A FUTURE 4 KENYA

A RESILIENT PEOPLE: SHARING A FACEBOOK DISCUSSION WE ALL OUGHT TO BE HAVING

2010-01-22T12:57:00.003-05:00

RB's Status:

Ours is a rich nation.. O'wise we'd have been a failed economy/ nation long ago. The million dollar scandals, super salaried Mpigs and govt fat cats.. Drought, floods, never ending political crap, terrorist attacks.. Yet we still stand strong. Najivunia kuwa Mkenya.

The best glass-half-full perspective i have heard in a while.

When I was preparing to come to the states, i went to the dean of my faculty to have him sign some passport papers for me. In the course of conversing with him, i mentioned - very matter-of-factly - how i intended to bribe immigration officers with 10K in order to get my passport fast. The professor dropped his pen and starred at me as if I had cracked the Fermat's equation. Was he shocked that i was going to bribe to get a passport? Isn't that how things are done in Kenya? I asked.

He said it might be the case that there is corruption everywhere but there is only one reason why the country is still functioning: there are still good and descent people out there. He told me to go out there and apply for a passport and not to dare bribe anyone. I did and got it in 2 weeks.

His name was Prof. AKong'a. I hope to one day meet the guy and tell him how profoundly his lesson changed my outlook on life. Just because everybody is swimming in Nairobi River, it doesn't mean that you too must....

NWG

Kenya is the country to watch. Our continent have enough for everyone. I tend to think we need the equivalent of the civil rights movement back in Africa, coz, just like the blacks in US, even after slavery, they were still under oppression....we are independent but still subject to other people. But that is changing, we have started by reviewing the colonial Constitution for one that is relevant to us. We are constantly threatened that will not be able to export our goods to western markets yet we can develop a thriving market in Africa. If we can provide quality, both goods and services, we wont have to beg people to buy them..does Japan or China beg us to buy their wares? There must arise a new crop of African leaders who are not driven by basic survival but by a passionate desire to deliver our people from disgrace. I attended a medical class recently in one of the developed countries, and all the case studies, including films,are from Africa. Diseases that were eradicated 60-50 yrs in those countries are still ravaging us in masses. How long shall we continue blaming colonialism for our pathetic state of things? To every young Kenyan, whether in the motherland or the diaspora,our grandparents may have fought the independence wars, but we have an even bigger challenge..just like the civil rights giants..we will be there ..I will be there!

Its only a matter of time.. the resilient spirit is beginning to pay off in many ways. The passport experience Wilson narrates just goes to show that the first responsibility for change lies with the individual. As more and more of us catch this spirit - the belief that we don't have to uncritically accept what has been, the embracing of individualresponsibility for progress - change for good becomes inevitable. It is evident all around that we are at a critical point as a nation. We are living through defining moments... there is an awakening happening amongst us. More and more among our populace are willing to stand up and be counted as active players in the quest for change. The prob hasn't been the shortage of good and decent people - they are actually the majority I believe; prob has been the inaction, the passivity with which with have let the minority rogue members of our society run rough shod over us... the majority had believed the lie 'this is Kenya, that's just the way things are'... this mind set led individuals to abdicate all responsibility to politicians and 'serikali'... Now everyday more and more Akong'as are coming out. They are speaking loudly and clearly... and many more amongst us are believing them and taking corresponding individual and collective action..

This, I think answers the post "Being African is a Misfortune."

2009-10-14T12:43:00.001-04:00

Being African is a Misfortune

2009-10-14T12:34:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Dr. Ligaga.

I am glad this forum exists, for where else would I vent, where else would I show my disgust at the endless gaze of Africa that the rest of the world clings to?

The global media has embraced and standardized Africa's image as the get-away safari destination on the one hand, and the starvation-poverty-disease continent that swims in eternal hopelessness; they have held Africa in this light as proof that Africa, the homeland of most of the world's black population, will never be as advanced as the 'white' continents. Africa, of the inferior race. Africa of the corrupt shortsighted leaders, and of the world's surviving primitives.

This 'dark continent' image has turned my continent into a pityful and sneer-worthy non-deserving continent. This continent where I have lived all my life, been happy in, and successful in, survived in.

