18:45
Africa as a continent fails in almost all positive metrics against any other continent... even Central & South America (I deliberately N. America as part of "America") which has seen its share of troubles over the past few decades including military juntas, hyper-inflation, etc...
S. America threw off the colonial yoke, suffered economic downturns, military regimes, etc but even they have surpassed Africa... by a distance... as of 2008... Whereas some part of Africa always has a famine every 2-3 years led by the superstar Ethiopia... I have never heard of a famine in America. Well, one in the recent past anyway.
Mexico with all its myriad problems and smaller oil & gas reserves than Nigeria beats Nigeria hands down!
Asia - even with laggards like Burma/Myanmar and Mongolia - has done much better than Africa. South Africa may be a 'performer' in Africa but barely makes the cut in Asia. Since 1990, many S.E. Asian countries have done much better than S.Africa including Taiwan, S.Korea, China, India, etc...
Japan's (or China's) economy is larger than the whole of Africa (including S. Africa and Arab Africa). Then there are the oil-rich gulf states, India, Taiwan among others... Even Russia is primarily Asian by land mass.
Would it be considered genocide if we (as Africans) lined up 90% of African politicians and shot them... dead... using an extra bullet just to make sure... Then bury them six feet under...
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17:53
panem et circenses
» Kikuyumoja's realm Two interesting, but also kinda controversial articles that appeared on Der Spiegel Online today, the website of the German weekly magazine:
The first one on the ailing German blogosphere (in German) that has been busy trying to constantly polemize itself and the lack of more influential power-bloggers who also participate in politics (compare that with Loic LeMeur & Sarkozy in France). Now while there are quite a few talented German bloggers, the use of blogs is certainly not as widespread as in other European countries.
Politics = range of (controversial) subjects of which some are covered by the mainstream media, some by the blogosphere.
This may of course be due to different reasons, but then - also - there’s a vivid news culture in Germany and somehow free media that covers world affairs. Just compare that with the US media and see why there are much more political bloggers in the USA.
Comparing these worlds, I think, just doesn’t make sense (I could go on for ages on this subject - just look at the German section of GlobalVoices!). On the other hand, I’d prefer much more political activism. Activism as such, however, is often (unfortunately) labeled as left-wing socialism - and if you look at today’s public image of the German party “Die Linke” which was mainly formed by former members of the (~communist) East German party SED and disappointed socialist from Germany’s oldest worker’s party SPD, you’ll instantly realize that many Germans (of course not all, see below) today are fed up with politics and don’t give a damn about who actually rules as long as politics do not switch to an extreme and do not reactive the usual stories on Nazis & Co. I guess it’s similar in other countries. I am sure there’s a reciprocally proportional relation between political activism and living conditions.
I think this also started way back in the 1970s and 80s when green issues started coming up on the agenda and activism centered around this absolutely neutral range of subjects (~ nuclear waste). No war, different kind of demonstrations. And then, also, Germany today lacks a range of charismatic leaders. Or do you really think that Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancelorette, is that sexy? Exactly.Which of course gets me to the upcoming visit by Jesus Superstar Barack Obama to Germany. Rumour has it that other European nations are quite pissed about the attention his visit generated and that Germany will actually have a bigger timeslot than the British or France. Vanity.
Now, with such a visit on the schedule and an adequate editorial on Der Spiegel, it may be rather obvious that the editorial department placed a link to this story: “Flirthinweise fürs Feindesland“. And while Der Spiegel is definately not THE institution or THE only credible magazin out there, they at one point in the past invented something I really, really like: a section called “einestages - Zeitgeschichten auf SpiegelOnline”, which is like a multi-authored, edited & moderated public blog for readers who may contribute their own stories, images and videos of historical events, especially since the end of the 2nd WorldWar on just about anything.
