Recent items
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7:09
24 years on, and Kenya still waits for Reforms..... (sic!)
» The Abantu View .... but until when? 24 years on from days when KANU was 'baba na mama', those days when former President Daniel arap Moi was the in-your-face-kinda-prez a.k.a Fuata Nyayo, Kenyans still wait for much needed Constitutional Reforms that have for so long eluded their motherland at the expense of cheap, parochial and devisive political machinations. Since then, blood has been shed, political -
Naomi Campbell in Tanzania for White Ribbon Charity
» The Abantu View Super model Naomi Campbell is in Dar es Salaam Tanzania with her billionaire Russion boyfriend Vladislav Doronin for a charity project organised by the UK's first lady Sarah Brown at the Moevenpick Hotel. Naomi, 39, and who is ambassador for Sarah's White Ribbon Alliance charity, which raises the awareness of infant mortality, has been vacationing in Zanzibar all week. Last night she did her
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2:42 Whispers of the Unheard! – Part 2.
» Still Proud to be Kenyan. So what began as whispers in bedrooms, at street corners, and in university hostels had now grown into fully fledged public conversations that were challenging the status quo. The people who were party to these conversations were querying everything under the sun within the Kenyan borders. Gradually, the whispers of those earlier unseen got louder [...]
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2:35
Slowly But Surely, We Are Getting There
» Rugby in Kenya Slowly But Surely, We Are Getting There
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2:21
Kuweni Serious
» Kenyan Pundit Website of the week – young Kenyans speak out - Kuweni Serious (hat-tip @afromusing). It’s relatively new, hope they keep up the content.
….we at Kuweni Serious – we’re a bunch of kids ourselves – have decided to go out there and find out: how do Kenya’s youth feel about all the chaos around us? Are we proud to be Kenyan or are we secretly wishing we could get green cards and disappear forever? Where shall we raise our own kids? Are we happy?
We intend to seek out all the young people out there who are trying to make sense of all this, the youth groups, the activists, the people who read the news and get so annoyed that they write angry status updates on Facebook, the students, the guys and girls who’ve just landed their first job and have been hit hard by the realities of the economy. We want your opinions, we want your stories. We don’t know what we’ll find, we might step on a few toes, but we’ll do our best.
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1:43
It’s gonna be glittery, with a chance of bitch fits!
» Media Madness Gatecrasher reports that Miss J Alexander has been kicked out of the judging panel on America’s Top Model. He’s been replaced by André Leon Talley (Vogue) and Kimora Lee Simmons. Am sure the show is gonna be fireworks now cause Andre is knowing for saying all sorts of things aka bitching!! And he and Kimora and [...]
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1:34
Rocking Nairobi…with the same old songs!!
» Media Madness Is it me or is X Fm playing the same songs over and over ‘Use somebody, 21 Guns, Notion, Sex on fire’ Eisshh kwani they don’t have some Yellowcard, Taking back Sunday, Lenny Kravitz, Zee Zee Top and soo many ‘old’ rock outfits
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1:26
Sweetie, come slowly
» Media Madness I love Joey Muthengi cause homegirl is talented, but of late she’s developed a case of bitchiness and her attitude is just plain FOUL! By my girl Cera tells me Joey is cool and most likely the bouts of bitchiness are just a phase. I hope it passes!! In other news, now that Ocampo might have [...]
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1:18
SPOTTED!!
» Media Madness Capital Fm’s Maqbul reversing on that street behind Lornho House Side bar – Kudos to the lovely people at ‘The Mug’ that milkshake eisssh!
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0:23
What are the real priorities for Kibaki and Raila?
» You Missed This Another recent post by Chris that you may have missed
How do you tell that somebody is a good manager?
It is easy to get fooled by a incompetent or lazy manager who just wants to cover their tracks and so I usually look at only one thing. That manager’s priority list. Actually this list can tell you a lot. For instance if you notice that the manager places a lot of emphasis on making sure that suppliers are paid on time and this is at the top of his priority list, what will that tell you? Unless there has been a crisis with suppliers at the company recently, this will suggest that you have a corrupt manager who is making money for himself off the company suppliers. Folks the priority list will tell you plenty, like where the real interest of an individual are.
Now let us carefully examine the priority list of the government of Kenya in recent times.
When faced with the choice of settling IDPs or going ahead with the national census the government’s choice was clear. Of course a national census is important but what harm would there have been to postpone it for even a year or two? And then some questions on that census questionnaire that the government insisted on keeping were a dead give away. Like the one about tribe. To me this is evidence that the jokers we call our leaders are already doing their tribal arithmetic for 2012 and it was very important to get the latest tribal figures. IDPs kitu gani.. SHAME SHAME.
How do you get consensus in government for something like the draft constitution? It is very simple. A meeting between four individuals; Kibaki, Raila, Uhuru and Ruto followed by other meetings between those individuals and their hecklers (oops I meant party members or supporters) would be the most effective way of doing it. Instead the government decides to spend a fortune gathering the entire cabinet (plus assistant ministers) in Mombasa for what is really a holiday at the taxpayers expense. The guys have even invited teambuilding experts (what will these experts tell warlords? This is really funny). Anyway let us wait and see what comes out of it.
