/listening skills as well as their debating skills. Two qualities we badly need for a better Kenya. Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com nowThe man who can't stand women
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6:33
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
Full details of the chronology of events can be found on Shailja’s blog.
Kudos to her for her persistence and showing fellow Kenyans why it is important to keep up the fight to hold leaders accountable in whatever way we can…it should not just be business as normal!
After reading Kivuitu’s response, let me know your [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Kivuitu Responds", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/05/29/kivuitu-responds/" });
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3:12
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Story of the week:- Hold off Kajwang: Power Brokers Plead With KibakiGuest post by Sam OkelloThe question uppermost on Kenyan's minds today is...what's happened to Raila Odinga? I've met many Kenyans during my travels who've asked me to explain what the ODM game plan is. I don't pretend to be an insider in ODM politics. Matter of fact, I'm just a humble writer. But I know something about the Hon Odinga's kind of politics because I've watched the man for years. I therefore propose that for us to understand where the Prime Minister is coming from, let's study how he has handled the most crucial public moments of his life. 1. When I first heard of Raila Odinga, I was in Form 1 at Kamagambo High School. On a Sunday morning, I was told that the Moi government had been overturned and that a certain Lt. Ochuka had acted in concert with Mr. Odinga to beat another bunch of plotters led by Sir Charles Mugane Njonjo. I was intrigued by the events. When you are a young man, such things as coups are very exciting. But to come to the point, the important thing here is to answer the Why question. Why did Raila find it necessary to kick Moi out by force? The answer is simple. Moi was literally raping Kenya. Be reminded that the man was presiding over a regime that instigated and abetted tribal clashes in the Rift Valley, killed political rivals like Dr. Ouko, looked the other way as corruption threatened the economy, and enriched his family...and the families of his cronies...beyond measure. So why did Raila do it? 2. As I became of age, I watched as the Hon Odinga transformed himself into a political machine unrivaled in Kenya politics. Matter of fact, I'm persuaded that the Langata MP is the most charismatic, most formidable politician Kenya has ever produced. JM came close. The point here is that Raila decided to become a politician to save the nation. You have to remember that during that time, the winds of democratic change were sweeping across Africa and the world. The only way to legitimately acquire power was through the ballot. So Raila did just that. If you ask me, that's a man who plays by the rules. 3. Now that I'm a grown man, I've watched Raila handle fame and fortune with dignity and humility. He's managed to build a business empire and a political following that makes his rivals go through sleepless nights. You'll recall that he led the nation to defeat the retrogressive Constitution fronted by Kibaki during the referendum. He led the nation to defeat the Uhuru Project. He led the nation to floor Kibaki at the polls. He led the nation to find peace after Kibaki stole the elections in a fashion befitting a man blessed with just a quarter of a brain. Did somebody say Kibaki was a Makerere alum? How he shames his alma mater! The point I'm making here is that Raila has always led the nation...to a better place. 4. Finally, we all watched, after the stolen elections, how Raila handled one of the most explosive situations Kenya has ever had to deal with. Love him or hate him, what you saw was a man who worried about Kenya more than he worried about himself. He chose to create peace for Kenya's children rather than create space for himself at the State House. That tells a lot about a man's core beliefs and character. Fellow Kenyans, I've brought up the matter of the Hon Odinga because many people don't understand what the plan is for the future. What we must all understand is that we are up against the forces of doom. We're up against a cartel that has horded power and wealth since independence. They derailed our democracy in 2007, but we will not let them again. So when you see Moi scheme in the Rift Valley, just remind him that we defeated the Uhuru Project and we will defeat him again. When you see Kalonzo map a GEMA game plan, just remind the traitor that we are writing his final chapter in Kenyan politics. And when you see Kibaki's allies do everything to humiliate the Prime Minister, just remind them that we beat them before and we will do it again...at a time of our choosing. Why am I so confident? Because I trust the Kenyan people. And I trust Raila Odinga. I know for sure that a time is coming when a different kind of politics will have to be played. But, friends, that time is not now. The wise know that you only tip your hand when the path to victory is clear. So as we go forward, let us rejoice that the youth of Central Province, led by the Mungiki leadership, have teamed up with their fellow Kenyans to create a just and humane society. A society where all Kenyan children are cared for regardless of where they come from. Can we do it? Yes we can! So let the Hon Odinga draw his game plan. In the fullness of time, he'll tell us where we are going and how we'll get there. When that time comes, don't be caught sleeping. Let the man who has called himself the bridge to the future cross the Jordan with us, then we'll pick the fruits when we get yonder! For love of Country. Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com nowThe man who can't stand women
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1:56
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
