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Kenya Imagine

• October 28, 2007
• 4:50

  Can Kibaki Still Win?

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  A closer study of the Kenyan political scene when read in conjuction with the recent polls by the Steadman Group indicates that with proper planning, President Kibaki can be beaten at the December polls but still win his seat back.
  
  Read more from Kamale T.
• 0:32

  The tragedy of war

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  What is the  

  Imagine if you will, a procession of boys walking for months, even years on end. They retain only one goal in their hearts, to reach the safety of refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. Achak's journey begins in Marial Bai, a village in Southern Sudan and ends in his resettlement in Atlanta, Georgia with hundreds of other young Sudanese. The epic is in many ways tragic, however, Achak and others demonstrate the resolution of the human will to survive some of the most adverse conditions on the planet.
  
  Read here as Nekessa Opoti writes a review on Dave Eggers' What is the What-- an autobiography of one of Sudan's Lost Boys.
• October 26, 2007
• 16:49

  New Opinion Polls

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Kibaki  

  Steadman has today published new opinion polls that show a shift in voter preferences in the lead up to the General Election. The election date has also been announced. Voting day is 27/12.
  
  The Steadman polls indicate that Raila Odinga's support has fallen from 53% to 50%, the incumbent Mwai Kibaki saw his stock rise from 37% to 39%. The ODM-K candidate had an 8% share of the respondents' support. These changes are within the margins of error and give the impression that not much has changed.
  
  But do these really matter or are Kenyans minds made up? Will ODM's euphoric high be diminished by December 27? Are Kenyans paying more attention to the issues? Join the discussion here.
  
  We also have our own poll. (You will find it at the bottom of the left hand side column of the homepage).
• October 24, 2007
• 15:25

  An end to justice

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Kenyan Sexual Offences act  

  In South Africa it is estimated that almost 58 children are the victim’s of rape or attempted rape everyday. This constitutes 41% of all rape cases reported.
  
  Kenya became in 2006 one of the few southern African countries to enact Sexual Offences legislation, but does she really have the economic resources and the political goodwill for this legislation to transmute into a practical reality? As Kenya slips closer to the disturbing trends in South Africa it becomes necessary to ensure that the legislative framework that is the Sexual Offences Act is an effective means by which sexual offences can be curbed.
  
  Read more from L. Akitelek Papakemus.
• October 23, 2007
• 21:10

  Please Vote For Me

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Why Democracy  

  It's election season and the candidates and their parties are out in force putting their case to the public on why they would be best suited for government. This is democracy.
  
  This year, starting October, a global campaign named Why Democracy? will be broadcast on television and the internet. It seeks to ask questions of the global population on their understanding of democracy and their perception of it as a solution to the problems of our times.
  
  Join in on the discussion on democracy and elections.
• October 22, 2007
• 20:56

  Not the miracle man!

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  Mwingi South MP Kalonzo Musyoka was in his element last Sunday gone, buoyed along by the massive turnout to his campaign's official launch at Uhuru Park. The former long serving Kanu organizing secretary is arguably the best political propagandist the country has ever produced. He was as eloquent as always, even though little from the team he fronted, Bahari MP Joe Khamisi excepted, suggested that they meant in any way what they were pontificating.
  
  Read here Solomon Gakungu's criticism of Kalonzo Musyoka.
• 20:49

  What of the loot?

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  ndungu report  

  Kenyan politics has always had a 9.8 rating for entertainment and thrills. The twists the turns, break-ups and make-ups, lies and promises, it is one long soap opera and it's only likely to get better.
  
  Fret not Moi, rest easy. Your soul and Raila's are united forever, or as William Ruto put it, the Ndung'u report cannot be implemented because his name and that of Raila are also mentioned in the report.
  
  Read more from Stephen Wainaina.
• October 20, 2007
• 2:36

  Micro-finance; a bridge to the future

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  poverty  

  Microcredit is the extension of small loans to enterpreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. It has proven to be an effective and popular measure in the ongoing struggle against poverty.
  
  Ole Mepukori makes his case for micro-financing. Reading more here.
• October 19, 2007
• 14:24

  Africans less intelligent than other races?

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  african  

  An eminent American professor and Nobel Prize Winner was quoted in a recent report in the UK Independent newspaper claiming that Africans are genetically less intelligent than Europeans.
  
  Should he be ignored? What have you thought of the debate on this matter around the internet? Is there really such a thing as an intelligence gene that can be handed down? Even in our country, among our ethnicities, such ideas persist and not just among chauvinists either. Is this not an opportunity to banish them for all time?
  
  Join the discussion here.
• 14:21

  Legalise it?

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  legalise drugs  

  A senior British police officer has called for the legalisation of all drugs including marijuana, heroine and cocaine in a bid to arrest the growing problem of drug abuse in the United Kingdom.
  