And there are hundreds of other examples that would take as many posts and so let me end this by asking a few simple questions.
- What were the priorities of the first Kibaki administration when he took power in 2002? (Just to jog your memory; remember the 500,000 new jobs a year saga? Actually it was quickly changed to 500,000-jobs-a-year-just-make-sure-you-can-justify-the-figures.
- What are the priorities of the current grand coalition government? Hint: Free holidays and trips abroad at the expense of the taxpayer are very high on the list all that needs to be done is to find a good excuse.
- Priorities are what presidents and administrations are remembered for. What is Kibaki’s legacy? What will the bloated-strain-on-the-tax-payer grand coalition government be best remembered for?
- As a powerful Prime Minister and partner in the grand Coalition government what are the priorities of Raila Odinga?
Breaking News: Kumekucha Chris is back in a big way and is currently preparing a hot post for your enjoyment this weekend. The working title for that post is: Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Cabinet ministers and their famous girlfriends. Look out for it very soon.
Kumekucha
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21:42
The End Of A Shopping Error
» For Love and Money The End Of A Shopping Error
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Imanyara Local Tribunal Bill Dead on Arrival
» You Missed This Kenyans must have seen it coming. The voluble MPs predictably and conveniently dissolved in thin air leaving parliament chambers empty. Result, the popular Imanyara Bill meant to create local tribunal to punish perpetrators of PEV was pronounced dead on arrival.
To compound matters, the Kenya clergy are already proposing minimum reforms after prophesying failure in enacting new constitution. But you cannot fault men of the cloth given our penchant to kill any progressive idea that doesn't serve present political interest.
Give it to Minister Michuki for shooting straight from the hip. At least the snake rattler is forthright in telling off Imanyara to separate local tribunal from his obsession in targeting the president. Kimendero is a go-getter who knows what brings results and what amounts to hot air bereft of any meaningful movement.
For results, Michuki has promised Imanyara his vote provided the provision stripping the president of immunity is deleted from the bill.
A+O+O=Fire or meddling?
So here we are paying over 200 MPs to desert their work stations and still expect progress from their collective inertia. The political stakes have never been higher and the forest is getting even more crowded.
It appears we haven't sunk to the bottom of abyss but we are steadily headed there.
The eloquent inaction, rudderlessness and official indifference are the trinity arsenal we need to exterminate ourselves come 2012.
No wonder only the fire of A+O+O shakes the scoundrels off their boots.Kumekucha
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Top names in Ocampo’s list
» You Missed This I went to a high school where the students run the school and school prefects had enormous powers. It was a system that worked quite well and there was excellent discipline. Little wonder that in those days the school performed very well in national exams. The school system was based on a strict hierarchy system where you respected those who were in higher classes than you without question.
One day something out of the ordinary happened. The acting headmaster (who should have known better because he was an old boy of the school) did something unprecedented. During Monday school assembly he called a form five boy and a form six boy to the front and then produced a cane and caned the form five student in full view of the entire school. When it was the sixth form boy’s turn to receive six of the best he just couldn’t take it and he walked away in defiance.
The whole school was left aghast in shock. What the acting headmaster had just done that day was like a general in the army caning colonels in full view of corporals and non commissioned officers.
But my point in telling you this old school story is to illustrate what the ruling political class including President Kibaki and PM Raila Odinga feels every time certain words are uttered these days. Words like “Hague” and “Ocampo”. Majority of Kenyans want the Hague option and that is simply because they want to see “big boys caned in front of the whole school”. After years of impunity I myself feel exactly the same.
ICC prosecutor Ocampo has made it clear that he is going after “two or three individuals.” There has been plenty of speculation over who those three may be but today I can report authoritatively that they are William Ruto, Henry Kosgey and Uhuru Kenyatta. These are the cabinet ministers who have been reportedly holding intensive consultations with lawyers. In other words they have panicked big time.
It is no secret that these individuals are extremely influential in government and that would explain the unexpected united position that President Kibaki and PM Raila Odinga took in insisting that even after months of dilly dallying they were still keen to try the suspects locally. What the two gentlemen were saying is that they would like the individuals concerned to go scot free because even a standard two pupil in Kenya knows that there is no way that any court in the country is going to successfully prosecute these “big boys.” It just won’t happen. That does not rule out the usual play-acting happening for the benefit of the public. Something similar to the time that Nicholas Biwott was briefly arrested and detained (in very luxurious surroundings at GSU headquarters) in connection with the murder of former foreign affairs minister Robert Ouko. In other words there can be no justice in a local tribunal. Not in a hundred years.
Fortunately Ocampo is still pressing ahead with a Hague prosecution but he will do so against colossal odds. Witnesses in Kenya have a habit of vanishing without trace and more commonly will usually end up dead (of course their death will always be from so-called natural causes). To make matters worse the kind of witnesses in the post-election violence cases are very humble simple people who scare very easily. You need evidence to convict a person in any court and I worry that evidence in this case will be “unavailable” when it is most required.