 It is emerging that Kenya’s Ministry of State for Immigration & Registrations of Persons is earmarked for a split after ruffling sensitive feathers with deportation orders and smashing an international passport/visa printing syndicate. The state ministry which falls under the Office of the Vice President & Minister for Home Affairs (Kalonzo Musyoka) was one of the ministries that was deeply involved in the Anglo-Leasing mega-scandal that threatened to bring down the government of President Mwai Kibaki. The same scandal resulted in John Githongo seeking political asylum in the UK while Finance Minister Daudi Mwiraria was forced to ‘step-aside’. Following formation of the Grand Coalition Cabinet, one Hon Gerald Otieno Kajwang of ODM’s mapambano fame has found himself in charge of this ministry, well known for its corruption dens. One of Kajwang’s first ministerial duties was to sign deportation papers for one Canobbio Pietro who claims to be a naturalized Kenyan after having lived in the country for the last 18 years. Canobbio, who Kajwang labeled an Italian fugitive, says he is a contractor with plenty of business interests in Malindi. He has since challenged the deportation in court winning a temporary reprieve allowing him to stay in Kenya up to early June. Italians have a huge presence in Malindi and the town has been dubbed Italian Home Away From Home. Some of the Italian foreigners – who speak local languages fluently - even tried to venture into local politics during the last general election. Some have been accused of engaging in illegal businesses including child-sex tourism and hard drugs, but so far no one has been arraigned in court. Secondly, even before the Canobbio’s case has been finalised, Kajwang’ was in the news again this week when he was reported to have declared a Mr Mohamed Sirat a prohibited immigrant, claiming that the Australian Embassy had confirmed to him that indeed Sirat was their citizen. It is not lost on political observers that Sirat is a member of the Vice President’s ODM-K party and has been challenging the election of Wajir South MP Abdirahman Ali Hassan. He is among some of the rich Somali businessmen coalescing in ODM-K and running 24 hour businesses in Eastleigh. One presidential candidate in last year's general election is on record having promised a 24 hour economy. Biggest Scoop Coming to the connection with Eastleigh, and in what is considered Kajwang’s biggest scoop so far, the immigration ministry busted an international passport and visa printing racket that was headquartered in Eastleigh (Nairobi) where, yet again, rich Somali businessmen are said to conduct illegal businesses including arms trade, human trafficking and modern day slavery. Western Embassies are said to have been shocked at the discovery of passport printing ring in Eastleigh right within the capital city 'without the knowledge of the NSIS'. The matter has far reaching implications because terrorist groups known to have cells in Kenya could easily have taken advantage of the Eastleigh immigration office to export terror merchants. The Al Qaida Comoran and Yemeni suspects who bombed the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1997 were found to be travelling on Kenyan passports! Enter Kabuga! 
More recently, it was widely reported in the local and international press, that a Kenyan court had ordered the freezing of property of one of the world’s most wanted Rwandan genocide suspects, Felicien Kabuga, who is known to travel in and out of Nairobi using several aliases including some on Kenyan diplomatic passports which Kajwang is reportedly said to have already cancelled and accordingly informed Interpol. Despite a US$5million bounty on his head, Kabuga is said to have escaped capture mostly due to his connections with power brokers within the Kenyan government. The ICC had issued an international arrest warrant for Kabuga in 1999. Rwandese Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama said his country welcomed the court's decision but said Kenya should do more to arrest Mr Kabuga. The Kenya Police, under the Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, is the one to effect the arrest. I am not suggesting anything but both Saitoti and current President Kibaki were ex-President Moi’s vice presidents for many years including the time that the Rwandan genocide took place. Why should Kenya shelter a genocide suspect?
Kajwang Fighting Back
It is therefore coming as a great surprise to Honourable Otieno Kajwang that his ‘hard-working’ ministry has been earmarked for split with the immigration docket set to be moved back to the Home Affairs ministry headed by none other than Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka - another of ex-Presidents Moi former long serving Foreign Affairs minister, in whose time Kabuga and a host of other international fugitives like Abdulla Ocalan found safe haven in Kenya.
Sources informed this blogger that because the NARA peace accord prohibits President Kibaki from sacking or re-shuffling ministers without first obtaining consent from Prime Minister Raila Odinga, PNU/ODM-K insiders have advised the president to hive off sensitive departments from independent ODM ministers before they unearth what they called explosive dossier going back to the Moi and Kenyatta errors (no typo here).
As Kajwang discusses his tribulations with Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kenyans will remember that portfolio balance nearly resulted into the collapse of the Annan peace talks and even when they agreed to form cabinet, ODM came out of the process seriously short-changed. It now seems like PNU/ODM-K are planning to engage in a portfolio shuffling game so as to frustrate the work of ODM in government.
It remains to be seen if Raila Odinga will allow this to happen. What is coming out however is that there are power barons in Kenya who dictate the government operations by remote control and whose connections run deep into the corridors of power.
Watch this space: The powerful individual(s) who have been uncomfortable with the stories published in Kumekucha will be soon exposed – with irrefutable proof!
Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now
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