This story “Flirthinweise fürs Feindesland” actually talks about a booklet issued by the USArmy at the end of WW2 and features a rather shocking short film called “Your Job in Germany”:Your Job In Germany was a short film made by Frank Capra and Dr. Seuss for the United States War Department in 1945, intended to be shown to U.S. soldiers about to occupy Germany. It urged against fraternization with the German people, who are portrayed as thoroughly untrustworthy. (source)
I was a bit shocked when I saw this short film today and then thought: well…despite of the apparent need for such propaganda back then (bet it’s similar for the Iraq & other “freed” nations) - may the fading interest for common politics in todays Germany also be an indirect / not so obvious result of the political influence the US had on Europe in the past?
In the end, these discussions are not about politics, but about selling newspapers/magazines and editing interesting stories people want to read about. It’s a business. And that’s just one of the many reasons out there why the German blogosphere has in the past failed to create more influential (!) political bloggers. This, however, does not also imply that ppl aren’t interested in politics.
Interestingly, the SPON article also mentioned that the German edition of Wikipedia is the second largest in the world - which instantly reminded me of this article by Ethan Zuckerman where he mentioned the ailing Arabic-language edition of Wikipedia & huge number of bloggers in Egypt.
The remaining question is: is this discussion about political activism (= contributing ideas to society), or about citizen media?
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17:27
Violence in Kenyan high schools
» Kenyan Pundit In the last few days Kenyan headlines have been dominated by reports of increasing levels of violence and riots in high schools. Things appear to have reached a crisis point with the obligatory formation of a “committee” to investigate the cause of the riots. According to some news reports, students are [...]
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17:00
Kutwa Tuesday: Reverse Safaricom IPO and other such tales
» bankelele Safaricom needs a reverse stock split to get rid of their unhappy shareholders.
- Anyone who has less than 10,000 shares by December should be paid off by the Government or Vodafone at the IPO price of 5 shillings or market price, whichever is lower at the end of the year. Investors will not sell their shares at a loss and the least they can do is recoup their money from this mess (excluding their loans)
Kenol tweak: 36.67 million shares change hands worth 3.3 billion shillings on Friday. Meanwhile kenol/kobil stations have the most expensive fuel in Nairobi. Diesel has hit 101 shilling per litre ($1.55), while petrol is at 108, that’s about 6 shillings more than my station of choice.
Cola tweak: After enduring a difficult first quarter, coca cola is having a bit of a tumble in the second quarter due to to EABL’s Alvaro – at least in urban areas where it has become the non-alcoholic drink of choice for many previous soda (and juice) sippers. Coke has unleashed another multi-million shilling giveaway promotion to win back customers
alvaro cases at Nakumatt
Celtel tweak - More celtel confusion; The ink is not dry on posters for their newest promotion and already the terms have changed (for the better) [for customers to get free calls will now cost 65/= ($1) a day down from 99/=].
August will be a significant month for the mobile sector as Celtel switches to the Zain brand, Safaricom release their first quarterly results after the IPO, and Econet should finaly/hopefuly roll out operations.
Media tweaks: All journalists and correspondents practicing in Kenya must be registered with the Media Council of Kenya – and to do so they must each pay Kshs. 2,000, while foreign journalists will have to pay 10,000 ($154) per year [those on short term assignment of up to 3 months pay 5,000]. Amounts due by 30/9. Television radio and newspaper organizations also have to pay a quarterly fee depending on the number of media outlets
- Standard tweaks Two weeks after the launch of the new Standard, their strap line of the standard has changed;
new standard at launch
standard yesterday
Sunday Nation tweaks now has the best of best of Whispers - favorite columns of the late humorist Wahome Mutahi and some articles of the New York Times
From the blogs
- Pointer for Access Kenya shareholders to read
- There are only 60 lions (adult) in the Mara – but that's an improvement by 50% from year 2001
- How bad are things for those who took IPO loans for Safaricom? Ssembonge shows that small investors are hurting more than bigger borrowers.