What has puzzled many Kenyans is why the Kenyan cases are being hurried along so fast and why there seems to be so much international pressure. The international community cannot afford a repeat of January 2008 and the clock is ticking fast towards the general elections of 2012. Then there is this man called President Barack Hussein Obama. The matatu-riding president of the United States must have been very touched by the plight of Kenyans when he first visited here as a nobody and seems very determined (even with his full plate of things to do as president) to be at the forefront of bringing about change in the beloved motherland. Hence the visa bans and tactics that just fall short of plain old bullying. Well I am with you on this one Mr President (and so are the vast majority o Kenyans). In this case the end fully justifies the means.
P.S. About the story I started this post with; there is something I would like to add. Tradition aside I watched that poor boy that was caned in front of the whole school and his juniors, literally fall apart. His self esteem melted and by the time we completed our sixth form the following year he was just a shadow of his former self. If I were him I would have sued that headmaster and the school. In retrospect what the acting headmaster should also have known is that you don’t change any system before you find a viable alternative to replace it. That school went to the dogs partly because of what happened that memorable Monday morning sometime in 1982.Kumekucha
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14:27
The Unconquered
» Words Much Like Poetry I have launched campaigns to foreign lands for so long,
fought for these lands to belong to me
and every time I have failed
every time these lands fiercely repulse me
my strength has failed me, I cannot fight anymore
conquests and crusades, I cannot do anymore
I fear my lands are barren, unattractive
inadequate for the needs of those who are me
I shall then sit and hope,
that one day I will be conquered by another
to whom I will give tribute
and who will offer me but a part of their lavish bounty
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7:18
Fayaz Qureishi
» Media Madness Remember him? Dude could read the news…he started at VOK and then branched off to KTN and was there for a good 13 years!!! That’s talent and if you didn’t know, Fayaz could really sing. I remember one time I went to a club Kiboko event and he sang Amr Diab, Habibi ya nour el ain I [...]
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7:13
Gay baby's first words
» Diary of a gay Kenyan Prada da-da!!!
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7:12
Follow Thursday!!!
» Media Madness On Twitter there’s Follow Friday…but I have Follow Thursday. Follow these worthy Kenyans on Twitter! Social Commentator Kahenya Drum Editor Pinky and I just read on her tweets that if she gets to a 1,000 followers! She earn a charity cause money! Funny man Ubabz Columnist Philip Mwaniki Me!!!!!
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7:07
Understand this…
» Media Madness Over the last few days I’ve fought off ‘hate’ from some Capital employee who are obviously threatened by the truth. If they took time from clearing freckles off their faces, they’d read all my posts and see I ‘diss’ everyone! And I get info from ALL media house and if majority of the stories are from one [...]
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6:56
Why is it…?
» Media Madness Am sure True Love’s January issue is going to feature some very eligible bachelors ( I better be on it!) anywaaays it’s a lady’s mag and they offer the ladies EVERYTHING they want, but on the other side of the world is ADAM! Their ‘brother’ publication, first off as a guy I see nothing there that [...]
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6:42
One Hundred Open Access Journals for Facilitators and Learners
» Mauri Yambo A good number of online journals are available for facilitators and learners of different kinds.
One useful list of such journals is provided in the link below.
Click here to get >>> The Journal Linkshttp://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
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Kisumu Dala 7's Draw Released
» Rugby in Kenya Kisumu Dala 7's Draw Released
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2:13
WHAT IS (OR WERE) BEARER BONDS??
» Kenyantykoon's Blog These are just like normal bonds (corporate or government-) but the major difference is that they are unregistered i.e. when you invest in any other type of bonds, you go into the records as a registered owner and the paper you hold has proof of your ownership of the said bonds but with the bearer [...]
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2:05
Whispers of the Unheard! – Part 1.
» Still Proud to be Kenyan. A few months back, I submitted this story to a Kwani! sponsored writing competition but they have never bothered to announce the winners or write back. They later announced a similar competition with same prices but with minor changes to it including a new deadline. I was pissed because common courtesy requires one to take [...]
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0:44
NSE Portfolio November 2009
» bankelele NSE Portfolio November 2009
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0:20
Breakfast shows
» Media Madness The people you hear on radio in the morning make the most money cause they’re deemed to the best of the best. Let’s break it down for ya Must listen Just like your porn collection, this morning show is only enjoyed without the company of kids or ‘uptight’ peeps. Kingangi and Maina in the morning!! Tune in at [...]
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23:57
Well well well….
» Media Madness When my classmates in the year 2000 were going all gaga over ‘Nairobi’s Fresh hits’ I was busy laughing my ass off on Capital’s breakfast with Alex Belfield. I was like 12 then hehe but still I enjoyed it thoroughly!! Although he didn’t last on breakfast Alex now runs his own productions privately in the UK Thank [...]
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23:44
In case you didn’t know, now you know
» Media Madness X Fm’s Vipul once ran a tuck shop on Biashara street. Of course I could have made this up hehe
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23:36
Where are they now???
» Media Madness Sean Cardovillis Claim to fame Making Capital sports a brand! Making Saturday Music and sports the most entertaining sports show ever! Kwanza when Eddie Kimani joined him on the show it was hot! Another ‘unverified’ claim to fame is that he once did a nekkid run across a rugby pitch! Blunder He briefly left Capital to join Kiss [...]