Is Africa really that bad? Ought we be ashamed of being called Africans? Ought we be ahsamed of being black? What about the laughter and the education and the cultures? what about the joy of playing in the dust with friends whose names you will always remember even in your old age? What about the normal lives we lead? Are these successes not worthy of the media's precious spaces? What about the fact that Africa produces super-intelligent human beings? How else can you explain how Africans have excelled with minimum resources usually made available to students their ages in the West? What about the punishment of existing in a double life, that of the home and that of school, both heavily demanding and both equally important? The double burden of being the educated one, and the provider? and yet we survive in the same world as kids who have known nothing but over-protectiveness, whose every need has been tended to? If it is about survival for the fittest, who most deserves to survive? whose survival skills has been sharpened beyond question?

And so, while the only sport where Africans have outperformed the rest of the world is athletics (minimum resources required to achieve this goal), it is also the most inferior sport. After all, isn't it defined through funny looking, non-English speaking (hence lacking eloquence) black people from some god-forsakken land whose name periodically pops up to remind us that the world's first black leader hails from a father with humble beginnings.

It is easier for the West to typecast Africa using images of starving children. That is our public image. we are content with this image, because it prevents us from dealing with this complex continent. We marginalize and fragment its narratives, because we do not want to cause trouble, raise the expectations of the masses of Africa, give ideas of possibilities.

If the world is currently geared towards the superiority of capital, how can Africa be integrated into this dream? Easy! By making them give us whatever resources they have, so we can continue being the superpowers; by attracting the best brains using green cards, scholarships anything that will move the most diligent, strongest of us out of their holes, and making us grateful for the opportunity.

Now Asia rises and threatens to become the world's next superpower. Can the West let this happen? This would be extremely bad, because a breakdown of these societies would mean a change of power centres! Now we cannot have that. The under-dog race will edge its bony arse closer to the 'it' and soon we might just become powerless. This would be a big let-down. So we must fight on, we do not want to become the 'empy' continent.

So even now, while African crawls on its knees, hangs its head in shame as it begs for money from the Big Brother, accepts the disguised and sometimes open insults from the west, it continues to hope for release, relief. The West on its part continues to hold an image of eternal desperation and primitivity to measure how far its come and how far it can still go.

To succeed, it needs a failure.

RECKONING FIRST, THEN MAY BE RECONCILIATION

2009-07-19T22:35:00.004-04:00

Whatch the whole documentary at the PBS website

WHO'S AFRAID OF HAGUE?

2009-07-16T12:59:00.006-04:00

Leaders formerly for the prosecution of PEV perpetrators at the International Court of Justice in Hague, are now back peddling and suddenly realizing the importance of preserving sovereignty...as though they just discovered the concept, since it never bothered them a while back when they favored the Hague option.

But let us first examine this thing we call PEV, the Post Election Violence. ODM (for the most part), believes or portends to believe that it was as a direct reaction to the rigging of elections and as such the primary culprit should be Mwai Kibaki and anyone who engaged in the alleged electoral fraud.

The problem with this argument is that the International Court of Justice is not concerned with prosecuting electoral malpractice but crimes against humanity. So whatever the motivation of the perpetrators was, that is immaterial to the court. Furthermore, just because those who participated in the violence feel that their actions were justified, that alone should not be a reason for them to object to a trial...after all, the court is the proper venue for them to come up with a defence and if it is as compelling as they seem to believe, then they should have nothing to worry about.

The second problem with this argument is the arbiralliness of it. Let us assume that some people did in fact commit acts of violence as a reaction to stolen elections. That would mean that during the PEV period, there would have to have been two kinds of crimes: the justifiable (as a reaction to rigged polls) and the regular crime which would have happened whether elections were stolen or not, since crime occurs all the time.

Now, let us say that one rape case which took place at a shopping center in Molo was committed by a mob protesting the stolen election and another one which took place in Naivasha was as a result of a regular pervert doing what he does. Who is to determine that one of the two crimes was a justifiable political statement and the other a random act of lawlessness? Doesn't that also mean that we free anyone arrested of committing a violent crime between December 29th, 2007 and March 1st, 2008 (or thereabout)?

The third problem: justice, in a case where there is a clear victim, is never about the accused but the victim. What the courts are going to concern themselves with is the actual people who lost their lives. So if ODM is arguing that their goons were motivated by the rigging of elections, they better be ready to prove that that peasant woman burned at a church in Kiambaa participated in the rigging. Likewise, if Uhuru or any other Central Province politician participated in retaliatory attacks and retaliation happens to be their defense, they better be prepared to show that the innocent people murdered in Naivasha had directly participated in the killings in Rift Valley.