- Cautionary tales on life insurance from Tujuane
- Peer pressure: tales of GDP growth of rates of 8% in Ghana and
21% in Angola
- Link to a puff piece in memory of the former finance minister
-US Airways to remove all in-seat movies from their planes, while Emirates is targeting to remove all paper (in-flight magazines and publications) to save a ton of weight on the new A380 (to compensate for a ton of water for showers in first class (from airliners.net)
Opportunities
African Banker Awards. deadline for nominations if 31 July in the following categories: African Banker of the Year, African Bank of the Year, African Investment Bank, Best Development Bank in Africa, African Microfinance Bank, Best Issuing House, Most Innovative Bank, Deal of the Year, Socially Responsible Bank of the Year, Best Global Bank in Africa, Award for Gender Sensitivity
Jobs
from the daily papers last week
- Aircraft Leasing Services: captains, first officers for Embarer 135. als@als.co.ke
- HR director at Housing Finance. Apply through deloitte esd@deloitte.co.ke by 1/8
- MD of KCB Rwanda. Apply to recruitement@kcb.co.ke by 8/8
- KPMG Uganda: Internal Audit Services manager, Senior Internal Auditor, Internal auditor, forensic auditors. Apply to talentrecruit@kpmg.co.ke by 1/8
- Corporate affairs manager of Nation media group.
- Independent sales agents at Standard Chartered Bank. Apply to Susan.Ombati@ke.standardchartered.com by 31/7
Others vacancies at Kencall, Kenya Airways, and Family Bank [Credit officer, Procurement Officer, Works Officer, Accountant, Accounts Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Assistant Manager, Audit Manager, Branch Accountant]
Beach plots too good to be true? Lots of land available in Mombasa for real estate investment from Datkit agents including 3 acres creek in new Nyali with 120m sea frontage, 1.3 acres over looking Nyali golf club, 5 acre lots in kikambala, 14 acre beach plot next to Neptune beach, 25 acre beach plot next to kaskazi hotel with 168m beach front, 1/3 acre residential plots in shanzu (2nd row from beach)
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16:05
Death Of Democracy In Africa
» You Missed This Welcome Coalition Governments
I suppose some will presume that anyone opposed to the current trend in African elections (formation of GNUs) is a person who would rather see blood spilt. Morgan Tsvangirai has termed his agreement to begin peace talks with Mugabe as historic. This is a great opportunity for peace and possible continuance of governance in Zimbabwe. All Kenyans acting prudently must by now know what is just about to happen; Morgan will become prime minister and commandeer half of the cabinet.
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In Kumekucha today Tuesday July 22nd: Will those awful stretch marks mess up your relationship?
Small business tips: Technique to grow your money quickly
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While it is true that GNUs did not originate in Kenya, we must still decorate Kibaki for being the father of all modern day African coalitions. His reluctance to change and ability to silence democracy has greatly energized this new phenomena. It is indeed his playbook that will be studied and repeated throughout the continent. Going forward, the order of the day is precisely coalition governments.
Yes folks, the short-lived African political democracy experiments are over and dead. Oh how industrious we are; we have taken democracy with all it's time tested facets of fairness and liberty, added our own greed and thievery and consequently creating our very own political system i.e. coalition governance. In this type of governance, the people vote and all opposing sides win. It does not matter if one gets 10%, you can still be Vice President. While, as Mugabe aptly puts it, the incumbent must always remain President, the actual winner becomes Prime Minister.
Outside of the impending SA elections and under the current developments, I do not foresee any other African incumbent president accepting genuine defeat at the ballot. It's over folks.
That said, there's not much wrong with our new system. In the case of Zimbabwe, loss of life has been greatly reduced and peace will indeed prevail. In the Kenyan version, the citizens are appeased for the most part. We still have a long way to go but most of the displaced are back in their homes while the assaulters are in jail and will face the law. We have set up commissions to investigate the election, violence etc. So it's all good.. right? Peace has returned and as we have seen with the Grand Regency, business is back to normal. We will wait until the next election to perpetuate thorny issues like constitutions, majimbo, land reforms etc. What do we care right now when we can sleep at night without the fear of the arsonists.
