With just 28 days to go to the mother of all Kenyan general elections, a dramatic and mind-numbing new twist made its’ grand entry into the unfolding drama.
A number of people including two Administration Policemen were caught red handed in Rift Valley distributing anti-Raila hate propaganda posters. And even as this bizarre incident unfolded police headquarters was busy denying that any such posters existed and said that they were unaware of any such distribution, hitting out at Prof Anyang Nyong’o for “spreading self-seeking damage control propaganda”. The folks at police headquarters have now become experts on party propaganda and publicity-seeking tactics and every single statement of denial now includes that pet subject of the police commissioner and his lieutenants at Vigilance House. It will be interesting to hear what they say in reaction to the latest arrests.
Oddly enough the APs confessed to interrogators that they had received their orders to distribute the posters from a superior, actually some SSP (senior Superintend of police) whom they even named.
Even more interesting is the fact that an anonymous reader tipped off Kenyans right here in Kumekucha about the said posters even as they were leaving Nairobi for distribution in Rift Valley.
It would appear that there is a very loud message coming from the people of Kenya. It seems that they are saying they want a clean break with the past where such dirty missions were kept secret as those involved looked the other way. The fact that the 2 APS were arrested clearly implies that a number of Kenyans refused to look the other way and pushed for action to be taken. It is highly likely that all those involved in exposing the heinous actions of today are civil servants.
Earlier today a Kumekucha source who rode on a Matatu today said that he was taken aback and very surprised at what he describes as the anti-government venom they witnessed in a Matatu that included at least 20 per cent of persons who appeared to government sympathizers.
Here’s how he describes the incident in his own words;
Everything was quite in this matatu until somebody turned to a colleague and loudly started proclaiming the main PNU slogan. The first to react was an elderly woman in her 70s.
“What are you saying about kazi iendelee young man, when Kenyans are suffering so much?”
That provoked a heated one-sided debate as the man who had originally set the ball rolling kept silent with a slight smile on his face.
The tout complained how they worked so hard these days and had nothing to show for it and how Moi was a much better president because the common man was able to easily earn an honest living during his tenure.
The heated monologue was still going on when I reached my destination and alighted from the Matatu.
What struck me in that vehicle Chris, was the deep anger and frustration expressed by ordinary folks and it all seemed to be directed at the current government. For the sake of those who will read this if you publish it in Kumekucha. Let me honestly say that there was no single Luo in that matatu. But you could tell who the PNU sympathizers were. Apart from the person who spoke, there were two other gentlemen who kept silent as virtually everybody else let their frustrations out.
This kind of thing personally makes me very nervous. This “anger” said to be in the hearts of some Kenyans against the current government is not a good thing. How would they react if for example PNU won the elections?
There are those who believe that this “anger” has been fanned and incited by ODM leaders as part of their strategy in campaigning. In fact this anger was first seen during the referendum of 2005 when ODM leaders went round the country telling the people all sorts of lies about the proposed new constitution.
ODM sympathizers would be the first to vehemently deny this and will point to the fact that PNU leaders have been the ones who have provoked ordinary folk by painting a rosy picture of the country and President Kibaki’s achievements when most Kenyans are struggling very badly.
To me the argument of where the anger came from is of little significance when you compare this to the possible damage that could be done prior to and after the December 27th polls. Every peace loving Kenyan has reason to be extremely worried.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sahel CEO Says That Raila Is God's Choice
As I publish the views of this Kenyan CEO of Sahel books, let me emphasize that I will also publish any similar sentiments from PNU, ODM-K etc. This blog is not an ODM blog as some of our detractors would gleefully like to proclaim at the slightest excuse. -Kumekucha-
Ladies and gentlemen, the Hon. Odinga is God's choice to lead Kenya.
A race that started in the eighties is set to end on the 27th. The Hon. Odinga has given it all he had...and then more. If you took time to look at the way this race has been run, you'll recall the moments when it looked tough. When it was downright dishertening. When giving up seemed like the easier, sensible thing to do. But the Hon. Odinga shouldered on. His love for the nation supereceded the pull of comfort and bliss. And so as we get ready for the elections, you need to have a rationale for doing so. Here is why you'll vote for the Hon. Odinga.
1. First and foremost, the Hon. Odinga loves Kenya. Ladies and gentlemen, we're talking about a man who is an accomplished businessman, a wealthy individual who could afford to sit quietly in his Karen home and watch Kenya dwindle into total chaos. But he won't. Instead, he's been out there, through the Moi dictatorship and the Kibaki treachery, keeping Kenyans hoping for a better day. He led us to Kamukunji, to defeat the Uhuru Project, to defeat te referendum and brought us the concept of primaries. At last, that day is about to dawn on the land we all love.
2. The Hon. Odinga is a man of the people. I've personally watched how Kenyans in the diaspora, even those who disagree with him, react after interacting with him. He won't dazzle you with the oratorical skills of Dr. Martin Luther King or President bill Clinton, but he'll leave you with the sense of a man who has a vision and a place he wants to take Kenya. For the Hon. Odinga, Kenya is not where she needs to be until our children won't go to bed hungry, our workers will be employed gainfully and our communities will live in harmony one with another. The andearing names...Agwambo, Tinga, Hummer...din't fall from te sky. They are people's way of saying, "He's our man." So when someone asks why you'll vote for this man, tell him/her that it's because he cares about the people. Yes, he gives a damn.
3. The Hon. Odinga is incorruptible. You've all heard about Anglo-Leasing, Goldenberg and all the other corrupt dealings invloving people we've entusted with leadership. Needless to say, in the nearly three decades we've been blest to have the Hon. Odinga around, his name has never come up in any provable corruption. There have been attempts to smear him, but you and I know where that came from. So when you get into that booth to vote, remember that you're voting for an untainted man.
4. The Hon. Odinga is an internationalist. You've repeatedly heard insular leaders preach the virtues of keeping Kenya tied up within her borders. That's a recipe for being left behind in a world that's getting smaller and more interconnected. The Hon. Odinga has cultivated and nurtured working relations with leaders all over the world. Should any eventuality arise that requires sister nations around the globe to be with kenya in her time of need, these nations will act faster and with open arms because of Hon. Odinga's friendship.
5. The Hon. Odinga is trustworthy. Unlike his opponent, President Kibaki, the Hon. Odinga is a man of his word. The PNU has worked hard to give the MOUs a bad name. And why not? Wasn't it President Kibaki who signed the original MOU and gladly walked away from it? And wasn't it him who wanted to sign one with vijana and buckled at the last minute? Is this a man to trust? Here's what I know. That when the Hon. Odinga gives you his word, you can take it to the bank. His memory is good. And his intentions are noble. He'll deliver.
6. The Hon. Odinga is a family man. You ask yourself why that matters? Here's why. Did you know that President Moi had a wife? His children didn't come from Nakumatt. They were born. But did we have a first lady? No. Because we were led by a broken family. Then came President Kibaki. The man has Lucy. And the man has Mary. The two women have put us through the kind of drama that I won't talk about here. The point is, a man who can't run a family can't run a nation. So when the time comes to vote, vote for a man who has given us the graceful, the dignified, the motherly and the respectable Ida. With her watching over the big house everything will be just fine. So if you want Kenyans to eat well cooked Ugali, give the oludhkuon to Mama Ida.
Fellow Kenyans, when you walk into that booth on the 27th, keep in mind these six points as you vote for the Hon. Odinga. We want you to feel good and proud about your vote. And remember, bring along everybody you know who has registered to vote to the booth. Let's all participate in wrestling Kenya from the men who have presided over gloom and defeat.
Kindest regards,
Sam Okello
President & CEO
Sahel Books Inc.
P.o. Box 6451
South Bend IN, 46660-6451
USA
Phone: Toll Free: 1.877.297.2435
samokello@sahelpublishing.net
www.sahelpublishing.net
Ladies and gentlemen, the Hon. Odinga is God's choice to lead Kenya.
A race that started in the eighties is set to end on the 27th. The Hon. Odinga has given it all he had...and then more. If you took time to look at the way this race has been run, you'll recall the moments when it looked tough. When it was downright dishertening. When giving up seemed like the easier, sensible thing to do. But the Hon. Odinga shouldered on. His love for the nation supereceded the pull of comfort and bliss. And so as we get ready for the elections, you need to have a rationale for doing so. Here is why you'll vote for the Hon. Odinga.
1. First and foremost, the Hon. Odinga loves Kenya. Ladies and gentlemen, we're talking about a man who is an accomplished businessman, a wealthy individual who could afford to sit quietly in his Karen home and watch Kenya dwindle into total chaos. But he won't. Instead, he's been out there, through the Moi dictatorship and the Kibaki treachery, keeping Kenyans hoping for a better day. He led us to Kamukunji, to defeat the Uhuru Project, to defeat te referendum and brought us the concept of primaries. At last, that day is about to dawn on the land we all love.
2. The Hon. Odinga is a man of the people. I've personally watched how Kenyans in the diaspora, even those who disagree with him, react after interacting with him. He won't dazzle you with the oratorical skills of Dr. Martin Luther King or President bill Clinton, but he'll leave you with the sense of a man who has a vision and a place he wants to take Kenya. For the Hon. Odinga, Kenya is not where she needs to be until our children won't go to bed hungry, our workers will be employed gainfully and our communities will live in harmony one with another. The andearing names...Agwambo, Tinga, Hummer...din't fall from te sky. They are people's way of saying, "He's our man." So when someone asks why you'll vote for this man, tell him/her that it's because he cares about the people. Yes, he gives a damn.
3. The Hon. Odinga is incorruptible. You've all heard about Anglo-Leasing, Goldenberg and all the other corrupt dealings invloving people we've entusted with leadership. Needless to say, in the nearly three decades we've been blest to have the Hon. Odinga around, his name has never come up in any provable corruption. There have been attempts to smear him, but you and I know where that came from. So when you get into that booth to vote, remember that you're voting for an untainted man.
4. The Hon. Odinga is an internationalist. You've repeatedly heard insular leaders preach the virtues of keeping Kenya tied up within her borders. That's a recipe for being left behind in a world that's getting smaller and more interconnected. The Hon. Odinga has cultivated and nurtured working relations with leaders all over the world. Should any eventuality arise that requires sister nations around the globe to be with kenya in her time of need, these nations will act faster and with open arms because of Hon. Odinga's friendship.
5. The Hon. Odinga is trustworthy. Unlike his opponent, President Kibaki, the Hon. Odinga is a man of his word. The PNU has worked hard to give the MOUs a bad name. And why not? Wasn't it President Kibaki who signed the original MOU and gladly walked away from it? And wasn't it him who wanted to sign one with vijana and buckled at the last minute? Is this a man to trust? Here's what I know. That when the Hon. Odinga gives you his word, you can take it to the bank. His memory is good. And his intentions are noble. He'll deliver.
6. The Hon. Odinga is a family man. You ask yourself why that matters? Here's why. Did you know that President Moi had a wife? His children didn't come from Nakumatt. They were born. But did we have a first lady? No. Because we were led by a broken family. Then came President Kibaki. The man has Lucy. And the man has Mary. The two women have put us through the kind of drama that I won't talk about here. The point is, a man who can't run a family can't run a nation. So when the time comes to vote, vote for a man who has given us the graceful, the dignified, the motherly and the respectable Ida. With her watching over the big house everything will be just fine. So if you want Kenyans to eat well cooked Ugali, give the oludhkuon to Mama Ida.
Fellow Kenyans, when you walk into that booth on the 27th, keep in mind these six points as you vote for the Hon. Odinga. We want you to feel good and proud about your vote. And remember, bring along everybody you know who has registered to vote to the booth. Let's all participate in wrestling Kenya from the men who have presided over gloom and defeat.
Kindest regards,
Sam Okello
President & CEO
Sahel Books Inc.
P.o. Box 6451
South Bend IN, 46660-6451
USA
Phone: Toll Free: 1.877.297.2435
samokello@sahelpublishing.net
www.sahelpublishing.net
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
What Our Luo Brothers Need To Know
I have just completed weeks of a most fascinating research I have been undertaking. It has involved consultations with many of my contacts in the Luo community as well as research on the web.
My personal belief is that what I have unearthed is extremely fascinating and could hold the key to Kenyans understanding what is one of the most misunderstood communities in the country today.
However in making the series of posts that you are about to read I am not naïve and am well aware of the fact that many of our readers are not interested in spiritual matters and have very little knowledge of it and yet whether we are ignorant of it or not, it usually affects our lives in such a devastating and permanent way.
My strong advice is that those of our readers who will not dare delve as deep as we are about to do here should just ignore these posts and move on. There is plenty of other political news and information in the rest of this blog to keep you occupied, entertained and intrigued.
So that you may all understand my reason for undertaking this strange piece if research in the first place, let me start by pointing out that there are those who are convinced (including this blogger) that there has been divine intervention at a very high level every time a change of leadership has been about to take place in Kenya.)
When President Kenyatta died in Mombasa in August 22nd 1978 there was a wide belief that the front runners to take over the presidency were his close confidante Mbiyu Koinange or his trusted nephew Dr. Njoroge Mungai. Indeed such trusted foreign media house like Time magazine said as much.
Prior to the change of leadership in 1978 several oaths had been taken blocking the presidency from ever crossing the Chania river, meaning that Kenya would always be ruled by a dynasty of Kiambu Kikuyus who had been close to President Kenyatta. After all these were the most experienced in steering the ship called Kenya having seen first hand how “mzee” had done it.
But those who had administered the oath forgot to administer another one blocking the presidency from moving to other tribes, other than the house of Mumbi. And that is exactly what ended up happening. A power struggle between two powerful cliques within the inner Kenyatta circle, one led by Njoroge Mungai and another by Charles Njonjo forced the compromise candidature of Daniel arap Moi to stand. Both sides were comfortable because they did not see Moi as a threat or capable of holding onto the office for long. But alas, God had different plans.
When it came to time for Moi to leave office, there was a very big problem. The main opposition presidential candidate was from the other side of the Chania river. Mwai Kibai was from Nyeri and the oath had effectively blocked the presidency from crossing the Chania River into Nyeri. Oaths, and especially the blood oaths that were being undertaken during the Kenyatta days are terrible things that have far-reaching long term effects. If aothas meant nothing then it would not be a criminal offence to administer them.
And that is why President Kibaki almost died in a very serious road accident that still affects his life to this day. There was divine intervention to preserve his life and to over-rule the oath that had been taken by Kenyatta people. If the Kibaki camp had realized this in 2002 and acknowledged the big miracle that took place, his presidency would have been very different.
President Kibaki’s tenure, whatever anybody says about it has been a tenure of unfulfilled potential. Those who know Kibaki well like this blogger are confident that he would have achieved much more than what he has done. One of the major obstacles spiritually has of course been the terrible oath working against his presidency.
Now there is a possibility that there will be a leadership change after December 27th and once again there is a major problem with the main opposition presidential candidate. This time the problem is not an oath. It is something very different. I speak about this in the next post.
Read Part 2
My personal belief is that what I have unearthed is extremely fascinating and could hold the key to Kenyans understanding what is one of the most misunderstood communities in the country today.
However in making the series of posts that you are about to read I am not naïve and am well aware of the fact that many of our readers are not interested in spiritual matters and have very little knowledge of it and yet whether we are ignorant of it or not, it usually affects our lives in such a devastating and permanent way.
My strong advice is that those of our readers who will not dare delve as deep as we are about to do here should just ignore these posts and move on. There is plenty of other political news and information in the rest of this blog to keep you occupied, entertained and intrigued.
So that you may all understand my reason for undertaking this strange piece if research in the first place, let me start by pointing out that there are those who are convinced (including this blogger) that there has been divine intervention at a very high level every time a change of leadership has been about to take place in Kenya.)
When President Kenyatta died in Mombasa in August 22nd 1978 there was a wide belief that the front runners to take over the presidency were his close confidante Mbiyu Koinange or his trusted nephew Dr. Njoroge Mungai. Indeed such trusted foreign media house like Time magazine said as much.
Prior to the change of leadership in 1978 several oaths had been taken blocking the presidency from ever crossing the Chania river, meaning that Kenya would always be ruled by a dynasty of Kiambu Kikuyus who had been close to President Kenyatta. After all these were the most experienced in steering the ship called Kenya having seen first hand how “mzee” had done it.
But those who had administered the oath forgot to administer another one blocking the presidency from moving to other tribes, other than the house of Mumbi. And that is exactly what ended up happening. A power struggle between two powerful cliques within the inner Kenyatta circle, one led by Njoroge Mungai and another by Charles Njonjo forced the compromise candidature of Daniel arap Moi to stand. Both sides were comfortable because they did not see Moi as a threat or capable of holding onto the office for long. But alas, God had different plans.
When it came to time for Moi to leave office, there was a very big problem. The main opposition presidential candidate was from the other side of the Chania river. Mwai Kibai was from Nyeri and the oath had effectively blocked the presidency from crossing the Chania River into Nyeri. Oaths, and especially the blood oaths that were being undertaken during the Kenyatta days are terrible things that have far-reaching long term effects. If aothas meant nothing then it would not be a criminal offence to administer them.
And that is why President Kibaki almost died in a very serious road accident that still affects his life to this day. There was divine intervention to preserve his life and to over-rule the oath that had been taken by Kenyatta people. If the Kibaki camp had realized this in 2002 and acknowledged the big miracle that took place, his presidency would have been very different.