  Nowa Indania urges Kenya to address drug related problems before they get out of hand. He poses: Is it not best then, that we cut the ground from under these organisations before they are further developed? Is legalising drugs the solution?
  
  Read more here.
• October 15, 2007
• 20:08

  The Jambula Tree and St. Morality

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  african writers  

  As East African journalists and editors craft hate pieces against local homosexuals, half a world away, an East African woman has received an award for a brave coming of age story on just this topic. The Caine Prize for African Writing was awarded to Ugandan Arac de Nyeko for a compelling Bildungsroman on the lives of two Ugandan girls as told in a letter from Anyango to the long lost Sanyu, exiled to far-off London by her parents.
  
  Read here from Dorothy Adhiambo as she writes a review on her award tale.
• 19:57

  The anguished life of a Kenyan moan

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  youth  

  A sometime volunteer teacher in Kenya writes on an acquaitance of hers, one blessed with better than average intelligence, a family that can pay his way through school, a job that looks to have the potential of a fulfilling career but who constantly complains about his life, how unfair it all is.
  
  Read on here.
• 19:50

  The Grass is Singing

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  book Review  

  Last week, Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for literature.
  
  "The Grass is Singing" is a psychological and social analysis on race relations in the old Zimbabwe, and an exploration of the dichotomy of culture and nature.
  
  Read here as Annette Keino writes a review on her book, the Grass is Singing."
• October 11, 2007
• 16:25

  Parliament as a Big Brother House

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  Reality TV is an essential part of the zeitgeist , and no part of it more emblematic than the phenomenon of the Big Brother TV show. Question is, is that spirit transferrable? Shouldn't we watch our MPs just as closely?
  
  The idea of regular live coverage of parliament has already been mooted, so this fantasy is not too far from fruition. But what is it all about?
  
  Find out here.
• 16:21

  Gibraltar's General Elections: A Kenyan view

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Gibraltar  

  Passing time as I wait for the night to set in, I look through the local paper; the Gibraltar Chronicle. There are in it final statements from the leaders of the three main party making their case with voters.
  
  The ruling Gibraltar Social Democrats party which has been in office for the last 4 years is led by Chief Minister Peter Caruana and claims to have achieved a lot for Gibraltans. Even as it goes on to list its achievements, its main opponents the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party/ Gibraltar Liberal Party coalition led by veteran Joe Bosana, have busied themselves dismissing all the alleged gains made by the GSD at the last election. This recalls the Kenyan scenario where the ODM party has taken out the Presidents promise card from his swearing in, and is now pointing out exactly where he failed to deliver.
  
  Read more here.
• 16:13

  Kitchen Toto

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  movie Review  

  Kenyan film has made large strides in quality and distribution. Encouragingly also, a growing, cultured middle class is adding to the viability of these efforts.
  
  Still, there's scope for improvement and crucially too for the treatment of subjects such as our history and the social issues that have informed our painful progress through times. The dark days of the Kenyatta government, the hunger and horrors of the Moi years and the increasing unemployment and desperation that collar us to this day are all fertile ground for a wealth of ideas that properly done, would make for great movie experiences.
  
  Read more here.
• October 10, 2007
• 20:33

  Interview with a possible MP

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  In these series, kenyaImagine ask a list questions of young Kenyans who are throwing themselves into the politcal ring. DO they represent a new Kenya? What problems stand in their way? Do they deserveto win?
  
  Download a questionnare here to forward onto aspiring members of parliament.
  
  The first of these is Ole Mepukori. Read his interviews here.
• 13:42

  Let's do away with the Muslim vote

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  There has been a trend in Kenyan politics and this most prevalent among the media and political classes to speak of the Muslim vote, a collective that needs to be courted and won over by the parties and their candidates.
  
  Amir Ibrahim demonstrates that Kenyan Muslims are not a monolithic demographic entity. Read more here.
• 6:10

  User's guide to beating ODM

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  youth  

  Stephen Wanyama publishes a list of proposals that the PNU could adopt in catching up with an overtaking the ODM party at the polls. This follows polls results that show the Party of National Unity is lagging behind in almost all the provinces.
  
  There are many Kenyans who see this year's election as a titanic battle between good and evil. I don't quite share that view, my opinion being that both sides have let Kenya down immensely.
  
  Read more here.
• 5:57

  World Tea Expo without Africa

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Mt. Kenya  

  Year after year, Kenya is either the world's largest or second largest tea exporter. Although 16 African countries like Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda also produce tea, none of them makes even a fraction of Kenya's output.
  
  Read More Here
• 5:52

  Rising infertility in Kenyan girls

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  contraceptive Kenya Kiambu infertility infertile  

  Rebecca Wanjiku pays a visit to the Kiambu District Hospital and comes face to face with a bevy of beautiful young women, all of them in perfect health, except for one thing- they are infertile. She takes us through the tragedy of improper contraception use and the side effects of contraceptives, and the whiplash on a generation of girls.
  