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21:54
Homosexuality and the Myth of Choice
» Kenya Imagine We continue to publish content setting the tone on the discussion on the rights of Kenya's gay community.
Today Stephanie Migot shows why arguments that homosexuals do not deserve equal rights as do heterosexuals are both misguided and wrong.
Homosexuality is no more a lifestyle choice than being born with straight or curly hair. People do not wake up one day and decide that they want to be a member of a threatened and oppressed minority. While scientific research continues its search for a definitive “gay gene,” at present the only potentially reliable indicator is the number of older brothers a male child has . LGBTQ people are born, not made or “converted.” Despite the attempts of a number of misguided anti-homosexual groups in the USA, there is no scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.
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Re-discovering the old Kumekucha
» You Missed This v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} I crave for the old Kumekucha. The real Kumekucha that built such a formidable reputation that I received several reports that people were saying that there was no other place to be online or offline if you wanted to understand the politics of Kenya and know what was really going on.
The old Kumekucha is desperately needed just now as our beloved Kenya stands at a cross roads desperately seeking a firm hand to lead it in the right direction.
I have sifted through many of the old posts in this blog that I consider classics and in the spirit of re-discovering the old desired Kumekucha I have pasted one of those posts below. It was a brief post but what really stands out is the informative sober debate that follows the post. There are no tribal comments only a decent debate that is a joy to read even now.
So what went wrong?
One of the things that went badly wrong and caused the old Kumekucha "to be lost in the sea" was an invasion (still ongoing) of this blog by what I would refer to as “paid hands”. Their objective was (and still is) to discredit this site and thus dilute any power it may have in Kenyan politics. Can the rest of us refuse to be dragged down by these very clever and well trained chaps and urgently address the immediate and desperate needs of mother Kenya?
I hope so.
But meanwhile I, Kumekucha cannot escape blame. I want to admit that I lost focus and departed from the straight and narrow path that carried this blog from obscurity to worldwide fame within such a short time.
Today my fellow Kenyan I re-dedicate myself to my original mission statement. I do it selflessly with the realization that despite the risks involved we will all probably never live to enjoy the new Kenya we fight so passionately for. Not even our sons and daughters will. It is for our grand children and great grand children. Even if they don’t remember us, it is a dream worth fighting for.
Oh God of all creation bless this our land Kenya.
Here is that old "classic" post;
Saturday, March 31, 2007 Biggest Risk Taken In Posting A Comment: Kumekucha Nomination For Comment AwardI would like to nominate this reader for the award of post made at greatest risk to the personal security of a Kenyan but for the good of the motherland.
This post pointed me in the right direction for research that led to new evidence and angles published only here in this Kumekucha blog that have never before been presented anywhere else in the still unsolved riddle of the Mboya assassination.
This same reader made a number of other very illuminating comments with pointers which I will not reveal for security reasons (to protect the commentator). Obviously this is a person who has worked with the security aparatus in this country in the past if not in the present as well.
It is interesting how many younger generation Kenyans who have never studied the history of Kenya and especially the life and death of Tom Mboya get upset when we mention that tribalism exists in Kenya and it is a dangerous monstor that should be faced and not swept under the carpet (like they want us to do). It is impossible to understand Kenyan politics if you have no idea who Mboya was, a man who relied on almost 90% Kikuyu votes during his entire political career... that was before the Kisumu riots and deaths and the propaganda that followed. My friends I do not peddle lies here, only very carefully researched truths that you are free to investigate on your own an verify.
Please my dear readers, study the history of your country and don't come to this blog to get upset over things you do not understand. PLEASE.
Congratulations to this annonymous blogger. Whoever you are, thank you for loving your country enough to have given us these and other vital leads.
Anonymous said...
On the right track Chris. To describe Kingsway House as eerie confirms that I was not the only one who shuddered when I entered that building. I visited it when it was Kenya's hub of intelligence and indeed Nyayo or Nyati houses pale in comparison. Blood curdling is the phrase I would use. You have explored TJ's threat to the status quo very well. Let's rummage abit further, who were the intelligence apparatchiks at that time (1969)? Indeed one very relevant observation you made is that there were no mobile phones then, so that 'wet job' involved considerable operational and communication resources. Only the security organs had these resources. I believe this matrix holds the key...a garden path that keeps getting missed year in year out.
The original post can be found here;
http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/2006/07/kingsway-house-building-in-nairobi.html#commentsPosted by Chris at 7:17 AM
8 comments:
Anonymous said...
Chris, thank you very much for that. But have you ever thought of an idea that has been largely circulated that TJ was a CIA agent.
It was at the height of the ideological Cold War between America and USSR and anything could have happened, to any one.
TJ was opposed to Oginga Odinga's communism ideolgy and with the history that us younger Kenyans have been able to read, TJ was the one who coined the infamous 'there shall be no other political party in Kenya' thus giving Kanu the armophous powers that it enjoyed for over three decades.
Well, in Nyanza, TJ and Odinga divided the Luo along imaginary ideological and political boundaries, something that the government of the day enjoyed and even split the massive Nyanza province in South Nyanza, while the boundaries could not be defined up to this date.