Which leads us to this question: shouldn't the first person to be summoned by whichever court takes this matter be Raila Odinaga? Here's the rationale and please stick with me; a hit-and-run accident occurs, there is a dead body lying across the street and all but one witnesses give their varying accounts of what happened. One witness, witness R, however, claims that no accident took place at all...not wait, if any accident took place, the dead person must have brought it to himself because he is a relative of a known car thief. Now, whether or not witness R has anything to do with the crime, wouldn't you as a prosecutor want to have a few more words with him about the incident?

That is the position which Raila Odinga is in. The whole world but himself and the hacks, acknowledges that crimes against humanity were committed in Kenya. Why should he not be the first one to the Hague so that he can shed a little more light on his seemingly untenable position?

Elections were muddled up and that is regrettable, elections might have even been rigged and that is unforgivable but a worse affront against our country took place after the election controversy which made any theft of votes look like pick-pocketing. When the country exploded, only one person had the power to come close to ameliorating the situation, that person was Raila Odinga. He had the power to directly address those who were killing in his name and tell them that their true enemy was not their neighbors but the occupant of the state house and his cronies-in-thievery. The violence would have subsided, Raila would have earned international repute and approached the iconic status of Mandela.

But he chose to tacitly and sometimes implicitly support what was going on. And for that reason, even when Barack Obama mentions the heroes of the PEV tragedy, Raila is not among them and neither is any of those who believed that they were opposing the rigging of elections. The only people he reserved compliments for were those ordinary people who opposed the violence which Raila still believes was justified.

CONSIDER THIS FOR YOUR RESEARCH/TERM PAPER

2009-06-20T16:44:00.002-04:00

ENDNOTE

GEORGE OBAMA SIGNS A LUCRATIVE BOOK DEAL

2009-06-15T09:48:00.008-04:00

By HILLEL ITALIE

NEW YORK (AP) — Another Obama relative has a book deal.

A memoir by George Obama, the president's half brother and a resident of Huruma, Kenya, will be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2010. George Obama, 27, shares the same father with his famous, older half sibling, although George and Barack Obama — 20 years apart in age — did not grow up together and did not meet as children.

George is the youngest of the senior Obama's seven children and was born six months before his father died.

Little is known about George Obama. The book, tentatively titled "Homeland" and to be written with author-journalist Damien Lewis, will tell of George Obama's fall into crime and poverty as a teenager and his eventual embrace of community organizing — a passion shared by the president — and of advocacy for the poor, an identification so strong that he chooses to live among them.

"Even had George Obama not been our President's half brother, his story is moving and inspirational," David Rosenthal, Simon & Schuster publisher and executive vice president, said in a statement Sunday. "It is an object lesson in survival, selflessness and courage."

Financial terms were not disclosed, but an official with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal was worth six figures. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the contract, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Other Obama relatives are working on books, including a half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng; and the brother of first lady Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson. Duke University Press is releasing the doctoral dissertation of the president's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995.

Barack Obama has written a pair of million-selling books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams from My Father," in which he describes George Obama as "a handsome, roundheaded boy with a wary gaze."

__________________________________________

Read comments about this story on the Huffington Post including that of a reader who is surprised that George Obama can actually write!

WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, WE BAND OF BROTHERS

2009-06-12T21:03:00.008-04:00

Substitute "Saint Crispin's Day" with "Real Uhuru Day" This speech from Shakespeare's King Henry IV part 2 gives me chills every time I read it.

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Video

THINK SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2009-06-04T09:54:00.005-04:00

"Combining the passion of a social mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and determination" Gregory Dees.

The government cannot and will never have the capacity to address all our problems. It is time we begun looking for ways in which we can address some our challenges without surrendering ourselves to the mercies of politicians or to the charity those who seem to derive a peculiar kind of excitement in parading our miseries.

This is where social entrepreneurship comes in. Social entrepreneurs are business people who first identify a social need and then apply entrepreneurial skills to address it. A traditional business enterprise sees the potential for profit first while a social enterprise sees a social problem first.