President Kibaki’s tenure, whatever anybody says about it has been a tenure of unfulfilled potential. Those who know Kibaki well like this blogger are confident that he would have achieved much more than what he has done. One of the major obstacles spiritually has of course been the terrible oath working against his presidency.
Now there is a possibility that there will be a leadership change after December 27th and once again there is a major problem with the main opposition presidential candidate. This time the problem is not an oath. It is something very different. I speak about this in the next post.
Read Part 2
The Mystery Behind Raila’s Sudden Popularity
Our past affects us in a very big way. What your father, grandfather and great grandfather (whom you never met) did, affects you directly today and will affect your children too. The good book talks about a curse being visited unto a third and fourth generation. Many of us see familiar bad habits in our children which we have been struggling with ourselves for years and wonder how they picked them up.
By extension your community’s past cannot be ignored either. No matter how well educated and sophisticated you become, your roots will always shape you and who you become.
For example the Akamba people from where my father originates suffer from a very strong spirit of mockery. That is why despite their resources and so many things they have going for them, it is always the Kamba being mocked for eating dead dogs and starvation is rampant despite their best efforts in their shambas (but that is a story for another day).
Let me tell you a very simple true story to illustrate my point here.
There was this guy I was told about once who used to work for a certain government department. He was a very qualified chap but a bizarre trend had emerged in his life. He would go for a job interview and emerge the top candidate and would verbally be informed to report to work the next day. However the minute he turned up complications would start developing. He would be told to wait and one thing led to another and he would never actually take up his appointment. After he had been rejected for reasons that were never clear, somebody else would take up the appointment. This happened several times.
Then every woman he fell in love with would end up abandoning him. Many times it happened in a very hurtful way where once or twice his wife then, would end up in bed with one of his best friends and that is how the marriage would end.
It was clear that there was a certain powerful jinx over this guy’s life but nobody seemed to know what it was or where it had come from.
To cut a long story short the man is a classic example of a person suffering from rejection. You may already know of people who suffer from rejection. Maybe somebody in the office that people just don’t like for no particular good reason. Or it could be you. Maybe you have been wondering why you cannot seem to get a life partner.
Now I need to dive a little deeper so that you understand this more clearly. It is very important that you understand this basic fact so that my point about the forthcoming presidential elections is clear in your mind.
There are many ways in which rejection enters a person’s life. For example many people who suffer rejection are first-borns in their family. Their mother got pregnant with them when the status with the father-to-be was still not clear. Meaning that the mother was angry, frightened and confused when she discovered she was pregnant. She may even have attempted to carry out an abortion. When that child is born he will be carrying rejection planted in them by their mother through thoughts utterances and emotions expressed when they were still in the womb. This will affect him/her for the rest of their life unless they come to the knowledge of what has happened and do something about it or by some miracle of divine intervention the manufacturer himself (God) rescues them from it.
So what was affecting this very frustrated man over 40 years after he was born could have been “planted” before he was even born.
Rejection is the most devastating thing anybody can suffer and often leads to suicide. Women carrying rejection will sometimes get engaged to be married and then at the 11th hour the man will break the engagement without a valid explanation. Other times despite their beauty, they will be completely unable to attract a spouse. In some cases such women will indulge heavily in sex and take refuge in being needed and wanted during sex with men, but it always ends up in terrible disaster because the men they have sex with will always use them and dump them and no matter how good they are none will ever marry them.
My sincere apologies because this post is not about marriage and relationships so let’s get back on topic.
Let me conclude this post by saying that there are a number of other characteristics that commonly accompany rejection. They are bitterness, self-pity and sometimes jealousy and envy even for each other. There are also a number of defensive mechanisms people suffering from rejection usually employ. Sometimes they will seem to be very proud and conceited, other times they will end up being very violent people in society. Just take a close look at African-Americans and you will begin to understand what I am saying here. These Black Americans carry rejection which dates back to the days of slavery.
The other point I want to emphasize is that when a person suffers rejection the people to blame are not those rejecting them and doing bad things to them. Rather the problem is within them.
I talk about rejection here because my dear brothers the Luo community suffer from it. My research of many weeks has been to try and find out where it came from in the first place, which I talk about in my next post.
But for now let me conclude by saying this is the reason behind the statements we were hearing about early this year about certain characters being “Unelectable.” The good news for Raila supporters is that something that I do not quite understand yet has happened to this candidate who most people (including this blogger) used to believe was unelectable. I suspect it may be divine intervention but I cannot say for sure until after December 27th.
Read Final Part
By extension your community’s past cannot be ignored either. No matter how well educated and sophisticated you become, your roots will always shape you and who you become.
For example the Akamba people from where my father originates suffer from a very strong spirit of mockery. That is why despite their resources and so many things they have going for them, it is always the Kamba being mocked for eating dead dogs and starvation is rampant despite their best efforts in their shambas (but that is a story for another day).
Let me tell you a very simple true story to illustrate my point here.
There was this guy I was told about once who used to work for a certain government department. He was a very qualified chap but a bizarre trend had emerged in his life. He would go for a job interview and emerge the top candidate and would verbally be informed to report to work the next day. However the minute he turned up complications would start developing. He would be told to wait and one thing led to another and he would never actually take up his appointment. After he had been rejected for reasons that were never clear, somebody else would take up the appointment. This happened several times.
Then every woman he fell in love with would end up abandoning him. Many times it happened in a very hurtful way where once or twice his wife then, would end up in bed with one of his best friends and that is how the marriage would end.
It was clear that there was a certain powerful jinx over this guy’s life but nobody seemed to know what it was or where it had come from.
To cut a long story short the man is a classic example of a person suffering from rejection. You may already know of people who suffer from rejection. Maybe somebody in the office that people just don’t like for no particular good reason. Or it could be you. Maybe you have been wondering why you cannot seem to get a life partner.
Now I need to dive a little deeper so that you understand this more clearly. It is very important that you understand this basic fact so that my point about the forthcoming presidential elections is clear in your mind.
There are many ways in which rejection enters a person’s life. For example many people who suffer rejection are first-borns in their family. Their mother got pregnant with them when the status with the father-to-be was still not clear. Meaning that the mother was angry, frightened and confused when she discovered she was pregnant. She may even have attempted to carry out an abortion. When that child is born he will be carrying rejection planted in them by their mother through thoughts utterances and emotions expressed when they were still in the womb. This will affect him/her for the rest of their life unless they come to the knowledge of what has happened and do something about it or by some miracle of divine intervention the manufacturer himself (God) rescues them from it.
So what was affecting this very frustrated man over 40 years after he was born could have been “planted” before he was even born.
Rejection is the most devastating thing anybody can suffer and often leads to suicide. Women carrying rejection will sometimes get engaged to be married and then at the 11th hour the man will break the engagement without a valid explanation. Other times despite their beauty, they will be completely unable to attract a spouse. In some cases such women will indulge heavily in sex and take refuge in being needed and wanted during sex with men, but it always ends up in terrible disaster because the men they have sex with will always use them and dump them and no matter how good they are none will ever marry them.
My sincere apologies because this post is not about marriage and relationships so let’s get back on topic.
Let me conclude this post by saying that there are a number of other characteristics that commonly accompany rejection. They are bitterness, self-pity and sometimes jealousy and envy even for each other. There are also a number of defensive mechanisms people suffering from rejection usually employ. Sometimes they will seem to be very proud and conceited, other times they will end up being very violent people in society. Just take a close look at African-Americans and you will begin to understand what I am saying here. These Black Americans carry rejection which dates back to the days of slavery.
The other point I want to emphasize is that when a person suffers rejection the people to blame are not those rejecting them and doing bad things to them. Rather the problem is within them.
I talk about rejection here because my dear brothers the Luo community suffer from it. My research of many weeks has been to try and find out where it came from in the first place, which I talk about in my next post.
But for now let me conclude by saying this is the reason behind the statements we were hearing about early this year about certain characters being “Unelectable.” The good news for Raila supporters is that something that I do not quite understand yet has happened to this candidate who most people (including this blogger) used to believe was unelectable. I suspect it may be divine intervention but I cannot say for sure until after December 27th.
Read Final Part
Little Known Facts From The History Of The Luos That Explains The Mystery
As I have said here many times before, as Kenya approached independence, the two front runners for the top office were both from the Luo community, namely Tom Mboya and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga (Raila’s father). The older Odinga sensing defeat in the hands of the young Mboya couldn’t take it and decided to play a political trump card to completely wipe out his opponent and bitter political rival. He led a campaign insisting that Jomo Kenyatta (then incarcerated) be released from detention and that Kenyans would not accept independence without Kenyatta’s release.
So rather than see the leadership of Kenya go to one of his own, Jaramogi was prepared to sacrifice the presidency and hand it over to another community.
This is one of the characteristics people suffering from rejection usually have. They are sometimes deeply envious and jealous of those close to them and will do anything to stop them.
There are many characteristics in our beloved Luo community that speak of rejection. The reason for most Kenyans not accepting them is NOT because of circumcision. It is something much deeper than that.
I found it in a little know part of the community’s history after much digging.
It is widely known that the Luo migrated into East Africa from a place in Sudan called Bahr-el-Ghazal. But few talk of where they arrived from when they settled in Bahr-el-Ghazal. My research shows that they actually originated from far in the Western part of Africa in present day Nigeria. My sources indicate that the reason the early Luos left Nigeria was because of a very serious quarrel between two brothers, Uthieno and Gillo. Gillo was killed in the ensuing fight between the brothers. It is said that Uthieno killed him in a jealous rage. Uthieno is the father of modern day Luos.
This web site seems to confirm some of these facts although the version here is a little different at one point 3 brothers are mentioned. The general facts are however similar in many ways.
The really fascinating thing here is that there has been talk (half jokingly) about the Luos seceding from Kenya if they continue to be treated as second class citizens. This is just a replay of what the community has suffered during the constant movement first from the West (Nigeria) and then from Sudan. I have tried unsuccessfully to determine the real reason why the Luo moved from Bahr-el-Ghazal, but understanding their history it is not too difficult to guess why.
That is the sad story of the Luo community. My best friends and some of the most talented and highly educated Kenyans. The community whose main capital is where I happened to have been born and the same city where I met my wife two decades or so later.
The objective of my research is NOT to give silly PNU propagandists ammunition for a new email spam campaign. Rather it is to reveal the truth so that a process of healing may begin for these brothers whom I hold very dearly and so close to my heart that I have often been accused here of being an ODM sympathizer.
As the good book says; you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
So rather than see the leadership of Kenya go to one of his own, Jaramogi was prepared to sacrifice the presidency and hand it over to another community.
This is one of the characteristics people suffering from rejection usually have. They are sometimes deeply envious and jealous of those close to them and will do anything to stop them.
There are many characteristics in our beloved Luo community that speak of rejection. The reason for most Kenyans not accepting them is NOT because of circumcision. It is something much deeper than that.
I found it in a little know part of the community’s history after much digging.
It is widely known that the Luo migrated into East Africa from a place in Sudan called Bahr-el-Ghazal. But few talk of where they arrived from when they settled in Bahr-el-Ghazal. My research shows that they actually originated from far in the Western part of Africa in present day Nigeria. My sources indicate that the reason the early Luos left Nigeria was because of a very serious quarrel between two brothers, Uthieno and Gillo. Gillo was killed in the ensuing fight between the brothers. It is said that Uthieno killed him in a jealous rage. Uthieno is the father of modern day Luos.
This web site seems to confirm some of these facts although the version here is a little different at one point 3 brothers are mentioned. The general facts are however similar in many ways.
The really fascinating thing here is that there has been talk (half jokingly) about the Luos seceding from Kenya if they continue to be treated as second class citizens. This is just a replay of what the community has suffered during the constant movement first from the West (Nigeria) and then from Sudan. I have tried unsuccessfully to determine the real reason why the Luo moved from Bahr-el-Ghazal, but understanding their history it is not too difficult to guess why.
That is the sad story of the Luo community. My best friends and some of the most talented and highly educated Kenyans. The community whose main capital is where I happened to have been born and the same city where I met my wife two decades or so later.
The objective of my research is NOT to give silly PNU propagandists ammunition for a new email spam campaign. Rather it is to reveal the truth so that a process of healing may begin for these brothers whom I hold very dearly and so close to my heart that I have often been accused here of being an ODM sympathizer.
As the good book says; you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Creative Arithmetic of The Steadmann Polls
I badly need some further education in mathematics to understand something that really puzzles me.
I wasn’t really all the bad in maths and I scored a decent credit in my O-levels, however my limited knowledge is obviously not enough to enable me fully grasp the latest Steadmann poll.
Here’s my simple question.
How is it possible for a presidential candidate to lead convincingly in 6 provinces but end up tying with his opponent who has a strong showing in only two provinces?
Don’t get me wrong. I am genuinely looking for answers here because I believe there is a logical explanation to this. One of the possibilities of course could be the fact that the single community, from which the latter presidential candidate is receiving most of his support from, outnumbers several other top communities in Kenya put together.
Having said that, let me add that the Steadmann folks are way too sensitive to effectively handle the very public and very political tool that they are dealing with here. Right from the word go senior executives have been leaving comments in this blog whose main aim is to ridicule rather than “educate” us so that we understand this polls thing better.
A recent comment by A Steadmann executive has even taken a cheap shot at this blogger. The comment appears below THIS RECENT POST which was written by Phil (and not by me as our Steadmann executive seems to believe).
At one point the obviously uninformed Steadmann sympathizer says of this blog and blogger;
So if you ask me all this is just propaganda to ensure Kumekucha gets more hits, have you people ever asked yourselves how much money this guy gets from this blog? did you maybe think that he cleverly makes up this stories to ensure you all get fired up and keep posting comments not mentioning visiting this blog every other day.
This cheap attempt to incite readers against this blog is uncalled for and it is clear that the Steadmann folks understand very little about blogging and this blog in particular. (Admittedly as little as we understand about their sensational and erratic polls).
For the record, a decision was taken a few weeks ago to allow top commentators to make uncensored posts in this blog. The idea was to ensure a balance and for this reason we now have top authors in this blog from across the political divide and beyond. For instance, there are those who are die hard ODM supporters (and have no qualms letting everybody know about it) and we also have fanatical PNU and ODM-K supporters. And finally we have the horseless or neutral guys. Incidentally the post that so irked the Steadman executive so much so that he felt obligated to take his cheap shot, was penned by Phil aka “rabidly ODM”.
My advice to Steadmann is not to waste energy targeting the messenger but rather to address themselves to the message. It is no secret that in most Kenyan’s eyes, Steadmann has lost all credibility, indeed many readers (from right across the political divide) have said so here. That is not Kumekucha’s fault.
Their energies badly need to be directed towards repairing their public image and in “educating” Kenyans more so that we can understand their polls better and thus say the more flattering things about them that they so badly crave.
P.S. I dare these so-called anonymous Steadmann symptahizers leaving comments here to use their real names and job titles and quit hiding behind the anonymous tag.
I wasn’t really all the bad in maths and I scored a decent credit in my O-levels, however my limited knowledge is obviously not enough to enable me fully grasp the latest Steadmann poll.
Here’s my simple question.
How is it possible for a presidential candidate to lead convincingly in 6 provinces but end up tying with his opponent who has a strong showing in only two provinces?
Don’t get me wrong. I am genuinely looking for answers here because I believe there is a logical explanation to this. One of the possibilities of course could be the fact that the single community, from which the latter presidential candidate is receiving most of his support from, outnumbers several other top communities in Kenya put together.
Having said that, let me add that the Steadmann folks are way too sensitive to effectively handle the very public and very political tool that they are dealing with here. Right from the word go senior executives have been leaving comments in this blog whose main aim is to ridicule rather than “educate” us so that we understand this polls thing better.
A recent comment by A Steadmann executive has even taken a cheap shot at this blogger. The comment appears below THIS RECENT POST which was written by Phil (and not by me as our Steadmann executive seems to believe).
At one point the obviously uninformed Steadmann sympathizer says of this blog and blogger;
So if you ask me all this is just propaganda to ensure Kumekucha gets more hits, have you people ever asked yourselves how much money this guy gets from this blog? did you maybe think that he cleverly makes up this stories to ensure you all get fired up and keep posting comments not mentioning visiting this blog every other day.
This cheap attempt to incite readers against this blog is uncalled for and it is clear that the Steadmann folks understand very little about blogging and this blog in particular. (Admittedly as little as we understand about their sensational and erratic polls).
For the record, a decision was taken a few weeks ago to allow top commentators to make uncensored posts in this blog. The idea was to ensure a balance and for this reason we now have top authors in this blog from across the political divide and beyond. For instance, there are those who are die hard ODM supporters (and have no qualms letting everybody know about it) and we also have fanatical PNU and ODM-K supporters. And finally we have the horseless or neutral guys. Incidentally the post that so irked the Steadman executive so much so that he felt obligated to take his cheap shot, was penned by Phil aka “rabidly ODM”.
My advice to Steadmann is not to waste energy targeting the messenger but rather to address themselves to the message. It is no secret that in most Kenyan’s eyes, Steadmann has lost all credibility, indeed many readers (from right across the political divide) have said so here. That is not Kumekucha’s fault.