As I said earlier, let the spirits of this great man rest.
He could ganner all Kikuyu votes at that time. Why? He was in a cosmopolitan province that drew most of the inhabitants from the tribe, and he was not wrong at all. He was popular. It is not a lie.chris said...
Hi Annonymous,
You have much more knowledge on the man than most. Now I encourage you to dig deeper. Find out the following;
During the famous Lancaster house talks that led to independence, who was the chief negotiator on the Kenyan side and what were his tactics?
Who first told bewildered Kenyans; "Uhuru sasa"
From the deep research I have done, I too am convinced that Mboya was a CIA operative. However in my book, that does not downplay his achievements.
It was not any easier for a Luo to get Kikuyu votes in 1958 than it is now. Mboya's charisma and political craftiness was just exceptional. By the way there were Kikuyu candidates he beat in 1958. One of them was called Munyua Waiyaki.
Oh and please note that Mboya was despised in Nyanza and practically had no following there. It was said that he looked down on the Luo (I agree). The man was brought up in Thika amongst the Akamba and traveled widely. Spend a lot of time in Tanzania and was a great friend of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (the front he used at the Kanu financier for the 1963 elections. The real source as you may have guessed was from America). Also perfected his Kiswahili in Tanzania and Kenyatta borrowed many words from him.
Ironically Mboya became very popular in Nyanza only after his assassination.
The rivalry between TJ and Jaramogi is a joy to study and much more complex than just a difference in ideologies. The most fascinating final analysis is that of David Goldsworthy author of the only Mboya biography so far who points out that in dealing with Jaramogi so effectively on behalf of Kenyatta, Mboya paved the way for his own assassination, because his job was well don and now he remained the only threat.
Also ask yourself the question why Goldsworthy called his biography on Mboya “The man Kenya wanted to forget.” Hidden somewhere there you will find the source of today’s tribal woes.
Finally although other Kikuyus did not benefit from the Kenyatta grabbing and wealth, they swallowed the anti-Luo propaganda hook line and sinker and me and you were brought up on the same. I remember as a kid being told that Luos were too proud to rule Kenya.
Once again I have nothing against Kikuyus or any tribe in Kenya, my desire is for Kenyans to discuss what they usually don’t dare discuss. It is very important for our national healing.
Thank you for being such a frequent visitor here. I really appreciate it. And never think for one day that you have to agree with me for me to like you and appreciate your visits.
Have a nice weekend my brother and God bless the people of Kenya.
-Kumekucha-
P.S. By the way for anybody reading this who wants to take a short cut and avoid them books just ask any older person irrespective of their tribe or even nationality who was a grown up in Kenya in the 60s what they thought of Mboya.Anonymous said...
Chris, thank you for that. Sorry, I dont want to divulge id in this forum, i fear the repercussions of the Kenyan media, nomenklatura, and not at this time that Kumekucha is being said to be behind the back-stabbing at The Nation.
I agree with every word that has been said about TJ. I once spoke to a British lecturer who once taught at Makerere. He is very old now (may be dead). His wish was to visit TJ's grave before he departs to the ancestors.
He told me something that i thought only my grandfather told me, thereby confirming it. "We (they) argued for three hours in the Commons that the young man was not a university graduate. I am convinced he was hiding something". This old man says that Mboya's address at Makerere broke with tradition. 'the first non-graduate to lecture' (I dont know, i stand to be corrected whether the first Kenyan, east african or black man'.
But Chris, if you go back to benefits that the Luo got from Mboya, apart from the 'flights' which Oginga Odinga answered with the Russian ones, and the first beneficiaries were Oburu, Osewe and Agola, his three sons, what else did the luo get from TJ.
Yes, California estate in Nairobi was out of his infleunce as MP there, but what do you think happened. the Causeway leading to his Rusinga home remains as it was, the famous Homa Bay-Kendu Bay Road remains as he left it.
I have said before, thanks to the two luo greats but what are we, the current generation reaping from them. This is my bitterness with Raila and His family. Still the Homa bay Road remains as it is and he was the minister for roads. Instead, his first priority was to slap Nyachae on the face by completing the Kisii-Chemosit Road.
Chris with respect and sober arguments only. Dont take it personal. I might be wrong and stand to be corrected.
NB: Have you read the Steadman latest. I think they are very right.Taabu said...
Granted, TJ was a great leader and apolitcal organzer per excellece. But with due respect (may God reast his bones in peace) aren't we losing the wider plot by glorifying the dead and leaders of yore? If anything, what dynamics and relevance has the Makerere model of the 1960s as myopically practiced by the present regime achieved apart from tokenism and plastic growth only justfied inself denial?
True, a drowning man clutches to a straw to stay a float. Similarly we are gropping in the dark looking for foccused leadersip that is presently but a mirage. The truism that no future exists without a related past is no excuse to be slaves to the past. In effect we are simply being blinded by nostalgia and living a lie of counterfactual (what ifs) proportions.
To be brutally honest, who knows, maybe TJ's death was a blessing in disguise for he would part of the dinosaurs and gang now driving us to political oblivion, nay abyss. That bullet stoped may have been the silver kind that literally created a martyr and political hero out of a scheming opportunist.