Really folks, there's a lot of things wrong with western democracy. I mean, the vote count, even in the USA, is not usually accurate. Trying to instill such, possibly flawed, principles into the African way of life is prone to disaster. So why not change the constitution to condone coalition governments going forward. -
Brutal Sexual Assault: Is This What The Kenya Police Is All About?
» You Missed This Kumekucha Exclusive
Police recently sexually assaulted some prominent female members of the civil society who were protesting corruption in the country. I publish a copy of an email circulated by one of them giving details of the crazy assault....
Sorry I have been out of the office for a couple of days . The last couple of days have been a nightmare for me and several other civil rights activists. We were arrested in a most brutal manner after police stormed the hotel where we were preparing to hold demonstrations over Grand Corruption ( Sale of Nairobi's Grand Regency Hotel, a property in receivership and therefore owned by the Kenyan people, by a cartel led by the Finance Minister, Amos Kimunya. Kimunya has since resigned in disgrace over the scandal) .
On Tuesday, 8th July, when they arrested seven of us, the police also sexually violated and harrased me and a male colleague. One senior officer had the audacity to put his hand inside my trousers, fondle my private parts and my breasts. All this while the rest were busy brutalising us.
Upon arrival at the police station, my colleagues sought to know from the senior police officer why he had sexually assaulted me. Without warning, this police officer, who we have since learned was the deputy officer commanding the Division ( very senior position) grabbed a police batton from one of the junior officers and set upon us in a most vicious manner. Other officers joined in, hitting, kicking and insulting us. It did not matter that some of us were
already bleeding.
We were later taken to court , charged with participating in an illegal assembly (never mind that we were inside a hotel and it was the police who stormed in) , and released on bail. The police also refused to record our complaint over the violations at the police station.
We need friends of human rights, and friends of Kenya, at home and abroad, to do all you can in your various stations and networks to demand accountability from our government. The kind of police brutality and other forms of impunity that are evident in Kenya are alarming. Not only do they threaten the democratic spaces that we fought so hard to create. They are also, in my opinion, an early warning sign of things to come, and the imminent breakdown of law and order.
We shall circulate a more comprehensive report with photos for your further action."
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10:00 The Not-So Quiet Military Shake-up
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com Is anyone surprised that there is an ongoing military shake-up taking place? you shouldn’t be because we talked about this extensively during last years election violence. Like I said numerous times (& I got a lot of flack for saying it) - Kibaki has got to get rid of the Kalenjins in the army before [...]
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9:25
My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Low Information Diet
» The Displaced African This is day 9 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.
Probably one of the most controversial ideas in the 4 hour work week book. Tim begins by laying it all out (you’ll probably want to read the justification first, because the idea in and of itself will look totally crazy). I paraphrase:
I never watch the news and have never bought a newspaper in five years, except by accident.
The Logic Behind the MadnessTim spends a lot of the chapter entitled Low Information Diet going into his reasons behind doing this. I will highlight a couple of them below:
1) Lifestyle design is about input: Whenever we take time to consume - input - information, we are taking our energy and focus away from the most important element of all taking action. While doing all this it’s important to keep in mind:
2) Most of the information we take in is: time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to our goals and/or out of our influence. He then challenges us to pause and reflect on most of the information we most recently consumed and see whether or not this is true.
3) Tim proposes that instead of always consuming information “just in case” something happens, let’s begin to take action and pause to consume information when we run into a problem or a challenge and need information to solve it.
My Take on the MatterI tried writing a few paragraphs talking about my thoughts on this chapter, but I realized that it would probably be best for me to respond to whatever problems you guys may have with the statements above (I know some of you do).
In Case You Think I or Tim’s Ideas are Madness
So if you think the ideas above are full of bollocks or that I am a cheesecake head (creative metaphors today) for believing in his ideas, let me know by leaving a comment below and let’s get a dialogue going on the low information diet.