Their energies badly need to be directed towards repairing their public image and in “educating” Kenyans more so that we can understand their polls better and thus say the more flattering things about them that they so badly crave.
P.S. I dare these so-called anonymous Steadmann symptahizers leaving comments here to use their real names and job titles and quit hiding behind the anonymous tag.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Election Violence Weapons Found In Assistant Minister’s Car
Kenyans voters are still numb with shock even as they seek answers from a very bizarre incident that took place late last night.
Acting on a tip off police did what they would usually not do. They stopped an Assistant Minister’s official GK vehicle and searched it. It is what they found inside that has shocked the nation. There was an assortment of crude weapons including Pangas, whips and arrows. Dozens of them. Eye witnesses say that there were slightly over 200 whips!!
Reports indicate that suspicious Nakumatt Supermarket staff (where some of the crude weapons were purchased) were suspicious and quickly tipped off the police who swung into action.
The vehicle and assorted crude weapons are detained at a Nakuru police station. The government (GK number plates) vehicle was headed for Western Kenya at the time the police made their shocking discovery. The vehicle belongs to assistant minister for Water Raphael Wanjala of the PNU party. Mr Wanjala is the immediate former MP for the floods prone Bundalangi constituency.
There are numerous questions that beg for answers. Who financed the purchase of the weapons and what was the real objective of the election violence which the weapons were aimed at perpetrating?
For a long time now many analysts have insisted that election violence, like the so called land clashes that flare up only when an election is around the corner, are usually sponsored by prominent politicians. Now clear evidence to support this suspicion has been unearthed. More so in an election that is proving to be the most violent ever.
Acting on a tip off police did what they would usually not do. They stopped an Assistant Minister’s official GK vehicle and searched it. It is what they found inside that has shocked the nation. There was an assortment of crude weapons including Pangas, whips and arrows. Dozens of them. Eye witnesses say that there were slightly over 200 whips!!
Reports indicate that suspicious Nakumatt Supermarket staff (where some of the crude weapons were purchased) were suspicious and quickly tipped off the police who swung into action.
The vehicle and assorted crude weapons are detained at a Nakuru police station. The government (GK number plates) vehicle was headed for Western Kenya at the time the police made their shocking discovery. The vehicle belongs to assistant minister for Water Raphael Wanjala of the PNU party. Mr Wanjala is the immediate former MP for the floods prone Bundalangi constituency.
There are numerous questions that beg for answers. Who financed the purchase of the weapons and what was the real objective of the election violence which the weapons were aimed at perpetrating?
For a long time now many analysts have insisted that election violence, like the so called land clashes that flare up only when an election is around the corner, are usually sponsored by prominent politicians. Now clear evidence to support this suspicion has been unearthed. More so in an election that is proving to be the most violent ever.
January 2008 Assuming That PNU Win The Elections…
It is January 2008 and President Kibaki having just won a very closely contested general elections, disappears back into the inner rooms of State House where he was hidden prior to the hectic campaigns of late last year.
President Kibaki is of course the first president of Kenya to live in State House, Nairobi as well as work from there. The last ruler of the land to do so was in fact the last representative of the Queen shortly before Kenya gained her independence in 1963, governor Malom McDonald. Kenyatta preferred his Gatundu home and important cabinet meetings were even held there. Like the crisis meeting that planned Tom Mboya’s funeral shortly after his assassination in July 1969.
President Moi would also always retire to Kabarnet gardens off Ngong road at the end of hard day of work at State House Nairobi.
So as he starts his second and final term, it is work as usual for the aging president whose slogan Kazi inedelee lifted him to victory. And even at this early juncture of the second Kibaki administration, it is not too difficult to guess what should be expected.
More of the same really. Apart from a laid back president, the same economic policy that benefits only Kenyans who work hard (or is it only certain businessmen, especially those whose businesses heavily rely on imports because they have never passed on the benefits of cheaper imports to the public and have instead pocketed windfall profits). POnly that during this second term things are bound to be a little more difficult for them because disposable incomes are continuing to rapidly shrink under the Mwai Kibaki economic [policies which worked like a dream in the late 60s and 70s but are now a tad too old to tackle the many emerging problems the nation faces.
He Kibaki administration will of course take full advantage of the mandate given to them by the people of Kenya who in their vote clearly said that they do not want too much change and would like President Kibaki to continue where he left off.
Retired President Moi is expected to hold a major celebaration and thanksgiving celebration party in honor of the PNU election victory that he worked so hard to help achieve. Secretly it also means that his family fortunes are secure as they look to 2012 to influence the elections in Kenya again. Clearly the political ruling class of Kenya are firmlyin control and will remain in control for many years to come.
Influential cabinet Minister, Kiraitu Murungi wastes no time in releasing a barrage of statements to the press to gloat over the sweet PNU election victory. Naturally he builds on his pet phrase and this time says; “The PNU win proves that the so called Anglo Leasing scandal is indeed the scandal that never happened because as I have always said, the money was returned.”
PNU, as the President has always insisted did not want to make promises that they couldn’t keep. And that is why the issue of corruption did not feature anywhere in their manifesto. No point in lying to the people about zero tolerance to corruption when everybody knows that the nation has moved to 100% tolerance of corruption sustained by cosmetic moves like a KACA that specializes in prosecuting traffic policemen caught taking 50 bob bribes from motorists.
Nominated MP Chris Murungaru also releases a statement that leads to a screaming headline in the local newspapers; ODM RIGGED ME OUT AT KIENI.
The arrogance of other key cabinet ministers like Amos Kimunya (now nominated) and Martha Karua completes the picture. The wazee wa kazi trio of Njenga Karume and John Michuki are also very much around.
Oh.. but wait a minute. The country at least has a new slightly younger Vice President. According to the deal made with Kanu who were instrumental in the president’s victory, the VP had to come from KANU and the president chose well to ensure that his second administration does not go through the shaky beginning it witnessed in 2003.
Vice President Nicholas Biwott wastes no time in addressing the press to reassure Kenyans that all election pledges of PNU will be honored; “The devolution we promised Kenyans is in the CDF (Constituency Development Fund) which will now be increased by a whooping half a percentage.
Na Kazi inedelee.
Please wake up. You have been having a pleasant dream or a nightmare, depending on which side of the political divide you belong to and also depending on which tribe you belong. There are of course only two real tribes in Kenya and all others are fake tribes. The tribes are namely the “Haves” and the “Have Nothing.” The Haves will naturally celebrate for another 5 years.
Tomorrow: January 2008: Assuming That ODM Win The Elections
President Kibaki is of course the first president of Kenya to live in State House, Nairobi as well as work from there. The last ruler of the land to do so was in fact the last representative of the Queen shortly before Kenya gained her independence in 1963, governor Malom McDonald. Kenyatta preferred his Gatundu home and important cabinet meetings were even held there. Like the crisis meeting that planned Tom Mboya’s funeral shortly after his assassination in July 1969.
President Moi would also always retire to Kabarnet gardens off Ngong road at the end of hard day of work at State House Nairobi.
So as he starts his second and final term, it is work as usual for the aging president whose slogan Kazi inedelee lifted him to victory. And even at this early juncture of the second Kibaki administration, it is not too difficult to guess what should be expected.
More of the same really. Apart from a laid back president, the same economic policy that benefits only Kenyans who work hard (or is it only certain businessmen, especially those whose businesses heavily rely on imports because they have never passed on the benefits of cheaper imports to the public and have instead pocketed windfall profits). POnly that during this second term things are bound to be a little more difficult for them because disposable incomes are continuing to rapidly shrink under the Mwai Kibaki economic [policies which worked like a dream in the late 60s and 70s but are now a tad too old to tackle the many emerging problems the nation faces.
He Kibaki administration will of course take full advantage of the mandate given to them by the people of Kenya who in their vote clearly said that they do not want too much change and would like President Kibaki to continue where he left off.
Retired President Moi is expected to hold a major celebaration and thanksgiving celebration party in honor of the PNU election victory that he worked so hard to help achieve. Secretly it also means that his family fortunes are secure as they look to 2012 to influence the elections in Kenya again. Clearly the political ruling class of Kenya are firmlyin control and will remain in control for many years to come.
Influential cabinet Minister, Kiraitu Murungi wastes no time in releasing a barrage of statements to the press to gloat over the sweet PNU election victory. Naturally he builds on his pet phrase and this time says; “The PNU win proves that the so called Anglo Leasing scandal is indeed the scandal that never happened because as I have always said, the money was returned.”
PNU, as the President has always insisted did not want to make promises that they couldn’t keep. And that is why the issue of corruption did not feature anywhere in their manifesto. No point in lying to the people about zero tolerance to corruption when everybody knows that the nation has moved to 100% tolerance of corruption sustained by cosmetic moves like a KACA that specializes in prosecuting traffic policemen caught taking 50 bob bribes from motorists.
Nominated MP Chris Murungaru also releases a statement that leads to a screaming headline in the local newspapers; ODM RIGGED ME OUT AT KIENI.
The arrogance of other key cabinet ministers like Amos Kimunya (now nominated) and Martha Karua completes the picture. The wazee wa kazi trio of Njenga Karume and John Michuki are also very much around.
Oh.. but wait a minute. The country at least has a new slightly younger Vice President. According to the deal made with Kanu who were instrumental in the president’s victory, the VP had to come from KANU and the president chose well to ensure that his second administration does not go through the shaky beginning it witnessed in 2003.
Vice President Nicholas Biwott wastes no time in addressing the press to reassure Kenyans that all election pledges of PNU will be honored; “The devolution we promised Kenyans is in the CDF (Constituency Development Fund) which will now be increased by a whooping half a percentage.
Na Kazi inedelee.
Please wake up. You have been having a pleasant dream or a nightmare, depending on which side of the political divide you belong to and also depending on which tribe you belong. There are of course only two real tribes in Kenya and all others are fake tribes. The tribes are namely the “Haves” and the “Have Nothing.” The Haves will naturally celebrate for another 5 years.
Tomorrow: January 2008: Assuming That ODM Win The Elections
Statement From Marianne Briner Concerning Kenya Betrayed Controversy
I am writing today to XLibris and inform them about the fact that I never agreed that the contract with them was cancelled - and I will also tell them that Sam has cheated me for the royalties ......I will also ask them to give me the exact numbers of copies they have delivered - including the socalled author's copies which Sam has then sold directly.
I told you yesterday that he is now throwing the Shining Star into the market for $ 5.99 via Amazon etc. - taking into consideration that companies like Amazon are getting between 50 - 60 % commission - this reduces the price for which Sahel Publishers are giving the book to them to $ 2.50 - 3,00 - deducting the printing costs, there is not much left ....... so Sam would not have to pay me - even if he would still make 1 $ per book he would have to pay me 50 cents ....... or nothing ..........
Some people may call this clever - I simply call it criminal cheating - because he is offering his other books for 21.00 $ - books which are just simple cheap love stories without any impact .........
If Sahel Books claims now to have the copyright on the Shining Star - this is not correct: the Copyright is registered separate in my name and in Sam's name - this makes us both independent owners - the agreement I had signed says that we decide 'mutually and also share the royalties' ....... this agreement is not valid anymore since they have cancelled it when they unilateral took the book away from XLibris and started selling it under their own name without my approval ...... besides the fact that they kept all the royalties from day one ...... so if they reserve the right to continue publishing the Shining Star, I can also publish Kenya Betrayed which as you rightly stated, is my own story told in my own words in an uncensored way contrary to the Shining Star which was - on Sam's insistence - as a fiction using false names and also changing details and leaving out information which could 'endanger' his return to Kenya .....
Actually, I had revised their 'final' script and made it clear that I did not approve - but they had already given it to the Publisher and Printer - and then 'disappeared' for some weeks ....... details of which I am outlining below ...... so looking back now, the cheating started right from the beginning since it also came then out that they did not pass to the Publisher the mutually signed Contract between Sam and me - but Sahel Books passed to them only their own Agreement giving them the right to receive all the royalties....... this I only found out some months later when I wrote to XLibris ........
This is a strong point also in your defense and you should publish this .......including the information on the price which shows their real intentions—cheating ......
Regarding the problems I had spoken about yesterday: the Okellos had according to their own words (in writing, so don't worry in case they say that this is not true....) problems to stay in the States - I guess that they had financial problems since Sam had no other income than his books and had only published until then these love stories. The only serious one was 'The Night Bob died' which also talks about Dr. Ouko.......
So he took the opportunity at the moment the Shining Star got published to ask for political asylum - which was refused and according to him the Police asked him to leave the States in two weeks ...... at that time he had already gone 'underground' .... left the apartment in South Bend etc. - I got worried since also people from Kenya and friends of his in the States contacted me asking if I knew anything about him ...... and even at one stage called the South-Bend-Police if there had been an accident or something else ..... after some pressure, the police went to their apartment and then told me that their neighbours had informed them that these people had moved out ...... but no incident or similar was registered ......
Then all of the sudden, Sam contacted me and begged me to help them ...... either in arranging for them to come to Spain or preferably to find out how to get asylum in Switzerland.
As I told you, I tried to help - sending him an invitation for Spain including offering him to give him a partnership in my Real-Estate Company which would have made it very easy for him to get residence - he went to the Spanish Embassy in Washington and told me that he got all the necessary documents by them to come to Spain. Hellen then also inquired on the schools for their boys - I sent them all the documentation and details .....
They then continued to inquire about Switzerland. I told them that this was a bit difficult since the Swiss law requires that you have to come into the country directly via your home-country - i.e. they would have to go back to Kenya and then apply preferably at the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi.
They knew from the documents I had sent to them for the Shining Star that I had good contacts in the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi and asked me if I could inform the Legal Counsel - Mr. Mattli - about their problems - which I did. Sam then also wrote directly to Mattli and Mattli replied to them sending me a copy. Mattli had proposed that they should make contacts with the Swiss Consulate in Chicago which was the nearest place to South Bend, Indiana, where they live. According to Sam, he went there and spoke with some Officials.......
Since I knew that Father d'Ag was in Washington and also my former lawyer, Ababu Nawamba, was there attending the Washington University on a one-year-scholarship basis which Father d'Ag had arranged for him (Ababu is one of the Trustees of Nyumbani), I also told them about Sam's problems - and they got in contact with him ......
After this, all of the sudden, the Okellos informed me that their problems were solved - and that they could stay ........ they moved to another apartment - but declined to give me their new address (only now on connection with the Distant Lover which they wanted to publish, Hellen finally gave me their details - before always saying that I do not need to know their address) .....
They also promised to settle the royalties for the Shining Star - but of course the condition was that I would give the Distant Lover to them ...... and when I told them that they have to settle this matter before I make any decision ...... they became hostile again - and mainly Hellen very offensive ......
It is also not true that Sam declined getting involved in the Distant-Lover: on the contrary - it was his idea that I should publish the whole story 'the world has to know about this - you have a legitimate story - you have just wetted my appetite ....... this is big etc. etc. ......' he then also offered to act as a ghost-writer but contrary to the Shining Star this new book should come out only under my name making it much stronger etc. etc. - all in writing, so I can prove this any time ..... they even got already the ISBN-No. for it ......and sent to me a proposal for the final script ...........
Funny though, that all of the sudden they have started to defend Jeff Koinange - even writing to him assuring him their loyalty - etc. and praising themselves for having been able to shut down my blogs - also in Jeff's interest ......... but as you rightly say in your article, there is much more at stake here. Sam wants to come back to Kenya in 'big style' - and enter politics in 2012 - the same as Jeff .....
This smells .........
I told you yesterday that he is now throwing the Shining Star into the market for $ 5.99 via Amazon etc. - taking into consideration that companies like Amazon are getting between 50 - 60 % commission - this reduces the price for which Sahel Publishers are giving the book to them to $ 2.50 - 3,00 - deducting the printing costs, there is not much left ....... so Sam would not have to pay me - even if he would still make 1 $ per book he would have to pay me 50 cents ....... or nothing ..........
Some people may call this clever - I simply call it criminal cheating - because he is offering his other books for 21.00 $ - books which are just simple cheap love stories without any impact .........
If Sahel Books claims now to have the copyright on the Shining Star - this is not correct: the Copyright is registered separate in my name and in Sam's name - this makes us both independent owners - the agreement I had signed says that we decide 'mutually and also share the royalties' ....... this agreement is not valid anymore since they have cancelled it when they unilateral took the book away from XLibris and started selling it under their own name without my approval ...... besides the fact that they kept all the royalties from day one ...... so if they reserve the right to continue publishing the Shining Star, I can also publish Kenya Betrayed which as you rightly stated, is my own story told in my own words in an uncensored way contrary to the Shining Star which was - on Sam's insistence - as a fiction using false names and also changing details and leaving out information which could 'endanger' his return to Kenya .....
Actually, I had revised their 'final' script and made it clear that I did not approve - but they had already given it to the Publisher and Printer - and then 'disappeared' for some weeks ....... details of which I am outlining below ...... so looking back now, the cheating started right from the beginning since it also came then out that they did not pass to the Publisher the mutually signed Contract between Sam and me - but Sahel Books passed to them only their own Agreement giving them the right to receive all the royalties....... this I only found out some months later when I wrote to XLibris ........
This is a strong point also in your defense and you should publish this .......including the information on the price which shows their real intentions—cheating ......