TJ's brialliance, political and otherwise, remains undeniable. But to extrapolate genuis of the 60s to the present millinium is to turn intellectualism on its head.
Mboya died and got intered with all the values he lived for. To imagine that he would win in Thika today, were he to resurect, is the height of political naivity. The guy would look for the next available noose were to wake up to the monster they inadvertently and invariably nurtured.
Lest I appear ignorant of our history and heroes, I couldn't agree and appreciate more with their ideals which we must retrace and live in their honor and respect. Their era is long past and time waits for no man. Let souls of TJ, JM et al rest in peace. Equally, we the leaving must stop propagating their negative traits of tribalsm and regionalism.Anonymous said...
Yes, TJ was and remains part of the problems we have in this country today. He inserted the words 'there shall be no other political party in Kenya' remember the Section 2 (a) that Oginga Odinga continued hitting at, more than three decades after TJ was dead. It showed Odinga still held the grudge mentioned above.
Again, 'the president is above the law'. Who said that? TJ Mboya. Taabu, you are dead right. He is part of the calamity that we face in present life. Let his soul rest in peace.
Kumekucha
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(Black Magic): Malawi man 'blocks' ex wife from having sex.... woooow
» The Abantu View No more sex-capades..... ouch.... courtesy of my twitter friend Mwiwa Check out his blog..... -
Paint it as is....hahahaha
» The Abantu View Following instructions to the letter! hahahaha
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Distances
» Words Much Like Poetry he could look into them forever,
the window to her soul
the jewels whose brilliance lights up his soul
and bathes it in purity
her very shadow makes flowers grow
her breath brings forth ice flakes
her words are the strum of a harp
and her footsteps the whisper of angels
he can only look at her through the glass
their distances insurmountable
their hopes unrequited
their sentiments unspoken
yet she wears the crown,
his queen of a distant land
her seat beside him remains empty
and the empty palace halls echo with loneliness
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Weekly Ramble
» Rugby in Kenya Weekly Ramble
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2:42
The peculiarity of men’s underwear
» STONE COLD HAVEN For centuries, man has endeavoured to explain some of the mysteries of this here life of ours by resorting to the proverbial trinity of falsehoods – lies, damned lies and statistics. More recently, I remember my maths tutor in college suggesting that Statistics was a good major for those seeking to enter politics simply because you could use statistics to bullshit your way through anything.
I must admit, I have a fascination for statistical information often bandied around in the news media as they tell us something about how we live our lives. But it’s not often you come across a statistical claim that men on average, only purchase their own underwear for 17 years of their lives. This got me thinking. When was the last time I actually went out to buy new underwear? You know what, I honestly can’t remember.
Don’t get me wrong, my side of the dresser always has an abundance of neatly folded clean and fresh stock – but just like hangers that seem to be in every closet, I’ve never really taken time to think about where the new underwear came from or where the old ones were dispatched to. I guess ‘er indoors is due a monumental thank you for taking care of the finer detail in life.
Apparently, one of the biggest stores in the UK has done some research from the information they collect from their sales, and concluded that there’s credence in the notion that men in stable relationships probably have no clue how much underwear costs.
According to Debenhams, most men buy new underwear only if they are starting or about to start a relationship. The unfortunate chap whose job it was to extrapolate this info suggests:
“You can tell when a man is looking for a partner by the number of new underwear they buy. If he buys more than 31 pairs every year, he’s either still trying desperately to impress the woman in his life – or else she’s not The One”.
“This is the one issue that feminism has never addressed. It’s not who wears the pants in each household – it’s who has to buy them that counts”.
They further suggest that men’s underwear buying activity reaches a peak at the age of 23, but declines gradually until the age of 33 when it falls to zero – because many men are in a stable relationship. It picks up again between the ages of 38 and 40, when some men are going through relationship break ups and are seeking new partners again.
But it goes into a sharp decline again and slumps to zero at the age of 44 when they are generally in another stable relationship. After the age of 44 men remain strangers to the underwear department for the rest of their lives, handing all responsibility for their underwear to women.
You know, after reading this stuff, I made a point of asking ‘er indoors how much underwear costs these days and she laughed me out of the room. She was curious to know what brought this on since I’ve never bothered asking her something like this. I admit that I still don’t know how much bread, let alone underwear costs, but I guess each time I pick up a new pair from the drawer, I best be thankful for the small comforts in life. I did entertain the thought of getting in touch with all my ex’s just to thank them for this studious duty of seamlessly ensuring my dignity – but I guess this blog post will have to do.
After all, we have to relentlessly adhere to the old maxim of how important it is to wear clean underwear at every available opportunity. I doubt this has anything to do with personal hygiene….nothing like that. It’s primarily because we all owe our loved ones some dignity in case something tragic was to happen to us – say if we absent mindedly walked under a bus and ended up on a slab in an unsavoury backroom in the local mortuary.
Can you imagine your folks claiming your personal effects only to be handed dodgy underwear with skid marks? The poor folks have to grieve and need to be cut some slack.