I think I will only leave you with 3 questions and a story to reflect on.
Three Questions
Reflect on the news you most recently consumed:
1) How much of it did you immediately take consistent action on to the point that you influenced what was being reported?
2) How much of what you consume on a day to day basis is actually relevant to your goals in life?
3) Do you find yourself engaging in and finding more pleasure in being smart and having intelligent conversations and thoughts than you do taking action and potentially failing?
The StoryI was once talking to someone who was watching the news around the time a mine exploded in China killing about 50,000 people. I was curious:
Now that you have spent 20 minutes sitting there watching that, what are you going to do?
Nothing
But you sit there everyday and consume news media, surely you must act on this?
No, it’s just good to know.
You and I don’t help anyone by just knowing things and sitting in the house mentally masturbating ( sorry for the strong language but this is what we do a lot of the time), philosophizing and engaging in endless discussions.
We help people by taking action. Period!
Anyway, to the questions and actions section.
Questions and Actions: Low Information Diet1) Go on a complete media fast: I don’t consume the news…..EVER!
Yes, very sad but very true. In spite of this, I am almost always up to date in the news.
Because I spend so much time online, and quite some time offline chatting with folks who constantly educate themselves, I know that for example in my country, Kenya:
i) A hotel called the Grand Regency was sold to Libyans for what many consider a low price
ii) That the Kenyan Finance minister has not only resigned because of the preceding event.
One of the most watched videos in Youtube history
Quite a Challenge
The challenging bit is: no web surfing unless its necessary to completing the task.
Now that will be hard.
Without consuming Youtube, blogs, videos and other Internet material, that leaves a HUUUGGGE vaccum in my day. So I guess I have now found the time to do those two high impact tasks a day.
Future Guiding Principles
2) Will I use this information for anything important and/or immediate? If the answer is NO, on both accounts, axe the information immediately: As a general principle:
Information is only as useful as your ability to take action and produce a result using it.
I already started doing this and am doing it more and more e.g. not listening to CDs on emotional health and relationships when I should be learning more about how blog content creation and monetization works. I think as a general tip, eliminate everything in your world (that you can) that doesn’t have to do with your goal at hand.
The ability to focus on one thing at a time and eliminate all input that doesn’t assist in that endevour tends to result in a much higher quality of work even when you put in a mediocre effort.
3) Practice the art of non-finishing: If the article isn’t useful, put it down. If the movie isn’t pulling your attention, entertaining or educating you, walk out. More isn’t better. More important, useful things are. Practice letting go, even half way of that which is ineffective, unimportant or useless.
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Special Investigative Report: Car Stealing Racket In Nairobi
» You Missed This There's a new wave of alarming vehicle thefts sweeping across Kenya which no media outlet is keen to talk about. I’ve lost three vehicles since January and now understand how the scandal is executed. I have decided to share this with my fellow Kenyans through Kumekucha. But thanks God after the stress, pain, lost income, time and plenty of expenses, I recovered my cars.
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Also in Kumekucha today: How to say, "I love you" and not cause them to bolt
Small Business tips: Want to make money back home in Kenya?
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The alarming crime mostly targets car hire firms and middle ranking SUV's commonly known as
4x4's in Kenya which are parked in public car parks. What is shocking is that some police officers are believed to be highly involved with criminal rings as I shall explain later. A police officer based around Nairobi openly told me that some officers would not like to see this new crime go away any time soon as profits being made from the illegal syndicate are just mind blowing.
Before striking at the once booming car hire industry, taxis and parking lots, sharp minded members of the criminal underworld first arm themselves with fake IDs which are mostly being forged in River Road and sprawling Eastleigh areas of Nairobi. The fake documents look so real that they can even fool hawk eyed police officers and attendants in car hire offices simply have no chance in detecting the fake documents which mostly involve ID cards and Kenya's pathetic driving license which is written in plain ink. What is shocking is that some wanted criminals on the lose are known to use their original documents to secure vehicles. This is done with great ease since car hire firms don't coordinate in their profession in detecting crooks. They are just scattered allover town with some operating from street corners and using cyber cafes to photocopy the hirer’s particulars.