Regarding the problems I had spoken about yesterday: the Okellos had according to their own words (in writing, so don't worry in case they say that this is not true....) problems to stay in the States - I guess that they had financial problems since Sam had no other income than his books and had only published until then these love stories. The only serious one was 'The Night Bob died' which also talks about Dr. Ouko.......
So he took the opportunity at the moment the Shining Star got published to ask for political asylum - which was refused and according to him the Police asked him to leave the States in two weeks ...... at that time he had already gone 'underground' .... left the apartment in South Bend etc. - I got worried since also people from Kenya and friends of his in the States contacted me asking if I knew anything about him ...... and even at one stage called the South-Bend-Police if there had been an accident or something else ..... after some pressure, the police went to their apartment and then told me that their neighbours had informed them that these people had moved out ...... but no incident or similar was registered ......
Then all of the sudden, Sam contacted me and begged me to help them ...... either in arranging for them to come to Spain or preferably to find out how to get asylum in Switzerland.
As I told you, I tried to help - sending him an invitation for Spain including offering him to give him a partnership in my Real-Estate Company which would have made it very easy for him to get residence - he went to the Spanish Embassy in Washington and told me that he got all the necessary documents by them to come to Spain. Hellen then also inquired on the schools for their boys - I sent them all the documentation and details .....
They then continued to inquire about Switzerland. I told them that this was a bit difficult since the Swiss law requires that you have to come into the country directly via your home-country - i.e. they would have to go back to Kenya and then apply preferably at the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi.
They knew from the documents I had sent to them for the Shining Star that I had good contacts in the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi and asked me if I could inform the Legal Counsel - Mr. Mattli - about their problems - which I did. Sam then also wrote directly to Mattli and Mattli replied to them sending me a copy. Mattli had proposed that they should make contacts with the Swiss Consulate in Chicago which was the nearest place to South Bend, Indiana, where they live. According to Sam, he went there and spoke with some Officials.......
Since I knew that Father d'Ag was in Washington and also my former lawyer, Ababu Nawamba, was there attending the Washington University on a one-year-scholarship basis which Father d'Ag had arranged for him (Ababu is one of the Trustees of Nyumbani), I also told them about Sam's problems - and they got in contact with him ......
After this, all of the sudden, the Okellos informed me that their problems were solved - and that they could stay ........ they moved to another apartment - but declined to give me their new address (only now on connection with the Distant Lover which they wanted to publish, Hellen finally gave me their details - before always saying that I do not need to know their address) .....
They also promised to settle the royalties for the Shining Star - but of course the condition was that I would give the Distant Lover to them ...... and when I told them that they have to settle this matter before I make any decision ...... they became hostile again - and mainly Hellen very offensive ......
It is also not true that Sam declined getting involved in the Distant-Lover: on the contrary - it was his idea that I should publish the whole story 'the world has to know about this - you have a legitimate story - you have just wetted my appetite ....... this is big etc. etc. ......' he then also offered to act as a ghost-writer but contrary to the Shining Star this new book should come out only under my name making it much stronger etc. etc. - all in writing, so I can prove this any time ..... they even got already the ISBN-No. for it ......and sent to me a proposal for the final script ...........
Funny though, that all of the sudden they have started to defend Jeff Koinange - even writing to him assuring him their loyalty - etc. and praising themselves for having been able to shut down my blogs - also in Jeff's interest ......... but as you rightly say in your article, there is much more at stake here. Sam wants to come back to Kenya in 'big style' - and enter politics in 2012 - the same as Jeff .....
This smells .........
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Was That Really Raila Odinga On NTV Spotlight?
Supporters of ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga are still in shock after watching a man who appeared to be the candidate being interviewed on the popular NTV “On The Spot” TV show yesterday.
The man stammered, looked tired and almost withdrawn and was a far cry from the usual Raila Odinga that Kenyans have gotten used to.
Further enquiries by this blogger revealed that the NTV performance was not the only time that supporters of the man have gotten worried. In an address to ODM supporters in South Africa a few weeks ago, a source tells me that those who attended the meeting were surprised and disappointed that the man just repeated himself and did not say anything new or relevant to the particular function.
Clearly all is not well with the ODM presidential candidate.
One theory puts it down to the extreme pressure the presidential candidate has been putting himself under in recent times. Kenyans have seen Raila arrive from an overseas trip during the day, only to realize during the 9 pm TV new bulletin that he also made it to a political rally in some far flung area of the country. It seems that this kind of pressure is finally taking its’ toll on the presidential candidate. Experts advice that he should be careful to take enough rest and to limit his public engagements from now on.
Interestingly the Nation On the Spot series to discuss the various party manifestos are being held in the residence of the candidates and the previous day, show presenter Judy Gichuru visited Hoo Ndii Emm candidate Kalonzo Musyoka’s home. If points were to be awarded for performance of candidates, then there would be no doubt that Musyoka performed much better than his ODM counterpart.
But governance and corruption lobby personalities are even more brutal with their criticism of Raila. Many of them who have so far considered this candidate the most attractive in terms of addressing governance issues are now disappointed that he seems to have considerably toned down his stance towards fighting corruption. Interestingly PNU did not bother to address corruption in its’ manifesto and the fear is that what happened to President Kibaki is now happening to Raila even before he gets to State House.
My worries over the issue of our presidential candidates goes even deeper. It is now clear that the scenes playing before our eyes are beginning to bear an uncanny resemblance to the events of 2002 shortly before the National Rainbow Coalition shot into power. Top on my list of concerns is the fact that no presidential candidate is addressing the issue of how they are going to finance their various grand schemes. When asked that question by Judy Gichuru last night, Raila gave the exact answer I heard Mwai Kibaki give in 2002. He said that there was a lot of money going to waste via corruption and that by stopping corruption the cash will be diverted to foot the rather hefty bills related to the promises given so far. We have not even heard a single convincing explanation on how corruption is going to be dealt with by either ODM or ODM-K which would make PNU the most sincere political party when it comes to this issue since they have chosen not even to talk about it.
The man stammered, looked tired and almost withdrawn and was a far cry from the usual Raila Odinga that Kenyans have gotten used to.
Further enquiries by this blogger revealed that the NTV performance was not the only time that supporters of the man have gotten worried. In an address to ODM supporters in South Africa a few weeks ago, a source tells me that those who attended the meeting were surprised and disappointed that the man just repeated himself and did not say anything new or relevant to the particular function.
Clearly all is not well with the ODM presidential candidate.
One theory puts it down to the extreme pressure the presidential candidate has been putting himself under in recent times. Kenyans have seen Raila arrive from an overseas trip during the day, only to realize during the 9 pm TV new bulletin that he also made it to a political rally in some far flung area of the country. It seems that this kind of pressure is finally taking its’ toll on the presidential candidate. Experts advice that he should be careful to take enough rest and to limit his public engagements from now on.
Interestingly the Nation On the Spot series to discuss the various party manifestos are being held in the residence of the candidates and the previous day, show presenter Judy Gichuru visited Hoo Ndii Emm candidate Kalonzo Musyoka’s home. If points were to be awarded for performance of candidates, then there would be no doubt that Musyoka performed much better than his ODM counterpart.
But governance and corruption lobby personalities are even more brutal with their criticism of Raila. Many of them who have so far considered this candidate the most attractive in terms of addressing governance issues are now disappointed that he seems to have considerably toned down his stance towards fighting corruption. Interestingly PNU did not bother to address corruption in its’ manifesto and the fear is that what happened to President Kibaki is now happening to Raila even before he gets to State House.
My worries over the issue of our presidential candidates goes even deeper. It is now clear that the scenes playing before our eyes are beginning to bear an uncanny resemblance to the events of 2002 shortly before the National Rainbow Coalition shot into power. Top on my list of concerns is the fact that no presidential candidate is addressing the issue of how they are going to finance their various grand schemes. When asked that question by Judy Gichuru last night, Raila gave the exact answer I heard Mwai Kibaki give in 2002. He said that there was a lot of money going to waste via corruption and that by stopping corruption the cash will be diverted to foot the rather hefty bills related to the promises given so far. We have not even heard a single convincing explanation on how corruption is going to be dealt with by either ODM or ODM-K which would make PNU the most sincere political party when it comes to this issue since they have chosen not even to talk about it.
Kenyan Couple Trying To Shut Down Kumekucha
It seems that the enemies of Kumekucha will not rest and now, if a Kenyan couple living in United States have their way, Kumekucha your beloved blog could soon be no more.
Sam Okello and his wife, Hellen have already successfully shut down 3 blogs belonging to Marianne Briner. Now they have filed a serious legal complaint against Kumekucha whom they accuse of carrying copyrighted material in the Kenya Betrayed serialization that we have been posting here. The couple is claiming that the Kenya Betrayed script was penned by them and has filed a complaint under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, leaving Google with no alternative but to disable the affected pages. If the complaints from the Okellos persist, there is a high chance that Kumekucha could be shut down for good.
The motive of the couple and especially Hellen Okello who makes all the major decisions in the couple’s publishing venture Sahel publishing, is not clear. To start with Kenya Betrayed is clearly written in the English with strong German connotation that quite obviously belongs to Marianne Briner (as anybody can tell from her numerous writings online). Briner is the same copyright owner of another similar work called A Shining Star In Darkness. She simply hired Sam Okello as her ghost writer for the earlier book detailing her experiences with the high and mighty in Kenya. Obviously the Okellos have no chance of winning this case in any court on earth because of a number of very obvious reasons including the fact that even if there was a dispute over A Shining Star In Darkness Kenya Betrayed is a totally new work penned by Brinner herself, using real names and including totally new sizzling material which Sam Okello was too frightened to use in his earlier ghost-written version of the events that used fictional names, A Shining Star In Darkness.
Still one does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out where the Okello’s real power and motivation could be coming from. Most of those mentioned in Kenya Betrayed are very powerful politicians in Kenya and are extremely upset that a lot of the information in the book is now in the public domain. More so when the person telling the story is extremely credible based on her past involvement with the characters. And to make matters worse, all this is happening during an election year when these people have such a huge stake pegged on the outcome. The characters in question featured prominently in the infamous Kroll report and have huge sums of stolen public money stashed away in Swiss accounts and elsewhere and obviously have no qualms spending some of it in legal circuses that could drag on for years to come while Kenyans are kept in the dark about the true character of those who have led them in the past as well as injustices that have taken place in Kenya.
Sam Okello has repeatedly indicated interest in returning to Kenya to stand for the presidency in the near future. He has been hoping that the popularity of his books will push him into public prominence to enable him launch his political career. Now it seems that he may also have figured out a way to raise funds for his future political campaigns at the expense of the same Kenyan people he hopes will elect him to State House one day.
Further investigations by this blogger has revealed other bizarre activities the Okellos have been involved in while in the United States which make fascinating reading and give a glimpse into the kind of characters we are dealing with here. I am in the process of verifying and getting further concrete and water tight proof of this and when I do I will publish all the juicy details here in the days to come.
Let me say at this juncture that I did not start Kumekucha with my personal needs in mind, rather this blog is a labour of love for the millions of voiceless downtrodden Kenyans who continue to be short-changed by the political class. I continue to make great sacrifices (financial and even on my personal security) to keep this blog going. If it was for personal gain then I would have already been a very wealthy man. Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans scattered all over the world have sensed this motivation in the posts they read here and it is the reason why they have given this infant blog so much support, so suddenly.
And that’s why I will fight this latest threat with everything that I have.
I beg for your support.
5 Most Popular Stories in Kumekucha today- Nov 21st
1. Why Kumekucha is glad to belong to the lower class
2. Big fat Kenyan politicians: They just don't get it, do they?
3. Herdsman kills lion but dies in the hands of hyenas
4. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
5. ODM ad that no Kenyan media house will touch
Sam Okello and his wife, Hellen have already successfully shut down 3 blogs belonging to Marianne Briner. Now they have filed a serious legal complaint against Kumekucha whom they accuse of carrying copyrighted material in the Kenya Betrayed serialization that we have been posting here. The couple is claiming that the Kenya Betrayed script was penned by them and has filed a complaint under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, leaving Google with no alternative but to disable the affected pages. If the complaints from the Okellos persist, there is a high chance that Kumekucha could be shut down for good.
The motive of the couple and especially Hellen Okello who makes all the major decisions in the couple’s publishing venture Sahel publishing, is not clear. To start with Kenya Betrayed is clearly written in the English with strong German connotation that quite obviously belongs to Marianne Briner (as anybody can tell from her numerous writings online). Briner is the same copyright owner of another similar work called A Shining Star In Darkness. She simply hired Sam Okello as her ghost writer for the earlier book detailing her experiences with the high and mighty in Kenya. Obviously the Okellos have no chance of winning this case in any court on earth because of a number of very obvious reasons including the fact that even if there was a dispute over A Shining Star In Darkness Kenya Betrayed is a totally new work penned by Brinner herself, using real names and including totally new sizzling material which Sam Okello was too frightened to use in his earlier ghost-written version of the events that used fictional names, A Shining Star In Darkness.
Still one does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out where the Okello’s real power and motivation could be coming from. Most of those mentioned in Kenya Betrayed are very powerful politicians in Kenya and are extremely upset that a lot of the information in the book is now in the public domain. More so when the person telling the story is extremely credible based on her past involvement with the characters. And to make matters worse, all this is happening during an election year when these people have such a huge stake pegged on the outcome. The characters in question featured prominently in the infamous Kroll report and have huge sums of stolen public money stashed away in Swiss accounts and elsewhere and obviously have no qualms spending some of it in legal circuses that could drag on for years to come while Kenyans are kept in the dark about the true character of those who have led them in the past as well as injustices that have taken place in Kenya.
Sam Okello has repeatedly indicated interest in returning to Kenya to stand for the presidency in the near future. He has been hoping that the popularity of his books will push him into public prominence to enable him launch his political career. Now it seems that he may also have figured out a way to raise funds for his future political campaigns at the expense of the same Kenyan people he hopes will elect him to State House one day.
Further investigations by this blogger has revealed other bizarre activities the Okellos have been involved in while in the United States which make fascinating reading and give a glimpse into the kind of characters we are dealing with here. I am in the process of verifying and getting further concrete and water tight proof of this and when I do I will publish all the juicy details here in the days to come.
Let me say at this juncture that I did not start Kumekucha with my personal needs in mind, rather this blog is a labour of love for the millions of voiceless downtrodden Kenyans who continue to be short-changed by the political class. I continue to make great sacrifices (financial and even on my personal security) to keep this blog going. If it was for personal gain then I would have already been a very wealthy man. Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans scattered all over the world have sensed this motivation in the posts they read here and it is the reason why they have given this infant blog so much support, so suddenly.
And that’s why I will fight this latest threat with everything that I have.
I beg for your support.
5 Most Popular Stories in Kumekucha today- Nov 21st
1. Why Kumekucha is glad to belong to the lower class
2. Big fat Kenyan politicians: They just don't get it, do they?
3. Herdsman kills lion but dies in the hands of hyenas
4. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
5. ODM ad that no Kenyan media house will touch
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Big Fat Kenyan Politicians: They Just Don’t Get It, Do They?
Although none of them will admit it, all major political parties are in a crisis of sorts after the recent fiasco that some of them are calling party nominations.
What everybody is missing is the reason for the crisis in the first place. Before I go into that it is important for Kenyans to note that this is not a petty issue that can just be brushed aside. After all these are the same politicians promising us all sorts of goodies and the word “change” which we all crave for is on all their lips. But we need to ask ourselves a simple question. If these guys were not able to foresee the nomination crisis that was so obvious and forestall it, how the hell do we expect them to lead us with the increasing problems that we are facing as a nation? Chew on that one.
The reasons for the current nomination crisis include the following;
i) Contempt of voters by leaders of political parties and especially presidential candidates who do not want to respect the will of the people. Don’t even dare mention the word democracy.
ii) A determination by incumbent MPs to hang on to their political seats at all costs. The huge sums of money they have fleeced from tax payers in the last 5 years has blinded them to believing that they can fool the people and get back to parliament. These guys will do anything and I mean anything. Including murder, violence rigging, cheating bribing, witchcraft etc. These guys who have been a major thorn in the flesh to Kenyans over the last 5 years will not go quietly and are still a major pain (you know where) even as we go to the polls.
iii) Lack of proper planning by political parties despite the fact that some of them have collected hundreds of millions of shillings in nomination fees. Where has all; that money gone? Into people’s pockets, most probably.
iv) ODM stands accused because the party’s top organs were well aware that they had many contestants in most constituencies and they would therefore need to be the best organized to get through the process successfully. Instead they assumed that they would do the same thing they did with the National rainbow Coalition in 2002. Sorry guys the clear message from the people of Kenya is that they are much wiser than they were in 2002 and they have had enough nonsense and will not take any more.
Many Kenyans are now no longer convinced that ODM has what it takes to run a government and fulfill even a fraction of their promises. How can they when they can’t handle a much simpler task like internal party nominations?
Interestingly even the incumbent MPs who have lost at nominations by several thousand votes and are still defecting to other parties in an effort to ensure that their names are in the ballot box. This is really sick. Don’t they get it? Don’t they get the message that the electorate are passing to them loud and clear? Why not cut their losses and go quietly?
Money is indeed such a dangerous thing because it completely blinds people so that they cannot see even the obvious. Top on the list of incumbents who just don’t get it are Chris Murungaru and Norman Nyagah. There are many others but these are the two that come to mind immediately (probably because of their legendary arrogance). This blindness is not limited to one political party but is rampant in politicians in all major political parties.