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Why Justice Must Be Served
» Kenya Imagine
Nekessa on Ruth Njeri's tragic story.Perhaps, at the end of the day when we are done debating politics and laughing at the idiocy of the political elite, perhaps then we will think of Njeri and thousands of IDPs whose only wish is that their lives might return to some normalcy and that those who masterminded the PEV would pay.
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1:42
New Year, 2009
» Black Looks A poem by the National Poet of Wales to honour the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America on 20th January 2009 Venus in the arc of the young moon is a boat the arms of a bay, the sky clear to infinity but for the trailing gossamer of a transatlantic plane. The [...]
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1:15
Separated at BIRTH!!
» Media Madness J-Hud – she sings all the soundtracks in my dreams hehe and y’all need to listen to stand up! Powerful song Keri – X Fm’s drive DJ…and the star of many of my dreams
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1:03
Angry white music!!
» Media Madness Yesterday at around 11 I tuned to X Fm and my ears were impressed!! Angry white Music!! I loved it! Being the serious journalist I am (Stop laughing) I did some research. The show airs every Tuesday from 10pm to Midnight! It’s called Metal to Midnight and it’s hosted by Shiv…someone needs to tell me [...]
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0:54
Time wasting activity of the year!
» Media Madness A Business show on KBC. Okay, am a trained Entrepreneur so I know business really really well but this guy asks some of the silliest question. He had Nick Nesbitt (Kencall) on the show and he asks ‘Is it true Satellite is more expensive than Fiber’ right after he had said ‘Fiber is bringing down [...]
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0:48
You know it’s bad…
» Media Madness When your employees LMAO when you say you’re still number one. Peeps at Capital are of the opinion the station is just jumping from one shit hole to the other and are just laughing off (behind their backs of course) management’s efforts to revive the station.
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0:44
Leave SANA alone!
» Media Madness Someone at the rag we all know as the Pulse is spreading some untruths about Kiss Fm’s Sana. He’s farting to anyone who cares to listen that Sana is quitting Kiss. My brotha, game yako iko downest! Wachana na msichana was wenyewe
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0:31
Taught to tweng??
» Media Madness Just got an email from a lady with a very interesting observation. She says most of the media personalities who weng vi-major are mostly from DAYSTAR! She names ‘em Lilian Muli, Mark Maasai, Peninah karibe, Leisula (KBC), Ramah Nyang, Ann Waithera and Ann Kiguta. Wasee wa Dayo…is it true? Correction! Am told Masai is a Catho alumni [...]
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0:18
Its Now Official, My First Poetry Book Collection will be out in March 2010
» Kenyanpoet I can now say it loudly, You will have a chance to read my first book of published poetry containing all poems that I have been writing for the last 5 years. The book will be out in March 2010 as announced by my publisher - Nsemia Inc. Publishers.
I had to restrain myself from doing this post last night at 11pm when I received the email.
The book which is now in the design stage has a collection of my most memorable pieces that I have performed in various venues in Nairobi in three languages - English, Kiswahili, Sheng and Gikuyu. Translations will be available in English.
Read the full story here.
You can bet that KP fans will be the first to know when the book is available for sale.
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22:47
A Small Memory…
» kaasa Enclosure: [download]
(Music again!) Hello! As sworn, this week has been tight for me. I went into work at 6am Monday, and today (Tuesday) I was there before 5:30am. But I have been leaving at 5pm on the dot as usual, just because my brain is completely fried after all those hours of work. Mr. Belgium, surprisingly, has made [...]
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19:52
Creative Juices
» White African What gets you thinking creatively?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the need to have more time spent away from the normal timesinks that define our working lives. Getting more dead time. Daydreaming time. Doodling time.
My main ways:
1. DaydreamingI had 10 hours of driving time on Friday. That’s the perfect environment for me to get some thinking done, I’m unable to escape to the digital tethers of mobile phone or computer, and reading a book isn’t possible. Therefore I think, and seemingly unrelated patterns start to become apparent from different projects, people and initiatives that I’m involved in.
This fits in with an article I read on Fast Company recently, “Hard Work’s Overrated, Maybe Detrimental“.
“By most measures, we spend about a third of our time daydreaming, yet our brain is unusually active during these seemingly idle moments. Left to its own devices, our brain activates several areas associated with complex problem solving, which researchers had previously assumed were dormant during daydreams. Moreover, it appears to be the only time these areas work in unison.”
Honestly, I don’t do this daydreaming stuff enough, I need to do it more. My goal is to untether myself from my iPhone and books more often. Some of my best ideas last year came from an airplane flight where I forgot my book and my iPhone was dead, leaving me with 5 hours an pen and a notebook…
2. DoodlingI used to draw a lot, but about 7-8 years ago I just kind of stopped. I’m determined to get started again, even if it is just doodling spaceships in a notebook.
Closely related to doodling is finding crazy, yet professional and cool, images that inspire me to strange thoughts. Case in point…
Good blogs to follow for occasional posts with reams of these types of images are InstantShift or Smashing Magazine.
How about you?I’m very interested in hearing how others get their creative juices flowing. At some point we all have to shake up the norm, the status quo, in our lives or work. Is there a way that you do this purposefully?