Once the criminal elements secure a vehicle for about 2 weeks and pay the charges, they go straight to KRA offices in Times Tower and conduct a search whereby you just pay Ksh 500 and present the number plates of the vehicle you want to obtain a copy of records for. This search basically produces the details of the car's owner like names and address plus important details of the vehicle like chassis number and whether duty is paid. If the details show that a vehicle is attached to a bank loan, it’s a hard sell and is dropped immediately. Once the crooks have obtained those details, they quickly contact their sources and production of the fake log book commences.
The fake logbook looks so real that even the best experts are having difficulty in telling the difference. A senior officer based in the city actually told me he prefers the old logbook which was phased out as it was harder to forge. With the car owner's name, a fake ID and Pin numbers are processed using fake digits and there's no way of verifying whether those numbers are real or fake. Armed with these documents, the conmen hit the road looking for buyers in places like car bazaars, brokers or placing a bait Ad in the newspapers. They always get a buyer quickly since they sell the vehicle cheaper than market rates and always give sympathetic excuses like “they need to settle a medical bill for their kids.,” Criminals are also known to target private homes, copy your number plates, make the fake documents and keep them ready and then when time is ripe, strike at night and by morning your vehicle has been driven all the way to Arusha!
When the car hire contract expires, the hire company has no way of getting hold of the 'hirer' since mobile phone numbers can be changed daily without any questions being asked. In fact you can even buy a thousand mobile sim cards all with different numbers without any question being asked. So the vehicle is now stolen, sold or even disposed to secure a loan from back street money lenders popularly known as 'shylocks.' If the vehicle is fitted with a car tracker, then it can be recovered and taken to the nearest police station, leaving the duped buyer in shock of his life. Some police officers are known to intimidate the conned buyer by telling them they face charges of handling stolen vehicles and being in possession of forged documents! Many conned buyers now have to be hit again when police demand a bribe to set them free.
Releasing the car to its original owner is not easy until they can produce “kitu kidogo” to the officers. What is shocking many people however is that in some cases once they sell the car illegally, some crooks are known to contact certain police stations where they have their protectors and tip them about the buyer’s location and contacts! It's also believed that some crooks take a certain percentage to their protectors to enable them 'lose' some current or future files with their cases.
As we can see, crooks are exploiting the searc' system at Times Tower where no questions are asked to anyone who wants a copy of records. Also our weak telephony system is being exploited in obtaining new lines without any form of checks. Car Tracking firms which are mostly owned by politically well connected families are also being blamed due to their exorbitant prices which scare off many Kenyan motorists. Gullible auto buyers who are so many should slow down when they see a hot offer. If you come across an Ad asking for ‘cars wanted for hire’ and claiming to pay up to 40k, please think twice. Does the hire firm have an office? How long have they been in that office? Can they refer you to some of their clients?
If the offer is too good to be true, then it probably is. I would advise they take any documents being presented as original to Times Tower or any specialist auto dealers for verification. A well known crook that is based in Ngara area is known to steal up to 10 cars per week with impunity. His favourite snatch points include parking lots and car hire firms and he's known to steal a car and sell it in just less than 3 days! Something surely needs to be done but so far, the crime goes on untamed. Shock! Shock! Auto dealers are now being caught up in this scam. Some are selling stolen cars with fake documents and if you are conned, the legal redress can take ages till kingdom come if the file doesn’t disappear! Before you buy any vehicle in Kenya, think thrice!
(Investigations carried out by raw notes subscriber who fell victim three times!!)