Dr. David A. Jordan, an Adjunct Professor at Clark University in Massachusetts and CEO of the Seven Hills Foundation, says that an ideal social entrepreneur is one who combines the compassion of Mother Theresa and the business acumen of Richard Branson.

Kenyans in the Diaspora remitted about 60 billion shillings last year mainly as money sent to assist their struggling families. Chances are 60 billion more will be required next year and the year after, if the few hundred dollars that you send are a “hand out” and not a “hand-up.” In other words, a more productive way of utilizing the 60b is by making sure that the 60b goes to work and bears a few more billions, in the process creating employment and permanently lifting people out of poverty.

Success in social entrepreneurship is measured not just in profits but also by how a program has impacted a society, the ability to bring about social change. One notable case of success is the Grameen Foundation, a microfinance bank which was started by the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof. Muhammad Yunus. Kiva.org has also done some tremendous good especially in terms of extending micro-credit to small scale business people.

Although we can learn from these two organizations, maximum benefits would only follow if we adopted a more “localized” approach. For instance, you could decide that instead of sending “marupurupu” to your people back home, you will band up with a few of your friends and create a pool of capital from which folks back home can borrow money just as long as they present you with a compelling business plan. That way you teach a man how to fish instead of having to provide a lifetime supply of fishes.

MOBILE PHONE DEMOCRACY

2009-05-21T09:46:00.006-04:00

One in three Kenyan adults carry a cellphone. No electronic equipment since the transistor radio has had such a tremendous impact in connecting the people, especially in rural areas where land line infrastructure is yet to reach.

Most of the progressive voices I am familiar with seem to agree that the only way to free ourselves from the clutch of totalitarian politics is by the average mwananchi becoming involved in the political process directly without the intermediation of agenda-driven civic groups or the never reliable opposition. So could the mobile phones be key to tuning in mwanachi to what is going on in his country?

A new search engine launched on January 2008 called ChaCha, might provide some pointers as to how out IT guys can take advantage of the cell phones to empower people with information. ChaCha is a search engine which unlike Google, allows users to text in their questions by dialing a number. The answer is then relayed by a texted response after staffers conduct a quick search on the computers.

Grameen Foundation, the giant micro-finance organization, is experimenting on how mobile phones could be used to help diagnose and treat crops by farmers texting-in symptoms to experts or even snapping and sending pictures of infected crop to the experts who then relay back the diagnosis and treatment through text messages.

This same formula could be used to establish centers where information on say constitutional review process could be made available to the people upon sending a text message query.

THE WEB IMITATING LIFE OR LIFE IMITATING THE WEB?

2009-05-21T06:27:00.007-04:00

The previous article that touched on this subject did not do enough justice to the good bloggers out there who did and still do their best to counteract the massive negativity of the blogosphere. At the prompting of our worthy reader B-caratone, this is an addendum highlighting those shiny moments and corners.

In addition, I will use several quotes from a BBC article written on January 16th, 2008 which sampled a cross section of comments from different Kenyan blogs at the height of P.E.V to demonstrate that some of what you read on the blogs has an uncanny way of assuming real life relevance. Whether by examining those comments were are able to answer the question "does the web imitate life or life imitates the web," one thing we can be sure of is that the web is a mirror through which the world sees us, nay, reads our thoughts.

But of what use is this revisionist take on what was said on such a tumultuous time by some anonymous trolls? Read this comment as reported on the BBC website and tell me that it does not have a bearing on a problem (grave problem) that we are facing in Central Province as we speak:

"what is wrong with Mungiki resurrecting? nothing. They are standing up to fight for the house of Mumbi!!!!" [Mumbi is the mother of the Kikuyu people, according to Kikuyu oral tradition."

The poster apparently supported the so called retaliation attacks which in the real sense were yet more savage attacks on innocent, defenceless people. The irony of looking at those comments in view of what is happening today is not lost on most of you. I suggest you take a look at the article for a wide array of opinions as expressed by Kenyan bloggers during that fateful period (including yours humbly) and as read by the world.

Those who came out and lent a positive voice during that time include Ory Okolloh of kenyanpundit.com who in conjunction with David Kobia of mashada started the Ushahidi initiative, a web "hotline" project which helped inform on suspicious activities to warn people of attacks. Several online petitions were also started calling for peace and such was the tenor of some comments even in blogs which predominantly appeared to fan the inferno.