I want to make a terrible prediction based n the nonsense going on. This election will see the highest number of election petitions ever. They will probably be more than in all past elections put together. If you’re a lawyer just get ready for a windfall in January 2008 onwards.
What everybody is missing is the reason for the crisis in the first place. Before I go into that it is important for Kenyans to note that this is not a petty issue that can just be brushed aside. After all these are the same politicians promising us all sorts of goodies and the word “change” which we all crave for is on all their lips. But we need to ask ourselves a simple question. If these guys were not able to foresee the nomination crisis that was so obvious and forestall it, how the hell do we expect them to lead us with the increasing problems that we are facing as a nation? Chew on that one.
The reasons for the current nomination crisis include the following;
i) Contempt of voters by leaders of political parties and especially presidential candidates who do not want to respect the will of the people. Don’t even dare mention the word democracy.
ii) A determination by incumbent MPs to hang on to their political seats at all costs. The huge sums of money they have fleeced from tax payers in the last 5 years has blinded them to believing that they can fool the people and get back to parliament. These guys will do anything and I mean anything. Including murder, violence rigging, cheating bribing, witchcraft etc. These guys who have been a major thorn in the flesh to Kenyans over the last 5 years will not go quietly and are still a major pain (you know where) even as we go to the polls.
iii) Lack of proper planning by political parties despite the fact that some of them have collected hundreds of millions of shillings in nomination fees. Where has all; that money gone? Into people’s pockets, most probably.
iv) ODM stands accused because the party’s top organs were well aware that they had many contestants in most constituencies and they would therefore need to be the best organized to get through the process successfully. Instead they assumed that they would do the same thing they did with the National rainbow Coalition in 2002. Sorry guys the clear message from the people of Kenya is that they are much wiser than they were in 2002 and they have had enough nonsense and will not take any more.
Many Kenyans are now no longer convinced that ODM has what it takes to run a government and fulfill even a fraction of their promises. How can they when they can’t handle a much simpler task like internal party nominations?
Interestingly even the incumbent MPs who have lost at nominations by several thousand votes and are still defecting to other parties in an effort to ensure that their names are in the ballot box. This is really sick. Don’t they get it? Don’t they get the message that the electorate are passing to them loud and clear? Why not cut their losses and go quietly?
Money is indeed such a dangerous thing because it completely blinds people so that they cannot see even the obvious. Top on the list of incumbents who just don’t get it are Chris Murungaru and Norman Nyagah. There are many others but these are the two that come to mind immediately (probably because of their legendary arrogance). This blindness is not limited to one political party but is rampant in politicians in all major political parties.
I want to make a terrible prediction based n the nonsense going on. This election will see the highest number of election petitions ever. They will probably be more than in all past elections put together. If you’re a lawyer just get ready for a windfall in January 2008 onwards.
Why Kumekucha Is Glad To Belong To The Lower Class
I take this opportunity to humbly thank all of you who came out in my defense over the recent venomous comment left in this blog by somebody whom I believe is an old school mate whom I know very well. I am only puzzled at their possible motives in leaving the comment which most of you hit out at.
To be honest I am shocked that some Kenyans still think in terms of the class they belong to. However I am delighted to discover that I belong to the lower class. No wonder I seem to understand the masses so well.
I am very touched by your strong support and faith in me. Let me also say that I am following to the letter, the excellent advice given to me by most of you that I simply ignore the “sour grapes” and continue with my work, which many of you seem to appreciate. Ahsante sana.
So the aim of this post is not to go back to where I have said I will not go. It is to highlight an interesting truth that has emerged from the whole incident.
The main point I want to draw Kenyans attention to is to the reason why we do not seem able to attract enough younger people to stand for elective office. While it is agreed that age is not a factor in these things, it is also agreed that Kenyan politics badly needs a fresh infusion of new and mostly younger blood. Folks who can attempt (or is it dare) to think out of the box.
The venomous comment left here proves something that has happened to many people who are about my age (mid forties and below). These people have never really stopped being school boys and they live to impress their friends and to do what is right according to public opinion and peer pressure. One of the most important rules in this game is that one should never make a fool of themselves. In other words, one should never lose face in front of their peers. Standing for political office and losing is losing face badly, after all these guys live in an illusionary world where everything has to succeed at the first try. Businesses must be established and prosper immediately, like in the movies. And this is where corruption comes in. Some of these age mates of mine whom I know personally have made money from deals like supplying the city council with chalk labeled as chlorine for treating city drinking water. Imagine the damage to people’s health, deaths etc. And these guys are very proud of the fortunes that they have raked in doing this sort of thing.
The really sad thing is that in the process of playing to the gallery some of these talented individuals completely lose their calling and end up as nothing better than corrupt Kenyans calling themselves entrepreneurs.
That is the new generation of Kenyans we are looking up to to take over the reigns of power as soon as possible. May the good Lord have mercy on us. Let me also be the first to apologize to all you readers for misleading you and selling an unfeasible idea in this blog. Despite the evils of the older generation, one thing I am sure they never did was to sell chalk to the city council labeled as chlorine for treating drinking water.
Yet another business practice by some of these so-called young entrepreneurs is that of supplying stuff and then stealing it back from the stores to re-supply again. Of course this is done with a lot of help from insiders. In one particular case this entrepreneur supplied street lights to the city council and then stole the whole lot and marched to City Council for an order to replace the stolen street lights.
These are the characters whom you will find at popular night spots in the city on Fridays and weekends oozing “success in business.”
When we cry for new younger leadership we will have to be very careful in scrutinizing the characters who present themselves for public office.
Incidentally the person who left the venomous comment has stood for political office before and failed to be elected. I will say no more.
To be honest I am shocked that some Kenyans still think in terms of the class they belong to. However I am delighted to discover that I belong to the lower class. No wonder I seem to understand the masses so well.
I am very touched by your strong support and faith in me. Let me also say that I am following to the letter, the excellent advice given to me by most of you that I simply ignore the “sour grapes” and continue with my work, which many of you seem to appreciate. Ahsante sana.
So the aim of this post is not to go back to where I have said I will not go. It is to highlight an interesting truth that has emerged from the whole incident.
The main point I want to draw Kenyans attention to is to the reason why we do not seem able to attract enough younger people to stand for elective office. While it is agreed that age is not a factor in these things, it is also agreed that Kenyan politics badly needs a fresh infusion of new and mostly younger blood. Folks who can attempt (or is it dare) to think out of the box.
The venomous comment left here proves something that has happened to many people who are about my age (mid forties and below). These people have never really stopped being school boys and they live to impress their friends and to do what is right according to public opinion and peer pressure. One of the most important rules in this game is that one should never make a fool of themselves. In other words, one should never lose face in front of their peers. Standing for political office and losing is losing face badly, after all these guys live in an illusionary world where everything has to succeed at the first try. Businesses must be established and prosper immediately, like in the movies. And this is where corruption comes in. Some of these age mates of mine whom I know personally have made money from deals like supplying the city council with chalk labeled as chlorine for treating city drinking water. Imagine the damage to people’s health, deaths etc. And these guys are very proud of the fortunes that they have raked in doing this sort of thing.
The really sad thing is that in the process of playing to the gallery some of these talented individuals completely lose their calling and end up as nothing better than corrupt Kenyans calling themselves entrepreneurs.
That is the new generation of Kenyans we are looking up to to take over the reigns of power as soon as possible. May the good Lord have mercy on us. Let me also be the first to apologize to all you readers for misleading you and selling an unfeasible idea in this blog. Despite the evils of the older generation, one thing I am sure they never did was to sell chalk to the city council labeled as chlorine for treating drinking water.
Yet another business practice by some of these so-called young entrepreneurs is that of supplying stuff and then stealing it back from the stores to re-supply again. Of course this is done with a lot of help from insiders. In one particular case this entrepreneur supplied street lights to the city council and then stole the whole lot and marched to City Council for an order to replace the stolen street lights.
These are the characters whom you will find at popular night spots in the city on Fridays and weekends oozing “success in business.”
When we cry for new younger leadership we will have to be very careful in scrutinizing the characters who present themselves for public office.
Incidentally the person who left the venomous comment has stood for political office before and failed to be elected. I will say no more.
The 5 Most popular stories on Kumekucha today Nov-20th
The 5 Most popular stories on Kumekucha today Nov-20th
1. Party nominations: old tricks fail to work
2. Making of a nation documentary: srengths and weaknesses
3. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
4. Do you know where Kabogo lives?
5. ODM ad that no media house will touch
1. Party nominations: old tricks fail to work
2. Making of a nation documentary: srengths and weaknesses
3. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
4. Do you know where Kabogo lives?
5. ODM ad that no media house will touch
Monday, November 19, 2007
Party Nominations: Old Tricks Fail To Work
The old tricks that worked like a gem during the 2002 party nominations have this time failed to work.
Let me explain. In 2002 the Summit as it was then called made unilateral decisions and over-ruled the voters concerning various candidates who had lost party nominations countrywide and instead ended up handing over the precious nomination certificate to many losers. Many folks did not even know what the real nomination outcome had been in many areas of the country.
This time round things were very different. Voters have just said “No” and have complained bitterly. Using technological gadgets like the mobile phone and instant messaging online, as well as email, most Kenyans were very well informed on what was going on on the ground. What most people noticed was that those who had emerged as winners on the ground were often the losers when party headquarters released the names of nominated candidates to the press.
In some areas voters have been very incensed by what they see as a deliberate effort to impose candidates on them. Impeccable sources from the ground tell me that a significant number of voters in Kisumu rural have vowed not to vote in the general elections as a way of protesting the direct nomination of Prof Anyang Nyong. While these threats may quickly be forgotten when the campaign gets under way, it is clear how parties often shoot themselves in the foot by denying the electorate a say and instead imposing a candidate on them.
But even more disheartening are the candidates who campaign for months on end using hundreds of thousands of shillings and even millions, only to have rude shock when their bid is halted by a direct nomination.
Both PDM and PNU have been affected by nomination controversy although ODM seems to have been the hardest hit which is quite understandable considering the colossal number of aspirants the party had. The big question here is how many votes have been lost by presidential candidates as a result of trying to impose candidates on the people? And how many parliamentary seats will be lost?
Interestingly ODM-Kenya is the party that has most successfully managed the nomination process. Despite a few complaints (mainly from Ukambani), it is clear that Hoo Ndii Emmm (as we call them here in Kumekucha) were very well organized and have also gained some very strong candidates countrywide who were defeated unfairly.
P.S. The beating up of KJ (John Kiarie) who is the ODM aspirant for the Dagoretti parliamentary seat should be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The police should also move quickly to arrest those involved including the rival candidate who is said to have sent the goons to attack KJ. However the comedian’s resolve as he was interviewed in hospital while on his back is a clear message to the perpetrators of the violence that their actions have badly backfired and there is no doubt that KJ has won many sympathy votes from the incident.
It really is idiotic for somebody to have a rival beaten up simply because they have lost to them.
Let me explain. In 2002 the Summit as it was then called made unilateral decisions and over-ruled the voters concerning various candidates who had lost party nominations countrywide and instead ended up handing over the precious nomination certificate to many losers. Many folks did not even know what the real nomination outcome had been in many areas of the country.
This time round things were very different. Voters have just said “No” and have complained bitterly. Using technological gadgets like the mobile phone and instant messaging online, as well as email, most Kenyans were very well informed on what was going on on the ground. What most people noticed was that those who had emerged as winners on the ground were often the losers when party headquarters released the names of nominated candidates to the press.
In some areas voters have been very incensed by what they see as a deliberate effort to impose candidates on them. Impeccable sources from the ground tell me that a significant number of voters in Kisumu rural have vowed not to vote in the general elections as a way of protesting the direct nomination of Prof Anyang Nyong. While these threats may quickly be forgotten when the campaign gets under way, it is clear how parties often shoot themselves in the foot by denying the electorate a say and instead imposing a candidate on them.
But even more disheartening are the candidates who campaign for months on end using hundreds of thousands of shillings and even millions, only to have rude shock when their bid is halted by a direct nomination.
Both PDM and PNU have been affected by nomination controversy although ODM seems to have been the hardest hit which is quite understandable considering the colossal number of aspirants the party had. The big question here is how many votes have been lost by presidential candidates as a result of trying to impose candidates on the people? And how many parliamentary seats will be lost?
Interestingly ODM-Kenya is the party that has most successfully managed the nomination process. Despite a few complaints (mainly from Ukambani), it is clear that Hoo Ndii Emmm (as we call them here in Kumekucha) were very well organized and have also gained some very strong candidates countrywide who were defeated unfairly.
P.S. The beating up of KJ (John Kiarie) who is the ODM aspirant for the Dagoretti parliamentary seat should be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The police should also move quickly to arrest those involved including the rival candidate who is said to have sent the goons to attack KJ. However the comedian’s resolve as he was interviewed in hospital while on his back is a clear message to the perpetrators of the violence that their actions have badly backfired and there is no doubt that KJ has won many sympathy votes from the incident.
It really is idiotic for somebody to have a rival beaten up simply because they have lost to them.
The Making Of A Nation: Strengths And Weaknesses Of Historical Series
There is no doubt that the historical documentary The Making Of A Nation is a high quality timely project that is pulling in huge audiences across the world (because NTV is available on the web).
After the first two episodes on Sunday and today (Monday) at 9:45pm, we will have to wait until next Sunday for the next riveting episode.
The writer and director of the documentary, Hilary Ng’weno is a nuclear physicist turned journalist who was the first African Editor in Chief of the Daily Nation in the early 60s. The kind of man who not only understands Kenya’s history but unlike Kumekucha was actually around practicing as a journalist as the events were unfolding.
This strength comes out very clearly in his coverage of events shortly after independence where today the documentary dwelt at length with the effect that instability in neighboring countries had on President Kenyatta and most notably in hardening his resolve to fully control the military and key security forces by appointing mostly trusted members of his own tribe. The year covered was 1964.
I was absolutely fascinated. While I was well aware of most of the events, I had never linked them to developments locally and neither had many historians who have written about the same period of Kenya’s history. It brings a whole new powerful perspective into the events of the time and go a long way in explaining some of Kenyatta’s actions. Admittedly I was not aware of the military mutiny at Lanet Army barracks in 1964.
For a man who displays such insight, I was disappointed that the documentary failed to take note of the fact that the only reason that Kenyatta was released from detention was because Jaramogi Oginga Odinga campaigned vigorously for it and only because he wanted to frustrate Tom Mboya who was a clear front runner to be independent Kenya’s first president. Was this information left out because of Raila’s candidacy for the president? Did somebody fear that it would paint the ODM presidential candidate in poor light? Jaramogi is Raila’s late father.
Still I enjoyed immensely the portrayal of Kenyatta’s Machiavellian tactics of staying in control by playing his key lieutenants against each other.
I can’t wait for Sunday.
After the first two episodes on Sunday and today (Monday) at 9:45pm, we will have to wait until next Sunday for the next riveting episode.
The writer and director of the documentary, Hilary Ng’weno is a nuclear physicist turned journalist who was the first African Editor in Chief of the Daily Nation in the early 60s. The kind of man who not only understands Kenya’s history but unlike Kumekucha was actually around practicing as a journalist as the events were unfolding.
This strength comes out very clearly in his coverage of events shortly after independence where today the documentary dwelt at length with the effect that instability in neighboring countries had on President Kenyatta and most notably in hardening his resolve to fully control the military and key security forces by appointing mostly trusted members of his own tribe. The year covered was 1964.
I was absolutely fascinated. While I was well aware of most of the events, I had never linked them to developments locally and neither had many historians who have written about the same period of Kenya’s history. It brings a whole new powerful perspective into the events of the time and go a long way in explaining some of Kenyatta’s actions. Admittedly I was not aware of the military mutiny at Lanet Army barracks in 1964.
For a man who displays such insight, I was disappointed that the documentary failed to take note of the fact that the only reason that Kenyatta was released from detention was because Jaramogi Oginga Odinga campaigned vigorously for it and only because he wanted to frustrate Tom Mboya who was a clear front runner to be independent Kenya’s first president. Was this information left out because of Raila’s candidacy for the president? Did somebody fear that it would paint the ODM presidential candidate in poor light? Jaramogi is Raila’s late father.
Still I enjoyed immensely the portrayal of Kenyatta’s Machiavellian tactics of staying in control by playing his key lieutenants against each other.
I can’t wait for Sunday.
Troon's decision (Kenya Betrayed)
Chapter 33
From the moment Sandra got to the office, she was hopelessly distracted. She was worried about her mother. Fearful for her. And now she was sure, her stubborn was really going to Nairobi.
She opened her closet door, grabbed her lab coat and put it on..... Mami loved Kenya ..... but why still now, after all these years? .....
She sat on her swivel chair and pulled a drawer. The first thing she saw was a picture of her holding a baby cheetah. Then another one, showing her feeding a banana to some monkeys. She laughed.
Pushing aside these pictures, she pried further and finally found the one she was really looking for. She had been hiding it from her mother who wanted her to destroy all the memories of the man standing next to her in this photo.
It had been taken on the terrace of the Salt-Lick-Lodge in the Tsavo-Park. He had put her on a chair - so she could see better. Steadying her with one arm around her shoulders, he was pointing at some elephants who had come to drink at the nearby pond. She was looking at him, smiling.