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8:01
To anyone who reads this blog
» Black Looks Just in case anyone noticed I have been away for the past 3 weeks (Nigeria). Wish I had something to say about the trip but am too tired and there are too many stories to know where to begin and even after a mere 24 hours it all seems to incredibly far away in some [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "To anyone who reads this blog ", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/07/to_anyone_who_reads_this_blog_.html" });
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6:55
Emotion labelled Fear
» Memories, Sentiments, Rants and Raves Fear: be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event; and some of my very own are:-
1. Snakes and creepy crawlies.
2. Scary movies and stories.
They result to nightmares sorted by either sleeping next to someone or Bible plus rosary under my pillow after endless prayers.
3. Snakes coming up the drain pipe or toilet and biting me.
Don't ask have a very active imagination.
4. Growing old alone and having no one to share my life with.
5. Getting married and then it doesn't work out.
6. Failure.
7. Slipping on the tiles and hitting my head hence unconscious or choking to death seeing that i live alone.
8. Loss of family and friends.
9. Being pregnant and raising a child alone.
10. Situations that make me feel helpless or cannot explain.
I have been accused of being a commitment-phobe but i figure am just scared of being hurt having been there and done that. At the moment am at a place where i know what i want but i cant muster the courage to say it to you. I know you read this blog and i just want you know that am thinking of running away. Maybe its cowardly to you but to me this is the best course of action i can think of now seeing that i need to find the courage to say it or quell what i feel for you. I need to learn how to resist you and to say no every so often. My running does not mean that i like you any lesser just that i need space to sort this jumbled up mess that is my feelings for you.
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4:26
Why Obama cartoon failed to tickle
» The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business A New Yorker cover illustration, showing Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim fist-bumping his gun-toting wife,[SEE CARTOON] fell a foul of the humour police Monday. To some, it was satire. To others, it was aid and comfort to the malice mongers who hide under the rocks of American politics. In the end, it was both.
Like a practical joke, satire can be hysterically funny without a shared catharsis, but that’s often a cruel form of humour. To be effective — if by effective one means a teachable moment, a transformative bump forward in self-awareness — the humour must be widely appreciated....READ MORE
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Breaking News: Pumwani, Aquinas And Lenana Now Join List of Striking Schools
» You Missed This School strikes continue to sweep right across the country.
In the last 24 hours more schools have joined the growing list of schools that have gone on strike. The latest are Pumwani, Aquinas and Lenana High school. As I was writing this post there were unconfirmed reports that two more Nairobi schools have also gone on strike this morning.
At Lenana it is reported that fourth formers are continuing with their mocks even as the rest of the school is on strike.
We at Kumekucha are doing a deep incisive piece exploring some of the possible reasons that may have caused this unprecedented crisis.
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3:00
Kaz in Session
» My Life is...Mochalicious! Location: Startford Theater Royal Bar Time: 7-10pm Day: Saturday Kaz made a mad dash for England to be at Stratford Theater Royal for IFEA2008 (International Festival for Emerging Artists). Kaz went on stage and did her thing and I have to say, the girl is talented. She can definately sing and has stage presence. Having just met the band [...]
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1:34
Constitutional Review Process and Persons with Disabilities
» Kenya Imagine In the last five years the legislative and social landscape allocated to dealing with the difficulties experienced by persons living with disabilities-or persons with different abilities- has been positively affected by the official gazettement of a large part of the Disability Act in June 2004. On the 15th of July 2008, the Disability Fraternity, with the support of the Center for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) and the Ministry for Home Affairs, held an authorized workshop at the Nairobi Sarova Stanley to discuss the Constitutional Review Process and Content by Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Read more from Akoit Omasete here.
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Britain's Mau Mau
» Kenya Imagine Kenya was always Britain’s most troublesome African colony because it was neither one thing nor the other.It was not on the Atlantic west coast, with a wholly African population, nor in the south, where white settlers dominated. It was betwixt and between. British policy vacillated accordingly. Kenya’s historiography has been similarly stormy. Its controversies are important, not only for what they reveal about Kenya, but also for the light they shed on wider debates about imperialism and colonialism, especially settler colonialism, and the nature of African interaction with it. As to the last, historians used to frame their arguments in simple terms of resistance and collaboration. They have long conceived of a more complex dialogue. That historiographical transition informs the present argument, in which three controversies are examined in the light of colonial Kenya’s seven ages of ambiguity.