  Read More Here
• 5:48

  New aid; the change in development assistance to Africa

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Africa aid development Jacqueline Novogratz  

  Change is afoot across the African continent and even where it is slow in coming, there's evidence all around of a new generation of Africans -- entrepreneurial and inventive who are shaping a brighter future for the their communities. Jacqueline Novogratz explains a new path to development assistance, one which leads only in facilitation, providing investment rather than traditional aid.
  
  
  Read More and watch the video here.
• 5:42

  On Public Expenditure and Wealth Creation

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine
  ODM Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga's response to the last budget speech. In this speech, the Langata MP talks about his ideas on reducing the inequality gap while chasing economic growth, and the importance of seeking a holistic view of progress- defined by the Gross National Happiness index.
  He addresses the failures of present government measures, and sets out the agenda for what his government would achieve.
  
  More here.
• 5:25

  No such thing as a Muslim vote

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  muslims Kenya politics vote integration  

  Amir Ibrahim argues that the courting of Muslims by politicians is not only unfair to Kenyans of other faiths, but also dangerous to the Muslim voters themselves as a perception of them as a fifth column, self-serving and inimical to the needs of other citizens is created and reinforced. He also argues that there really is no such thing as an Islamic constituency and pleads that Kenyans come to a universal conception of rights that are due to all citizens regardless of race or religion.
  Read more here.
• October 09, 2007
• 22:06

  The Right Not to Vote

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  I consider myself a responsible and fully-paid up member of my society. I participate in the PTA at my daughter's school, and I am involved in the neighborhood council.
  
  We do not do anything too exciting in our council; it's only putting together the funds for the refuse collection, and that for the neighborhood guards. We also put money together for the resurfacing of the road that passes through our little enclave.
  
  It is an enclave alright, and we are its little government. We have blocked the two entrances to our road. We have put up a ten-foot wall on the one-end, with electric fencing at the top; and we have a massive gate (again with electric fencing on top) at the front-end. At the gate we have two guards, ex-policemen who are under instruction not to let anyone come uninvited into our little piece of calm and tranquility. We have long given up on the ability of the local government and the central government to deliver the services we should properly expect from our taxes.
  
  Annette Keino demonstrates why none of the political parties nor the candidates that represent them are worthy of her vote. Read more here.
• October 03, 2007
• 5:25

  Reform Urgent at Land Registry

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  land reform  

  It is now two months since I lodged a fully filled application for an official search of a property at the Central Lands Registry,Ardhi House in Nairobi. I have not yet received a certified copy of the official search or title from the Lands Registrar. It is not that the file is missing, and neither is this an isolated event.
  
  Read here as Collins Mbalo highlights the Kenyan land problem.
• 5:22

  Moi's Strange Plan for Kenya

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  On Madaraka Day in 2002, former President Moi posited that Kenya's problems could not be solved this century. He predicted that Africa would continue to wallow in poverty, corruption, tribalism and disease forever.
  
  Solomon Gakungu advices against listening to the former president. Read more here.
• 5:20

  24hr Shopping in Nairobi

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  economics  

  Nairobi is well on its way to becoming a 24 hour city-Nakumatt by Nakumatt. It started a few months ago when Kenya's leading department store made its smaller Ukay branch, a 24 hour supermarket.
  
  Read more from Al Kags here.
• October 01, 2007
• 20:36

  Unchanged; Kenya after the last election

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  As we consider our choices at the next election, and ponder the utility of elections in promoting good governance. What also of the specific pledges that politicians are making now?
  
  Read here as Bertil Mketu assesses the political growth or lackthereof in Kenya and watch a slide show detailing Kenyan newsmedia coverage of the previous elections.
• 20:33

  Kibaki Needs a Miracle

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  election 2007  

  President Mwai Kibaki trails his fierce rival Raila Odinga in Kenya's latest electioral opinion polls. Even this early in the game, the margin seems unassailable as Raila moves into a position of dominance across the regions.
  
  George Nyangweso wonders how President Kibaki will make a case for his re-election. Read more here.
• 20:26

  Are there any good apples?

   » ‎ Kenya Imagine

  Tags:  Kenyan politics  

  Even as they go into the elections in strong support of one side of the other, few Kenyans will have been impressed by the delivery of most of their politicians. In our question of the week this time, we offer an opportunity for the exoneration from blanket guilt of any politician who has proved himself worthy of the tag, leader.
  
  Please give a specific reason here for your backing of this particular politician whether in parliament or at the local government level, and the reasons for which he can be distinguished from the prevalent view that all politicians are greedy, selfish and self-seeking charlatans.