She remembered how she had adored him because he seemed to share her feelings for the animals and for nature.
She put the picture back and for most of the morning, she sat in the office day-dreaming. She started thinking about all the adventures she had in Kenya as a child. How the people had loved her. How she had made many friends there - State House, Kabarnet Gardens, their house at the Coast, the game parks ..... will my childhood dream ever come true - will I one day be able to go back and take care of the animals in that beautiful country?
At 6:00 p.m. she finally finished her work and left for the Airport to meet her mother.
***
In London, Supt. Troon arrived at the downtown office of Scotland Yard at about 11:00 a.m. He was glad that Marianne was going to Kenya to testify. All along, he had wanted her to talk, to tell the world what she knew.
But that had not been possible in the past. The Gicheru Inquiry was disbanded just days before she could make her appearance. And everything she had told him in London had come under scathing attacks, discredited as the rambling of a bitter mzungu.
He knew better .....
He knew Marianne had told the truth. He knew she had subjected herself to a lot of risk by saying as much as she did under oath.
But the fact that she had said it to him in England, had made her testimony vulnerable to attacks. It had made it possible for Biwott and his spin machine to ruthlessly attack the credibility of her words.
Now she finally had a chance to talk in Nairobi. In Biwott's own backyard..... tell them the truth, Marianne!
Supt. Troon got to his former office. It was on the 11th floor. Most of the men up here had been with Scotland Yard through decades, investigated the IRA bombings in Northern Ireland and through the high-profile spate of murders that rocked London, Liverpool and Leeds in the nineties.
He had asked for an appointment with his former Superior. After greeting him with a smile and knowing that the man had not much time, he immediately came to the point, "It's about that Kenyan case," Supt. Troon said, "I wonder if Scotland Yard are at the point where I can write about it."
"Write about it?"
"It's the only way for the truth to come out. And I think, there is a lot to learn from it. Future generations of detectives will benefit from what they can learn from it."
His Superior scratched his head, "But nobody seems to want the truth to come out, Supt. Troon. No. 10 - Downing Street doesn't, nor does the business community or the Kenyan leaders ....", he paused, "the only one who wants it is you - and as much as I commend you for staying on this case, I wish you could let go ..... enjoy your retirement. You did all you could."
Supt. Troon looked down, "Can I at least go to Nairobi?"
"To do what?"
"To testify."
"Don't, Supt. Troon. It's not a good idea. As an adjunct member of Scotland Yard, this organization still relies on you for your advise; it would be aterrible loss if anything should happen to you in Nairobi. Your many admirers would never forgive me. I am sure, you understand my concern."
Supt. Troon nodded. Shaking his hand, he said, I respect your decision, Sir. I won't go."
From the moment Sandra got to the office, she was hopelessly distracted. She was worried about her mother. Fearful for her. And now she was sure, her stubborn was really going to Nairobi.
She opened her closet door, grabbed her lab coat and put it on..... Mami loved Kenya ..... but why still now, after all these years? .....
She sat on her swivel chair and pulled a drawer. The first thing she saw was a picture of her holding a baby cheetah. Then another one, showing her feeding a banana to some monkeys. She laughed.
Pushing aside these pictures, she pried further and finally found the one she was really looking for. She had been hiding it from her mother who wanted her to destroy all the memories of the man standing next to her in this photo.
It had been taken on the terrace of the Salt-Lick-Lodge in the Tsavo-Park. He had put her on a chair - so she could see better. Steadying her with one arm around her shoulders, he was pointing at some elephants who had come to drink at the nearby pond. She was looking at him, smiling.
She remembered how she had adored him because he seemed to share her feelings for the animals and for nature.
She put the picture back and for most of the morning, she sat in the office day-dreaming. She started thinking about all the adventures she had in Kenya as a child. How the people had loved her. How she had made many friends there - State House, Kabarnet Gardens, their house at the Coast, the game parks ..... will my childhood dream ever come true - will I one day be able to go back and take care of the animals in that beautiful country?
At 6:00 p.m. she finally finished her work and left for the Airport to meet her mother.
***
In London, Supt. Troon arrived at the downtown office of Scotland Yard at about 11:00 a.m. He was glad that Marianne was going to Kenya to testify. All along, he had wanted her to talk, to tell the world what she knew.
But that had not been possible in the past. The Gicheru Inquiry was disbanded just days before she could make her appearance. And everything she had told him in London had come under scathing attacks, discredited as the rambling of a bitter mzungu.
He knew better .....
He knew Marianne had told the truth. He knew she had subjected herself to a lot of risk by saying as much as she did under oath.
But the fact that she had said it to him in England, had made her testimony vulnerable to attacks. It had made it possible for Biwott and his spin machine to ruthlessly attack the credibility of her words.
Now she finally had a chance to talk in Nairobi. In Biwott's own backyard..... tell them the truth, Marianne!
Supt. Troon got to his former office. It was on the 11th floor. Most of the men up here had been with Scotland Yard through decades, investigated the IRA bombings in Northern Ireland and through the high-profile spate of murders that rocked London, Liverpool and Leeds in the nineties.
He had asked for an appointment with his former Superior. After greeting him with a smile and knowing that the man had not much time, he immediately came to the point, "It's about that Kenyan case," Supt. Troon said, "I wonder if Scotland Yard are at the point where I can write about it."
"Write about it?"
"It's the only way for the truth to come out. And I think, there is a lot to learn from it. Future generations of detectives will benefit from what they can learn from it."
His Superior scratched his head, "But nobody seems to want the truth to come out, Supt. Troon. No. 10 - Downing Street doesn't, nor does the business community or the Kenyan leaders ....", he paused, "the only one who wants it is you - and as much as I commend you for staying on this case, I wish you could let go ..... enjoy your retirement. You did all you could."
Supt. Troon looked down, "Can I at least go to Nairobi?"
"To do what?"
"To testify."
"Don't, Supt. Troon. It's not a good idea. As an adjunct member of Scotland Yard, this organization still relies on you for your advise; it would be aterrible loss if anything should happen to you in Nairobi. Your many admirers would never forgive me. I am sure, you understand my concern."
Supt. Troon nodded. Shaking his hand, he said, I respect your decision, Sir. I won't go."
The 5 Most Popular Stories in Kumekucha Today 19th November
The 5 Most Popular Stories in Kumekucha Today 19th November
1. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
2. ODM ad that Kenyan media won't carry
3. Do you know where Kabogo lives?
4. Old school mate attacks Kumekucha
5. What impact will Matiba's entry into presidential race have?
1. Missed opportunity by PNU to bury ODM
2. ODM ad that Kenyan media won't carry
3. Do you know where Kabogo lives?
4. Old school mate attacks Kumekucha
5. What impact will Matiba's entry into presidential race have?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A Missed Opportunity By PNU To Bury ODM
There is no doubt that the popularity of ODM and Raila Odinga has slipped significantly over the last few weeks. One of the reasons for this has been what started out clearly as mere propaganda over the Internet to the effect that Raila had signed a secret MOU with Muslim leaders in Kenya to introduce Sharia law into the Coast and North Eastern province Jimbos shortly after the introduction of the majimbo system of governance as proposed by ODM.
It was a ridiculous claim that many readers here quite rightly dismissed. However, one thing led to another and very soon Raila found himself under considerable pressure to reveal the details of his alleged MOU with the Muslims. He actually put more pressure on himself than was necessary by initially denying the existence of any such agreement. He later changed his mind and admitted that an agreement of sorts had been reached between himself and the Muslims, Coming so soon after the famous Kadhi courts battle in the proposed Bomas draft between Christians and Muslims in Kenya, the issue has caused considerable anxiety amongst Christians all over the country and this has without doubt considerably reduced the momentum in the Raila presidential campaign. Several polls have clearly shown his popularity slipping.
It is quite likely that the hiring of the controversial Dick Morris (a gifted but controversial pollster who former President Clinton talks of very highly of in his biography—My Life.) was one of the measures taken by Raila’s handlers to try and reverse the situation. It really isn’t a crisis yet but in politics at this level anything can happen and what starts out as a minor incident can quickly snowball into an election-losing issue.
In fact Dick Morris is one of the main reasons why Bill Clinton earned the nickname “The come back kid.” It was because there were several potentially election-losing issues that came up during his initial presidential campaign and in his re-election bid (mostly from his private life). But with the help of Morris and others Clinton handlers were able to spin him out of trouble every time. In hiring Morris, Raila handlers were probably hoping for the same miracle for their man.
President Kibaki’s handlers no doubt saw the opportunity when they put in the president’s itinerary a prayer service shortly after he presented his papers to the ECK. The idea was to portray him as a staunch Christian in sharp contrast to Raila.
The truth is that the Christian vote in Kenya is enough to make or break a presidential bid and in my view President Kibaki’s handlers did not make enough of the situation. Please excuse my saying so, but they should have gone for the jugular—that is the nature of politics. They really had a good opportunity to completely bury Raila Odinga which they missed. If I was on the president’s team I would have emphasized the need to keep on hammering on the Christian affiliation of the president.
In fact the big effort made by the president to reach out to the Muslims a few weeks back was mainly designed to secure his much required 25 per cent at the Coast province, otherwise the ideal thing to have done would have been to position the president as close to the Christians as possible (without saying anything that would offend our Muslim brothers). That alone would have earned him numerous votes across the country. That is what spin experts like Dick Morris specialize on. The stuff that changes the direction of a political campaign so dramatically that one easily snatches victory right from the jaws of defeat.
Now it is a little late because the Raila team seems to be slowly but surely recovering from that crisis. The focus on the party nominations has diverted public attention from it and chances are that this issue will not emerge again so high in the thoughts of voters because the stage where the campaign has entered now will usher in other pertinent debates and issues covering a very wide range of subjects.
P.S. In politics like in marketing, there is really no point wasting time and resources on lost causes. In my informed view, the Muslim vote is a lost cause for the president, thanks mainly to the Americans and their bullying ways in dealing with terrorism. Too many Muslims have been affected and the wounds are still too raw for the President to change Muslim minds. The President should therefore focus all his energies elsewhere. For instance the influential but few Hindus, who have benefited greatly from the Kibaki economic policies, professionals, many small businesses countrywide who have made a killing from importing with the strong shilling that president Kibaki has emphasized on throughout his administration, to name a few. This would have been the firm bedrock of support that would have helped launch and create a winning presidential campaign. In my view the president should have reduced his public meetings where Raila looks better and is much more gifted in playing to the gallery.
If the president loses this campaign, his handlers will have a lot to answer about the strategy they have employed. If I was one of them and the president kept on over-ruling me, then the right and honorable thing to do is to resign early rather than wait to take blame later for something that you did not agree with.
It was a ridiculous claim that many readers here quite rightly dismissed. However, one thing led to another and very soon Raila found himself under considerable pressure to reveal the details of his alleged MOU with the Muslims. He actually put more pressure on himself than was necessary by initially denying the existence of any such agreement. He later changed his mind and admitted that an agreement of sorts had been reached between himself and the Muslims, Coming so soon after the famous Kadhi courts battle in the proposed Bomas draft between Christians and Muslims in Kenya, the issue has caused considerable anxiety amongst Christians all over the country and this has without doubt considerably reduced the momentum in the Raila presidential campaign. Several polls have clearly shown his popularity slipping.
It is quite likely that the hiring of the controversial Dick Morris (a gifted but controversial pollster who former President Clinton talks of very highly of in his biography—My Life.) was one of the measures taken by Raila’s handlers to try and reverse the situation. It really isn’t a crisis yet but in politics at this level anything can happen and what starts out as a minor incident can quickly snowball into an election-losing issue.
In fact Dick Morris is one of the main reasons why Bill Clinton earned the nickname “The come back kid.” It was because there were several potentially election-losing issues that came up during his initial presidential campaign and in his re-election bid (mostly from his private life). But with the help of Morris and others Clinton handlers were able to spin him out of trouble every time. In hiring Morris, Raila handlers were probably hoping for the same miracle for their man.
President Kibaki’s handlers no doubt saw the opportunity when they put in the president’s itinerary a prayer service shortly after he presented his papers to the ECK. The idea was to portray him as a staunch Christian in sharp contrast to Raila.
The truth is that the Christian vote in Kenya is enough to make or break a presidential bid and in my view President Kibaki’s handlers did not make enough of the situation. Please excuse my saying so, but they should have gone for the jugular—that is the nature of politics. They really had a good opportunity to completely bury Raila Odinga which they missed. If I was on the president’s team I would have emphasized the need to keep on hammering on the Christian affiliation of the president.
In fact the big effort made by the president to reach out to the Muslims a few weeks back was mainly designed to secure his much required 25 per cent at the Coast province, otherwise the ideal thing to have done would have been to position the president as close to the Christians as possible (without saying anything that would offend our Muslim brothers). That alone would have earned him numerous votes across the country. That is what spin experts like Dick Morris specialize on. The stuff that changes the direction of a political campaign so dramatically that one easily snatches victory right from the jaws of defeat.
Now it is a little late because the Raila team seems to be slowly but surely recovering from that crisis. The focus on the party nominations has diverted public attention from it and chances are that this issue will not emerge again so high in the thoughts of voters because the stage where the campaign has entered now will usher in other pertinent debates and issues covering a very wide range of subjects.
P.S. In politics like in marketing, there is really no point wasting time and resources on lost causes. In my informed view, the Muslim vote is a lost cause for the president, thanks mainly to the Americans and their bullying ways in dealing with terrorism. Too many Muslims have been affected and the wounds are still too raw for the President to change Muslim minds. The President should therefore focus all his energies elsewhere. For instance the influential but few Hindus, who have benefited greatly from the Kibaki economic policies, professionals, many small businesses countrywide who have made a killing from importing with the strong shilling that president Kibaki has emphasized on throughout his administration, to name a few. This would have been the firm bedrock of support that would have helped launch and create a winning presidential campaign. In my view the president should have reduced his public meetings where Raila looks better and is much more gifted in playing to the gallery.
If the president loses this campaign, his handlers will have a lot to answer about the strategy they have employed. If I was one of them and the president kept on over-ruling me, then the right and honorable thing to do is to resign early rather than wait to take blame later for something that you did not agree with.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Will ODM-Kenya Be The Surprise Party Of the 2007 General Elections?
Long before the elections we discussed an interesting strategy that KANU was putting in place then that would position the party perfectly to receive the inevitable fall out from the nominations.
Well Kanu bigwigs changed their minds and threw in their lot with incumbent Mwai Kibaki, but their strategy now seems to have been taken up by Hoo Ndii Emm.
Details are still emerging but ODM-K top officials have been busy today receiving defectors from both sides of the divide.
Actually this puts the party in a stronger position than most people may realize. It means that the party has a good chance of spreading its’ tentacles into both PNU and ODM strongholds. The end result is that this party of all parties will end up with the most nationalistic outlook of all 3 major political parties. From my quick projections it could also mean that ODM-K will end up with the second largest number of seats in the 10th parliament.
Clearly this is not a party that can be ignored. In fact those Kenyans who have not being paying enough attention to what Kalonzo Musyoka is saying (including your truly) needs to wake up and start listening carefully. It is very possible that this will be the most important political party in the house and could form the backbone of the opposition in the 10th parliament.
Admittedly Hoo Ndii Emms’ Chungwa House was also packed with complaining aspirants who claim that they had lost in unfair polls. These were mostly from Ukambani and many were demanding a refund of their nomination fees. Fortunately the impact of these losers will be very minimal and will hardly affect the results in Hoo Ndii Emm’s favour right across the Ukambani districts.
There is one other key issue that many political analysts have been ignoring. It is the fact that the more MPs a political party gets into parliament, the more votes its’ presidential candidate will end up with. The reality on the ground is that when a parliamentary candidate convinces the electorate, they will tend to also vote for his or her presidential candidate. Keen observers need to start considering the possibility of Kalonzo Musyoka ending up in the top two, when the results are tallied up.
As I did this post, the results from the nominations were still trickling in but the general feeling is that as I said here months ago, politicians are for the first time facing some very angry voters who have a point to prove. The latest information indicates that giants have fallen en masse. See my other post.
Well Kanu bigwigs changed their minds and threw in their lot with incumbent Mwai Kibaki, but their strategy now seems to have been taken up by Hoo Ndii Emm.
Details are still emerging but ODM-K top officials have been busy today receiving defectors from both sides of the divide.
Actually this puts the party in a stronger position than most people may realize. It means that the party has a good chance of spreading its’ tentacles into both PNU and ODM strongholds. The end result is that this party of all parties will end up with the most nationalistic outlook of all 3 major political parties. From my quick projections it could also mean that ODM-K will end up with the second largest number of seats in the 10th parliament.
Clearly this is not a party that can be ignored. In fact those Kenyans who have not being paying enough attention to what Kalonzo Musyoka is saying (including your truly) needs to wake up and start listening carefully. It is very possible that this will be the most important political party in the house and could form the backbone of the opposition in the 10th parliament.
Admittedly Hoo Ndii Emms’ Chungwa House was also packed with complaining aspirants who claim that they had lost in unfair polls. These were mostly from Ukambani and many were demanding a refund of their nomination fees. Fortunately the impact of these losers will be very minimal and will hardly affect the results in Hoo Ndii Emm’s favour right across the Ukambani districts.