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It, Depression
» Words Much Like Poetry In those quiet moments it comes to me,
creeps up to me from an unknown place
my innermost thoughts my mind it seeks to mime
my cherished reverie without hap to replace
in desperation I wallow in phantasms,
reaching I grasp for an unextended vine,
sucked back within by this murky chasm
all I hope for now is salvation divine
there are no more dreamless sleeps
words fail to give me avowal
my grip on reality slips
it is only a game played to a foul
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17:17
Action at the coast
» Kenya Cricket There has been plenty of action at the coast recently, mostly centred around Mombasa Jafferys who have hosted a number of junior and community events.
In a warm up to the upcoming Junior Tournament on 31st October, Abbasali Mawji (40*), Kazimali Jaffer (2-0-11-4) and Siddiq Samani (2-0-8-3) combined to give their side a crunching 30 run win in a 10 over match.
In a community match the following day, Arman Warriors edged out Imamia Electrocutors by just 7 runs in a tightly fought 20-20 match.
Arman Warriors batted first scoring 118/8 in their 20 overs with Aliasger Abdalla (26), Mazhar Kassamali (16)and Husayn Virjee (15*) the main contributors. Pick of the bowling for the electrocutors was Mujahid Janmohammed who took 3/11 off his 4 overs while Kumayl Virjee took 2/10.
In reply Mohammed Fazel (35) and Mohammed Merali (28) had the Electrocutors looking good until some quick wickets and tight bowling stifled the run rate leaving them 7 runs short. Pick of the Warriors bowling was Miqdad Walji (2/16) with Husein Allidina, Fazle Kassamali, Shamil Khalfan and Mujtaba Janmohammed picking up a wicket each.Become a fan of Kenya Cricket.com on facebook: [www.facebook.com] -
RVSC and Spinknit win in Crown Berger 20-20 matches
» Kenya Cricket RVSC defeated Khalsa XI and Spinknit accounted for PBH Royal Cubs in the weekend games in the RVCA Crown Berger 20-20 tournament over the weekend.
In Game 5, Khalsa XI won the toss and elected to field with their top order all getting decent starts. Gunnaskekaran (37) and Nilesh Mehta (16) set the early tempo with Kulveer Ruprai (37*) and V.P. Singh (28) looking to consolidate. RVSC stuck to their guns however and the removal of Singh and Khalsa's efforts to up the run rate resulted in a spurt of wickets to see them close on 142/5 after their 20 overs. Pick of the bowling for RVSC was Rahul ? (2/25)
the RVSC reply was lead from the beginning by the in-form Luke Nightingale who steered his side to victory with an unbeaten 73. Chris Sterling contributed 23, but Khalsa will rue the 20 extra's that was third highest scorer as RVSC got home with 6 wickets and 2.4 overs in hand.
Game 6 saw spinknit bat first after winning the toss and setting an impressive 170/7 in their allotted overs. Minesh Bhatt retired after scoring 60 and a late flourish from Jatin Patel (31) did the damage. Jaymin Patel picked up 3/36 for the Cubs with Raj Patel and Ravi Patel taking one each.
PBH in reply had little answer to the spinknit bowlers with all who were used taking wickets. Indravadan Patel (2/6), Ahmed ? (2/7) and D.K ?? (2/10) the main destroyers. In the end a comfortable win for spinknit as the PBH Royal Cubs innings folded for just 68.Become a fan of Kenya Cricket.com on facebook: [www.facebook.com]
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Progressive or New Activist Draft Constitution?
» You Missed This 
A look at the proposed new draft constitution leaves you wondering whether you are listening to an NGO seminar presentation. While the draft captures the heart of most of the salient issues like devolution and judicial overhaul, the finer prints smacks of activism devoid of any trace of tunnel vision to anchor national foundation and values.
The return of two chambers may appear to rewinding the clock to 1960s but at least it is an honest reflection to help us retrace our steps towards disabusing the godfathers of impunity like Jomo and his STUDENTS who patented Kenya for themselves. The senate will ensure no region feels marginalized by either default or design as we re-invent ourselves into a modern state.
Hopefully the provincial governments will comprehensively tackle the regional militias presently roaming and BEHEADING fellow Kenyans. At least the regional authorities will be knowledgeable and armed with experience to stop the murderers at their doorsteps.
Perhaps the most progressive suggestion in the draft constitution is the provision of dual citizenship. Kenya has been blind to her Diaspora despite their enormous contribution to the economy. This development is a step towards disabusing the old guards of their primitive nostalgia and contempt towards modernism. The ball will squarely fall on the Diaspora’s court to walk their lofty talk should the dual citizenship proposal pass muster.
Saving ourselves
But predictably, the draft does not fail to inject a bitter taste onto the lips with its academic legislation on gender. While NGOs win donors with their gender campaigns, legislating that no gender should occupy two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly turns the whole theme of equity on its own head.
On the whole the so-called committee of experts has correctly diagnosed our collective ailment. Their prescription may not be the best but at least it will keep us alive to either accept reality and reform or revert to our destructive pettiness that will only see us perish collectively.
It is incumbent upon us to rise to the occasion and save ourselves from stewing in our won blood, shall we?Kumekucha