Read here from John Lonsdale on the history of colonial Kenya.
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0:27
Monday Moanings Part XV
» My part of the world....... I want to introduce you to a new phrase which is, f*cking below the line. F*cking below the line was a term used in a Mario Puzo book I read sometime to mean screwing someone who is below your station in life; this could be social, financial etc. I had been thinking of this post for a while but Archer's last post spurred me to action. You see whether you like it or not, most if not all of us who have indulged in sexual activities have screwed below the line. The worst thing with screwing below the line is that often there is a small alarm bell that is ringing in our head that is telling us to STAY AWAY! But due to being on the B train for so long or sheer lust, the ringing is ignored and kungulu (I hear that's what peeps call shag in Kenya nowadays) commences.
Screwing below the line seems fun and easy because look at it this way to the individual here forth referred to as the screwee, you are a hot commodity. So the screwer will have an easy time getting with the screwee. But the problem comes when the screwer wants to leave the screwee and return to their regular group, the screwee makes it as hard as possible and refuses to let go and may resort to all sorts of drama to keep the screwer.
How do you know if you are f*cking below the line?
1. Is your partner someone you would ordinary be seen in public with?
2. Do you avoid introducing your new partner to your regular friends and crew?
3. Does your partner talk about a future for the two of you and when they do, do you find yourself shuddering?
4. Do you find yourself side stepping the question when your new partner talks about you two being together?
5. Even when you are with this new partner and are spending time, are you still listed as single on facebook and myspace or whatever other social networking site you use?
If you can answer YES to more than one of those questions then know you are most def screwing below the line. Oh and just to toss in a twist, if the person you are with is displaying the same behavior either they are commitment phobic or they scraped the barrel with you; whichever way it is you are screwed!
What I find funny though is how due to the wonderful mechanics of the human mind is that after deluding oneself for a while sooner or later a moment of clarity comes to the fore and someone realises they are screwing below the line. This may be mid hump, when they wake up one morning and see the person next to them or in the middle of the occasional date. I say occasional because for some reason or other people don't go out for dates very often with their screwees, unless the screwee applies pressure.
Now after the moment of clarity getting out of the situation tends to be tricky because many screwee's don't let go easily. I remember one who once argued her way out of the break up, yes that is how insistent she was; she had a counter point for every point I had for not dating her. Yes my fully laid plans were thwarted for a while.After her insistent pressure I decided to take advantage of some information she knew about me, you she did know that the Acolyte is a somewhat spiritual being; so I did what any spiritual man would do. I told her that I had taken a vow of singlehood and celibacy, which was somewhat true because I was just tired of all the drama that comes with strokes. That and me going underground finally took the pressure off me because she kept on insisting that she wanted to come and see me (last ditch seduction attempt). My solution, if the shag seems to easy; think twice. Plus make sure you are not someone's screwee!
Anyway since I have been staying out of trouble, I have been having a ball looking at pic's of peeps acting the fool in the club. I'm going to share them. Please feel free to add your own captions!
My question is, what is the lady woman in the far right doing? The expression on her face.....
Yaaaaaaaaay! Guess who's here to save the night.....
Shaun at the far left decided he may as well jerk off in the club instead of waiting to get home..
If she stand still enough for long enough she can blend in the same way the Zebra whose pants she stole blends into the savannah
Archer: Natukifika kwa rodging, nitakuinua juu hivi, harafu.......
Milo: Dear Mocha, you can even see I'm on my knees. I promise all I want you to do is have a cup of juice at my place after the club; nothing else
Archer: Wachana with his siasa. I have a new couch I bought today that I want you to come to my apartment and sit on!
Mocha: Blushes away....
Have a great Monday People!
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