There is one other key issue that many political analysts have been ignoring. It is the fact that the more MPs a political party gets into parliament, the more votes its’ presidential candidate will end up with. The reality on the ground is that when a parliamentary candidate convinces the electorate, they will tend to also vote for his or her presidential candidate. Keen observers need to start considering the possibility of Kalonzo Musyoka ending up in the top two, when the results are tallied up.
As I did this post, the results from the nominations were still trickling in but the general feeling is that as I said here months ago, politicians are for the first time facing some very angry voters who have a point to prove. The latest information indicates that giants have fallen en masse. See my other post.
Quick Quiz: Do You Know Where William Kabogo Lives?
During my brief absence, one very interesting piece of information I came across concerns controversial immediate former Juja legislator William Kabogo. I always thought that the guy lives somewhere near Thika or at the very least in Nairobi.
Actually he lives in Mombasa in a palatial house that I saw hidden deep in the leafy Nyali suburb. The house is right next to a bush that was cleared for his helicopter to be landing as he returns almost daily to his “palace”. A neighbor tells me that the helicopter has not landed in the bush for quite a while and the cleared vegetation has started growing again, and so nobody seems to know where it lands these days. But Kabogo still lives in the huge imposing house and is regularly seen in a car coming and going.
Neighbours inform me that the house was a spectacle to watch when it was being constructed. Kabogo would quite often order entire walls to be demolished and re-constructed and it seems that he continued to design his house and make adjustments even as construction was going on.
The house boasts of a huge theatre, a gym, swimming pool and every amenity you can think of. The grey rare stones used to construct it are said to have been imported from Israel. There is no doubt that the house is very unique and extremely impressive, although a lot of it is hidden from passersby by a very high perimeter wall.
Meanwhile on the political front, my informants on the ground assure me that Mr Kabogo will have absolutely no problem winning back his Juja parliamentary seat despite stiff competition. The immediate former legislator who was in the 9th parliament courtesy of the Sisi Kwa Sisi party was shown in TV news clips a few hours ago, addressing his constituents and assuring them that his name would definitely be in the ballot paper for the constituency while arrogantly claiming that both PNU and ODM bigwigs have desperately been courting him.
EXTRA:
How did William Kabogo Gitau (he celebrated his 47th birthday on 4th April this year) make his money? This remains a mystery. But even more fascinating is the link between Kabogo and John Harun Mwau. The two legislators are related by marriage. Kabogo is married to Mwau's daughter and so calls the embattaled Kilome MP his father-in-law.
But it is deeper than that because the two are actually very close business associates. One can only guess the kind of business they deal in that has brought them such untold riches. Kabogo graduated from the university of Nairobi penniless only to get stinking wealthy overnight.
Actually he lives in Mombasa in a palatial house that I saw hidden deep in the leafy Nyali suburb. The house is right next to a bush that was cleared for his helicopter to be landing as he returns almost daily to his “palace”. A neighbor tells me that the helicopter has not landed in the bush for quite a while and the cleared vegetation has started growing again, and so nobody seems to know where it lands these days. But Kabogo still lives in the huge imposing house and is regularly seen in a car coming and going.
Neighbours inform me that the house was a spectacle to watch when it was being constructed. Kabogo would quite often order entire walls to be demolished and re-constructed and it seems that he continued to design his house and make adjustments even as construction was going on.
The house boasts of a huge theatre, a gym, swimming pool and every amenity you can think of. The grey rare stones used to construct it are said to have been imported from Israel. There is no doubt that the house is very unique and extremely impressive, although a lot of it is hidden from passersby by a very high perimeter wall.
Meanwhile on the political front, my informants on the ground assure me that Mr Kabogo will have absolutely no problem winning back his Juja parliamentary seat despite stiff competition. The immediate former legislator who was in the 9th parliament courtesy of the Sisi Kwa Sisi party was shown in TV news clips a few hours ago, addressing his constituents and assuring them that his name would definitely be in the ballot paper for the constituency while arrogantly claiming that both PNU and ODM bigwigs have desperately been courting him.
EXTRA:
How did William Kabogo Gitau (he celebrated his 47th birthday on 4th April this year) make his money? This remains a mystery. But even more fascinating is the link between Kabogo and John Harun Mwau. The two legislators are related by marriage. Kabogo is married to Mwau's daughter and so calls the embattaled Kilome MP his father-in-law.
But it is deeper than that because the two are actually very close business associates. One can only guess the kind of business they deal in that has brought them such untold riches. Kabogo graduated from the university of Nairobi penniless only to get stinking wealthy overnight.
Friday, November 16, 2007
What Impact Will The Entry Of Kenneth Matiba Have?
Kenneth Stanley Njindo Matiba has made a surprise entrance into the presidential race. He turned up seemingly from nowhere and presnted his papers, yesterday.
Interestingly this heroic freedom fighter who paid for his fight for democracy dearly when his detention witthout trial by the Moi government resulted in stroke that almost killed him, can’t read and neither can he sign documents. So the question arises, if he was elected president what would happen? Who would sign those important and highly confidential documents? Who would read those equally confidential reports for him?
In my view the contributions made by Matiba in the fight for democracy is so big that he deserved to be treated better. If for no other reason then at least because of the rather devastating consequences that he has to live with for the rest of his life. But alas, that is how we Kenyans treat our heroes. I have seen several times in this blog, some Kenyans rubishing the heroic nature one John Githongo. That is Kenyans for you. While Matiba was fighting Moi, Kibaki was saying in parliament that proponents of change were trying to fell a Mugumo tree with a razor blade. To reward Kibaki, Kenyans elecvted his president in 2002 and ignorted Matiba even as he struiggled to save his crumbling empire from auctioneers.
But I shouldn’t get emotional. Let me stick to the present.
There is no doubt that Matiba has near-fanatical support in many parts of Central province, especially his native Muranga. Which leads us to the big question; will his candidacy take votes away from Mwai Kibaki?
Judging from what has happened in the recent past, and especially the ruthlessness with which the Mungiki affair was handled, which caused the death of many innocent young men in the hanbds of the police (and then to rub those raw wopunmds with salt, the police has denied any involvement in the dissapearnce and death of many of these youths), Matiba’s candidature is definitely NOT good news for Mwai Kibaki’s re-election bid.
The president will remember only too clearly his humiliating defeat in the hands of Matiba in the 1992 elections when the contropversial Kiharu politician surprised everybody by coming second to the eventual winner, President Daniel Arap Moi. Of course, this time things are very different and President Kibaki is the incumbent. However the danger here is that Matiba does not really need to get more votes than the president to mess up the latter’s re-election plans. All he needs to do is deny him substantial votes in the greater Muranga area and the entire presidential race equation will change.
This has to be giving the president’s handlers sleepless nights.
Interestingly this heroic freedom fighter who paid for his fight for democracy dearly when his detention witthout trial by the Moi government resulted in stroke that almost killed him, can’t read and neither can he sign documents. So the question arises, if he was elected president what would happen? Who would sign those important and highly confidential documents? Who would read those equally confidential reports for him?
In my view the contributions made by Matiba in the fight for democracy is so big that he deserved to be treated better. If for no other reason then at least because of the rather devastating consequences that he has to live with for the rest of his life. But alas, that is how we Kenyans treat our heroes. I have seen several times in this blog, some Kenyans rubishing the heroic nature one John Githongo. That is Kenyans for you. While Matiba was fighting Moi, Kibaki was saying in parliament that proponents of change were trying to fell a Mugumo tree with a razor blade. To reward Kibaki, Kenyans elecvted his president in 2002 and ignorted Matiba even as he struiggled to save his crumbling empire from auctioneers.
But I shouldn’t get emotional. Let me stick to the present.
There is no doubt that Matiba has near-fanatical support in many parts of Central province, especially his native Muranga. Which leads us to the big question; will his candidacy take votes away from Mwai Kibaki?
Judging from what has happened in the recent past, and especially the ruthlessness with which the Mungiki affair was handled, which caused the death of many innocent young men in the hanbds of the police (and then to rub those raw wopunmds with salt, the police has denied any involvement in the dissapearnce and death of many of these youths), Matiba’s candidature is definitely NOT good news for Mwai Kibaki’s re-election bid.
The president will remember only too clearly his humiliating defeat in the hands of Matiba in the 1992 elections when the contropversial Kiharu politician surprised everybody by coming second to the eventual winner, President Daniel Arap Moi. Of course, this time things are very different and President Kibaki is the incumbent. However the danger here is that Matiba does not really need to get more votes than the president to mess up the latter’s re-election plans. All he needs to do is deny him substantial votes in the greater Muranga area and the entire presidential race equation will change.
This has to be giving the president’s handlers sleepless nights.
Kumekucha’s Old Schoolmate Mounts A Scathing Attack On The Popular Blogger
Although this was an annonymous comment left at this blog, I have a very good idea of who the author is and I am a little surprised at the venom that emerges in certain parts of the message. I hereby reproduce his entire comment in full;
I have read your blogspot almost since it started. I have a little advice for you.
1) At the beginning when you were more neutral, you got more balanced readership. There are young entrepreneurs of Kenya who will survive P.N.U and O.D.M and you should have retained their faith in you as a balanced commentator. This group is critical to you as a businessman.
2) When you write about your frustrations as a publisher in Nairobi, you omit the following basic reasons for your failure:
a)You had zero knowledge about marketing. In addition, your opinions were shallow and could only cater to the type of people who had been reading 'Scandal' at Lenana School.
b) Your failure to go and study Architecture limited your general Education and scope of life. You could still have gone on to University and pursued a better Education, which would reflect in the quality of your articles. Currently your lack of further education comes through in your writing, e. g you are unable to support your views on issues like Majimbo with well reasoned argument.
3) Your grammar also requires some improvement, but this is tied to number 2(b) above.
4) I know you must add colour to your stories but at times, it is a tad much for those of us who know you well. You were a pretty good sportsman no doubt, but you were not the star player you implied playing for the first eleven in Form One. In Rugby you did well but failed to stay at the top long enough because you lacked some real hardness, you were surprisingly timid for a big guy.
Most of all, your sporting ability was not derived because you were naturally athletic, it had much to do with the fact that you came to Form One a couple of years older and hence much bigger than the average boy. Age advantage in the tender years gives clear sporting superiority.
Your recent suffering at the hands of your son and grandson reported by you are not because of age. Unless you have done something about it, I last saw you ten years ago and you were at least 20kg overweight..
Many international sportsmen today are 40 plus and doing well, so your analogy was misplaced. The problem is how you have handled your age.
5) I recommend you to be a bit more open and balanced. Avoid personal attacks, after all how would you feel if all those old stories about you and the likes of the young beautiful Muchiru made their way to the web? I do wish you success in Kumekucha however and do try to cater for all the readers that you have. This is part of that business savvy I mentioned above, and you must appreciate that lobby groups fade all the time while real business ventures survive regimes.
A business in which I have substantial shares is advertising on Kumekucha. Let me know when you are in Nairobi and I will take some time to say hello. I hope you are coming for the Elections...
Publish Reject (Anonymous) 12:48 AM
My (Kumekucha’s) answers in bold below
I have read your blogspot almost since it started. I have a little advice for you.
1) At the beginning when you were more neutral, you got more balanced readership. There are young entrepreneurs of Kenya who will survive P.N.U and O.D.M and you should have retained their faith in you as a balanced commentator. This group is critical to you as a businessman.
Thank you for your constructive criticism. Point taken. Although my being neutral has got more to do with perception than reality. Still I am working hard on that. By the way I do agree that both groups are important to me as a web entrepreneur.
2) When you write about your frustrations as a publisher in Nairobi, you omit the following basic reasons for your failure:
a) You had zero knowledge about marketing. In addition, your opinions were shallow and could only cater to the type of people who had been reading 'Scandal' at Lenana School.
I would hate to be seen to be bragging so I have to be very careful how I put this; But the fact is that my knowledge of marketing (especially online marketing) is much more than what you think it is and is one of my major strengths. I have read a lot and observed a lot to get to where I am today.
My friend you were an avid reader of Scandal yourself. Do you include yourself in this group?
What you refer to as "shallow" is my deliberate policy of simplifying complex issues so that people can grasp and understand them quickly. I was wildly sucessful with it in my Nairobi publishing operations. It is one of the reasons why Kumekucha is so popular. The publisher I admire most is Alfred Hamsworth (Lord Northcliff) whose guiding principal was "simplify, explain, clarify." No wonder he was the greatest publisher who ever lived. Surely even you do not come here at the end of a hard day to read some thesis, do you?
b) Your failure to go and study Architecture limited your general Education and scope of life. You could still have gone on to University and pursued a better Education, which would reflect in the quality of your articles. Currently your lack of further education comes through in your writing, e. g you are unable to support your views on issues like Majimbo with well reasoned argument.
OK I have no problem with constructive criticism and I will revise and refine my arguments on Majimboism amongst other topics that will be covered here in the days to come. But what does architecture have to do with publishing and writing?
Your quick judgment about my failing to take the opportunity to study architecture at Nairobi University and attributing my early struggles to that is misplaced and confirms a lot of what I already know about your conservative old hat values and outlook in life. Whatever assets you gained from your University education, a sober understanding of what life is really all about was not one of them.
Read any biography and you will observe that every successful person went through early struggles to arrive at their destiny. It is called paying the price to reach your destiny. It is an experience that is critical in building character and which to me (in retrospect) is the most valuable education I have ever had.
You take an arrogant assumption about my life and education not withsanding the fact that education is not always formal learning. Especially in this Information age.
I am also aware that many guys from our year in school support the view that the end justifies the means and have no problem making money from corruption or as a result of contacts with corrupt persons (some of whom feature prominently in the Kroll report.) This eliminates the need for any "struggle". And as long as they can impress everybody else in town, nothing else matters. Sad, because they never stopped being school boys.
You seem to be sure that I struggled at the beginning because I did not do architecture at the university. Correction, it is because I chose to follow the straight and narrow. One of our schoolmates once told me; "it is so difficult to make it in what you are doing."
3) Your grammar also requires some improvement, but this is tied to number 2(b) above.
My grammar seems to be good enough to allow me to generate content for very fussy clients (all based in North America). I suggest that you study the nature of blogs a little more and you will quickly realize that your criticism is a little on the harsh side. Read any leading blog in the world today and compare the grammar standards there to Kumekucha's and then judge me on that.
Still I always endeavor for very high standards and I will be more careful in future amid all the chaos and hectic nature of creating content for blogs.
4) I know you must add colour to your stories but at times, it is a tad much for those of us who know you well. You were a pretty good sportsman no doubt, but you were not the star player you implied playing for the first eleven in Form One. In Rugby you did well but failed to stay at the top long enough because you lacked some real hardness, you were surprisingly timid for a big guy.
FACT: I played for the school first 11 towards the end of the season when still in Form 1. Was in the starting 11 for the first match of the season in Form 2 but was cut down by a serious ankle injury.
FACT: This chap you say is surprisingly timid for a big guy, was invited for Kenya national rugby team trials when I was in Form 5. In that same year I was voted the best combined schools player in Kenya. I played for Kenya in the year I did my form six (shortly after my final exams).
Correction: what ended my rugby playing career a little prematurely was not the fact that I lacked “real hardness.” Rather it was women and booze in that order. Rugby players are of course famous for these vices, but then I was an extreme case. Mercifully I met JC and all that changed. You see, you really don’t know me as well as you think you do.
Most of all, your sporting ability was not derived because you were naturally athletic, it had much to do with the fact that you came to Form One a couple of years older and hence much bigger than the average boy. Age advantage in the tender years gives clear sporting superiority.
Please elaborate and clarify what you mean by that last sentence. You appear to be contradicting yourself. And besides how was this “age factor” an advantage when I was playing International rugby with much older people while barely out of school?
Your recent suffering at the hands of your son and grandson reported by you are not because of age. Unless you have done something about it, I last saw you ten years ago and you were at least 20kg overweight..
Many international sportsmen today are 40 plus and doing well, so your analogy was misplaced. The problem is how you have handled your age.
I know you visit a gym regularly, but I wonder how fit you are after that stroke you suffered shortly after the Central Police issue.
5) I recommend you to be a bit more open and balanced. Avoid personal attacks, after all how would you feel if all those old stories about you and the likes of the young beautiful Muchiru made their way to the web?
Are you suggesting that I was a homosexual in school? I challenge you to publish here evidence that I was involved in that kind of relationship. The truth for the record is that I have never had a weakness for my fellow men, if anything my biggest problem/weakness shortly after high school was women and NOT men. The fact that I befriended persons in lower forms was not a unique thing in the strict rigidly hierarchal system that relied a lot on bullying and the creation of fear at Lenana in those days. The fact that I hated the system and went against it by befriending people whom I should have bullied instead probably speaks volumes about my true character, but let me not be the judge of that. By the way, you too had quite a number of very close friends in lower classes, and I know you are straight. So where did this come from?
I do wish you success in Kumekucha however and do try to cater for all the readers that you have. This is part of that business savvy I mentioned above, and you must appreciate that lobby groups fade all the time while real business ventures survive regimes.
Thank you fo the advice. Will carefully consider it.
A business in which I have substantial shares is advertising on Kumekucha. Let me know when you are in Nairobi and I will take some time to say hello. I hope you are coming for the Elections...
How do I let you know when I am next in Nairobi and yet your comment is anonymous? To be honest, although I strongly suspect I know who you are, I could be wrong. Please drop me an email at umissedthis@yahoo.com if you are serious about this invitation. It seems that in a way you’ve accepted me for who I am, I gladly extend my hand of friendship to you on the same terms. You were not such a bad guy.
I have read your blogspot almost since it started. I have a little advice for you.
1) At the beginning when you were more neutral, you got more balanced readership. There are young entrepreneurs of Kenya who will survive P.N.U and O.D.M and you should have retained their faith in you as a balanced commentator. This group is critical to you as a businessman.
2) When you write about your frustrations as a publisher in Nairobi, you omit the following basic reasons for your failure:
a)You had zero knowledge about marketing. In addition, your opinions were shallow and could only cater to the type of people who had been reading 'Scandal' at Lenana School.
b) Your failure to go and study Architecture limited your general Education and scope of life. You could still have gone on to University and pursued a better Education, which would reflect in the quality of your articles. Currently your lack of further education comes through in your writing, e. g you are unable to support your views on issues like Majimbo with well reasoned argument.
3) Your grammar also requires some improvement, but this is tied to number 2(b) above.
4) I know you must add colour to your stories but at times, it is a tad much for those of us who know you well. You were a pretty good sportsman no doubt, but you were not the star player you implied playing for the first eleven in Form One. In Rugby you did well but failed to stay at the top long enough because you lacked some real hardness, you were surprisingly timid for a big guy.
Most of all, your sporting ability was not derived because you were naturally athletic, it had much to do with the fact that you came to Form One a couple of years older and hence much bigger than the average boy. Age advantage in the tender years gives clear sporting superiority.
Your recent suffering at the hands of your son and grandson reported by you are not because of age. Unless you have done something about it, I last saw you ten years ago and you were at least 20kg overweight..
Many international sportsmen today are 40 plus and doing well, so your analogy was misplaced. The problem is how you have handled your age.
5) I recommend you to be a bit more open and balanced. Avoid personal attacks, after all how would you feel if all those old stories about you and the likes of the young beautiful Muchiru made their way to the web? I do wish you success in Kumekucha however and do try to cater for all the readers that you have. This is part of that business savvy I mentioned above, and you must appreciate that lobby groups fade all the time while real business ventures survive regimes.
A business in which I have substantial shares is advertising on Kumekucha. Let me know when you are in Nairobi and I will take some time to say hello. I hope you are coming for the Elections...
Publish Reject (Anonymous) 12:48 AM
My (Kumekucha’s) answers in bold below
I have read your blogspot almost since it started. I have a little advice for you.
1) At the beginning when you were more neutral, you got more balanced readership. There are young entrepreneurs of Kenya who will survive P.N.U and O.D.M and you should have retained their faith in you as a balanced commentator. This group is critical to you as a businessman.
Thank you for your constructive criticism. Point taken. Although my being neutral has got more to do with perception than reality. Still I am working hard on that. By the way I do agree that both groups are important to me as a web entrepreneur.
2) When you write about your frustrations as a publisher in Nairobi, you omit the following basic reasons for your failure:
a) You had zero knowledge about marketing. In addition, your opinions were shallow and could only cater to the type of people who had been reading 'Scandal' at Lenana School.
I would hate to be seen to be bragging so I have to be very careful how I put this; But the fact is that my knowledge of marketing (especially online marketing) is much more than what you think it is and is one of my major strengths. I have read a lot and observed a lot to get to where I am today.
My friend you were an avid reader of Scandal yourself. Do you include yourself in this group?
What you refer to as "shallow" is my deliberate policy of simplifying complex issues so that people can grasp and understand them quickly. I was wildly sucessful with it in my Nairobi publishing operations. It is one of the reasons why Kumekucha is so popular. The publisher I admire most is Alfred Hamsworth (Lord Northcliff) whose guiding principal was "simplify, explain, clarify." No wonder he was the greatest publisher who ever lived. Surely even you do not come here at the end of a hard day to read some thesis, do you?
b) Your failure to go and study Architecture limited your general Education and scope of life. You could still have gone on to University and pursued a better Education, which would reflect in the quality of your articles. Currently your lack of further education comes through in your writing, e. g you are unable to support your views on issues like Majimbo with well reasoned argument.
OK I have no problem with constructive criticism and I will revise and refine my arguments on Majimboism amongst other topics that will be covered here in the days to come. But what does architecture have to do with publishing and writing?
Your quick judgment about my failing to take the opportunity to study architecture at Nairobi University and attributing my early struggles to that is misplaced and confirms a lot of what I already know about your conservative old hat values and outlook in life. Whatever assets you gained from your University education, a sober understanding of what life is really all about was not one of them.
Read any biography and you will observe that every successful person went through early struggles to arrive at their destiny. It is called paying the price to reach your destiny. It is an experience that is critical in building character and which to me (in retrospect) is the most valuable education I have ever had.
You take an arrogant assumption about my life and education not withsanding the fact that education is not always formal learning. Especially in this Information age.
I am also aware that many guys from our year in school support the view that the end justifies the means and have no problem making money from corruption or as a result of contacts with corrupt persons (some of whom feature prominently in the Kroll report.) This eliminates the need for any "struggle". And as long as they can impress everybody else in town, nothing else matters. Sad, because they never stopped being school boys.
You seem to be sure that I struggled at the beginning because I did not do architecture at the university. Correction, it is because I chose to follow the straight and narrow. One of our schoolmates once told me; "it is so difficult to make it in what you are doing."
3) Your grammar also requires some improvement, but this is tied to number 2(b) above.
My grammar seems to be good enough to allow me to generate content for very fussy clients (all based in North America). I suggest that you study the nature of blogs a little more and you will quickly realize that your criticism is a little on the harsh side. Read any leading blog in the world today and compare the grammar standards there to Kumekucha's and then judge me on that.
Still I always endeavor for very high standards and I will be more careful in future amid all the chaos and hectic nature of creating content for blogs.
4) I know you must add colour to your stories but at times, it is a tad much for those of us who know you well. You were a pretty good sportsman no doubt, but you were not the star player you implied playing for the first eleven in Form One. In Rugby you did well but failed to stay at the top long enough because you lacked some real hardness, you were surprisingly timid for a big guy.
FACT: I played for the school first 11 towards the end of the season when still in Form 1. Was in the starting 11 for the first match of the season in Form 2 but was cut down by a serious ankle injury.
FACT: This chap you say is surprisingly timid for a big guy, was invited for Kenya national rugby team trials when I was in Form 5. In that same year I was voted the best combined schools player in Kenya. I played for Kenya in the year I did my form six (shortly after my final exams).
Correction: what ended my rugby playing career a little prematurely was not the fact that I lacked “real hardness.” Rather it was women and booze in that order. Rugby players are of course famous for these vices, but then I was an extreme case. Mercifully I met JC and all that changed. You see, you really don’t know me as well as you think you do.
Most of all, your sporting ability was not derived because you were naturally athletic, it had much to do with the fact that you came to Form One a couple of years older and hence much bigger than the average boy. Age advantage in the tender years gives clear sporting superiority.
Please elaborate and clarify what you mean by that last sentence. You appear to be contradicting yourself. And besides how was this “age factor” an advantage when I was playing International rugby with much older people while barely out of school?
Your recent suffering at the hands of your son and grandson reported by you are not because of age. Unless you have done something about it, I last saw you ten years ago and you were at least 20kg overweight..
Many international sportsmen today are 40 plus and doing well, so your analogy was misplaced. The problem is how you have handled your age.
I know you visit a gym regularly, but I wonder how fit you are after that stroke you suffered shortly after the Central Police issue.
5) I recommend you to be a bit more open and balanced. Avoid personal attacks, after all how would you feel if all those old stories about you and the likes of the young beautiful Muchiru made their way to the web?
Are you suggesting that I was a homosexual in school? I challenge you to publish here evidence that I was involved in that kind of relationship. The truth for the record is that I have never had a weakness for my fellow men, if anything my biggest problem/weakness shortly after high school was women and NOT men. The fact that I befriended persons in lower forms was not a unique thing in the strict rigidly hierarchal system that relied a lot on bullying and the creation of fear at Lenana in those days. The fact that I hated the system and went against it by befriending people whom I should have bullied instead probably speaks volumes about my true character, but let me not be the judge of that. By the way, you too had quite a number of very close friends in lower classes, and I know you are straight. So where did this come from?
I do wish you success in Kumekucha however and do try to cater for all the readers that you have. This is part of that business savvy I mentioned above, and you must appreciate that lobby groups fade all the time while real business ventures survive regimes.
Thank you fo the advice. Will carefully consider it.
A business in which I have substantial shares is advertising on Kumekucha. Let me know when you are in Nairobi and I will take some time to say hello. I hope you are coming for the Elections...
How do I let you know when I am next in Nairobi and yet your comment is anonymous? To be honest, although I strongly suspect I know who you are, I could be wrong. Please drop me an email at umissedthis@yahoo.com if you are serious about this invitation. It seems that in a way you’ve accepted me for who I am, I gladly extend my hand of friendship to you on the same terms. You were not such a bad guy.
Monday, November 12, 2007
My animals need me (Kenya Betrayed)
Chapter 32
I went back into the kitchen und continued with my omelette. But before it was ready, my phone rang again.
"It's Troon."
"Nice of you to call."
"I had to. What time are you leaving?"
"I'll fly out at 4:30 p.m."
He kept quiet. He could fully understand why I was going to Kenya. Why this trip was so important for me.
"You have a message for Biwott?" I asked, teasing him.
He laughed, "The message I have for that murderer, I would rather like to pass to him myself."
"Then what may I do for you?"
"It's not much. All I am asking is that you lay a firm foundation for the truth to come out. Should the Committee agree to sit in London, I will build on your work in Kenya. I will back up your testimony, make it crystal clear who killed Dr. Ouko and why he was killed. I will present a detailed chronology of the events, tie Dr. Ouko's death inextricably not only to the Molasses Plant but mainly to the Corruption Report he had painstakingly written."
I flipped my omelette, "Sounds excellent."
"Then let's play it like that," Supt. Troon said.
"We will."
I got the omelette off the stove and set it on the side, "Supt. Troon, I intend to have this Ouko tragedy finally resolved. Once it is resolved, and once Kenyans have a more responsible Government, I could even go back and complete some of the projects my company started to work on."
"That would be fantastic."
I liked his optimism and then said, "While I have you on the line, did you ever have been told about the real extent of projects my company was willing to undertake?"
He hesitated. He did not want to hurt my feelings, but knowing he had to be candid, he said, "You know, they tried to paint your company to me as a fñy by night company ..... did you know that?"
"I did."
"And you still believe, you have a chance in Kenya?"
"I do," I said, "I have a chance, but that is not the issue. The issue is - will the Kenyans have another chance?"
"I hope, they do."
"When I am done telling my story, explaining to the Kenyans the role the late Dr. Ouko played in helping secure funds for projects not only in his region but across the whole country, and when I am done exposing the devilish kickback schemes the likes of Biwott, Prof. Saitoti and their friends had put in place, I can assure you that I will have another chance."
He liked that ..... go for it, Marianne!
"Then the Kenyans will have another chance, too." I repeated.
I heard him drawing a deep breath. "Good luck, Marianne. Remember to say everything. Let's make Dr. Ouko proud. And let's try to put back a smile on Christabel's face."
"I will do my best."
"Have a safe trip ....". .....Click.....
***
Since the letter by the Kenyan Government giving Philipp permission to accompany me to Kenya had arrived indicating that he was also allowed to carry his own pistol but did not as requested state that he was also authorized to use his weapon should such a case arise, his Superiors had decided that the whole matter was too risky from the legal point of few - and had sent him on another assignment miles across the globe.
"You are already there?" I asked, stunned.
Only two days ago, when we last spoke together, there had been no indication that he would be called to a different location halfway around the world that soon. But that's what had happened.
"Do you know when you may be back home?" I asked.
"No. Seems like we will take it a day at a time."
I knew what that meant ..... he was on special duty accompanying some high-profile politician.
He then continued, "I just called to wish you a safe trip. I hope, the Germans will take care of you."
"They will," I assured him.
For a moment, he said nothing. Finally, aware that there was nothing else he could do about my travel arrangements, he asked, "Sandra will be at the Airport to se you off?"
"She will," I confirmed.
Philipp's breath caught, "Pass my regards to her. Tell her, I love her very much."
"I will."
"As for you, we will talk when you come back from Nairobi. Be safe!"
"I promise - bye for now." ..... Click .....
***
"I am leaving for work, Mami. Are you still travelling?"
I smiled as I listened to Sandra's question, "What makes you think, I would change my mind?"
"Fear?"
"I have none."
"The possibility to get killed?"
"I try not to think about that."
"Anyway," Sandra paused, then finally said, "I am off to work right now. My animals need me. I guess, we will meet at Kloten-Airport."
"Have a good day, sweetheart."
"I love you, Mami."
***
..... my animals need me .....
As I put back the phone, I remembered these words ..... my animals ..... they brought joy to my heart. I recalled how Sandra's love for animals had started.
It was at the game parks in Kenya ..... Moi and a little girl sharing the same feelings for the wildlife and beautiful landscapes of Kenya .....
I went back into the kitchen und continued with my omelette. But before it was ready, my phone rang again.
"It's Troon."
"Nice of you to call."
"I had to. What time are you leaving?"
"I'll fly out at 4:30 p.m."
He kept quiet. He could fully understand why I was going to Kenya. Why this trip was so important for me.
"You have a message for Biwott?" I asked, teasing him.
He laughed, "The message I have for that murderer, I would rather like to pass to him myself."
"Then what may I do for you?"
"It's not much. All I am asking is that you lay a firm foundation for the truth to come out. Should the Committee agree to sit in London, I will build on your work in Kenya. I will back up your testimony, make it crystal clear who killed Dr. Ouko and why he was killed. I will present a detailed chronology of the events, tie Dr. Ouko's death inextricably not only to the Molasses Plant but mainly to the Corruption Report he had painstakingly written."
I flipped my omelette, "Sounds excellent."
"Then let's play it like that," Supt. Troon said.
"We will."
I got the omelette off the stove and set it on the side, "Supt. Troon, I intend to have this Ouko tragedy finally resolved. Once it is resolved, and once Kenyans have a more responsible Government, I could even go back and complete some of the projects my company started to work on."
"That would be fantastic."
I liked his optimism and then said, "While I have you on the line, did you ever have been told about the real extent of projects my company was willing to undertake?"
He hesitated. He did not want to hurt my feelings, but knowing he had to be candid, he said, "You know, they tried to paint your company to me as a fñy by night company ..... did you know that?"
"I did."
"And you still believe, you have a chance in Kenya?"
"I do," I said, "I have a chance, but that is not the issue. The issue is - will the Kenyans have another chance?"
"I hope, they do."
"When I am done telling my story, explaining to the Kenyans the role the late Dr. Ouko played in helping secure funds for projects not only in his region but across the whole country, and when I am done exposing the devilish kickback schemes the likes of Biwott, Prof. Saitoti and their friends had put in place, I can assure you that I will have another chance."
He liked that ..... go for it, Marianne!
"Then the Kenyans will have another chance, too." I repeated.
I heard him drawing a deep breath. "Good luck, Marianne. Remember to say everything. Let's make Dr. Ouko proud. And let's try to put back a smile on Christabel's face."
"I will do my best."
"Have a safe trip ....". .....Click.....
***
Since the letter by the Kenyan Government giving Philipp permission to accompany me to Kenya had arrived indicating that he was also allowed to carry his own pistol but did not as requested state that he was also authorized to use his weapon should such a case arise, his Superiors had decided that the whole matter was too risky from the legal point of few - and had sent him on another assignment miles across the globe.
"You are already there?" I asked, stunned.
Only two days ago, when we last spoke together, there had been no indication that he would be called to a different location halfway around the world that soon. But that's what had happened.
"Do you know when you may be back home?" I asked.
"No. Seems like we will take it a day at a time."
I knew what that meant ..... he was on special duty accompanying some high-profile politician.
He then continued, "I just called to wish you a safe trip. I hope, the Germans will take care of you."
"They will," I assured him.
For a moment, he said nothing. Finally, aware that there was nothing else he could do about my travel arrangements, he asked, "Sandra will be at the Airport to se you off?"
"She will," I confirmed.
Philipp's breath caught, "Pass my regards to her. Tell her, I love her very much."
"I will."
"As for you, we will talk when you come back from Nairobi. Be safe!"
"I promise - bye for now." ..... Click .....
***
"I am leaving for work, Mami. Are you still travelling?"
I smiled as I listened to Sandra's question, "What makes you think, I would change my mind?"
"Fear?"
"I have none."
"The possibility to get killed?"
"I try not to think about that."
"Anyway," Sandra paused, then finally said, "I am off to work right now. My animals need me. I guess, we will meet at Kloten-Airport."
"Have a good day, sweetheart."
"I love you, Mami."
***
..... my animals need me .....
As I put back the phone, I remembered these words ..... my animals ..... they brought joy to my heart. I recalled how Sandra's love for animals had started.
It was at the game parks in Kenya ..... Moi and a little girl sharing the same feelings for the wildlife and beautiful landscapes of Kenya .....
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