I hope I am wrong but this goodwill may have to be summoned again. But as I said on a previous post, we now have the luxury of having looked at our horoscope and seen the horrors in store for us. For that reason, the rational voices among us must act preemptively and be on the watch for the red flags if we hope to avert the tragedies of the past.

LEST WE SAY WE WERE NOT WARNED

2009-05-20T10:29:00.001-04:00

I used to be a regular poster at Mashada in the run up to the 2007 elections. One of the things I grappled with then was whether to respond to or altogether ignore the posts which were increasingly becoming vitriolic and inciteful. Mostly, I ignored them supposing that the posters were just cyber lunatics, fringe elements who were underepresented in the actual population. Well, the hell that ensued after the elections led me into a 180 degree turn on how I viewed the hate spewed on the web; it does have an uncanny ability to either mirror or affect things "on the ground." The web does immitate the world or the world does immitates the web; the former being more plausible.

On April 17th 2008, Mary C. Joyce wrote the following on the Harvard Law blog:

"The Kenyan blogosphere has been active since 2003, one of the most active in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are over 400 blogs in the country although the national Internet penetration is less than 10%. From approximately December 25th to January 1st there was a media black-out in Kenya, making the role of blogs all the more critical to the collection and dissemination of information"

She also noted that "technology was also used to encourage hate...A chat room called Mashada was shut down due to pervasive hate speech between Lou and Kikuyu." http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2008/04/

For that reason, one of the things that I am going to commit myself to doing is to kind of monitor, feel the pulse of what is going on in the cyber space and then report back here for our analysis. To be forewarned is to forearmed.

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE GOING WRONG

2009-05-19T19:30:00.001-04:00

As much as I hate to engage in tribal dialectics, the purpose of this post necessitates that I do so; so bear with me.

One of my more eye opening encounters happened early this year when I met a fellow Kikuyu who supported and still fervently supports Raila Odinga and the ODM. I was of the view, having paid close attention to how the ODM had run their campaign, that for a Kikuyu to support ODM it would take a reckless disregard of the most basic of animal survival instincts: self-preservation. How someone can reconcile the need to stay alive with the reason defying act of supporting an entity built around coalesced and amplified hatred against him, is still to some extent beyond me.

Yet this gentleman whom I hold in high regard is still ODM damu. His support for the ODM is rooted in the great disillusionment that blanketed the country after Kibaki's euphoric triumph in 2002 had been turned insipid by the Anglo Leasing and Armenian Brothers scandals and the president's dismal failure to keep the country united by making agreements he never meant to honor without appreciating the national implications of such callousness. I was hit with the ominous realization that Kibaki's performance had been poor enough for people to ignore whatever imperfections his opposition might have had.

While still not being convinced that it would ever make sense for a Kikuyu to empower a guy who had openly referred to them as "adui," it begun to make sense to me why people from other tribes, people removed from the victimization of this hate without being necessarily hateful themselves, would find an appealing candidate in Raila. Essentially, for anyone who had been disappointed with Kibaki's performance, Raila was a very easy choice, an easy enough choice for even people he had on his sights to consider voting for.

The reason why I bring up that story is to encourage people to every once in a while, put themselves in the other person's shoes, to get curious as to what the motivation of the other side might be. Of course being conscious of the opponent's grievances does not necessarily mean giving in to their thinking and neither can we rationalize every cause but we must always be awake to the fact that the one opposing you could be doing it entirely out of good faith.

WOLFRAMALPHA is HERE; SHOULD GOOGLE RUN?

2009-05-18T20:20:00.002-04:00

You may not have heard about it but there is a huge buzz amongst the scientific community, Internet geeks and voyeuristic wanna-be polymaths like myself about the launch of a new search engine, www.wolframalpha.com. Some have hailed it as the coming of the elusive google killer and others (I see some truth in this) as just another one of those "mathy" thingys that only fascinate geeks.

Wolfram is not google and to be fair, does not pretend to be google. In fact, if you search for a geographical entity, say a country, one of your options is to "view satellite photo" which directs you to Google maps. Google maps is owned by Google!

Wolfram will come in handy to people who are out to get hard facts, especially figures, numbers, stats, graphs etc. You can get a real time exchange rate of KES to USD and in addition a graph indicating past trend. The same thing with other searches such as "Kenya GDP" (see graph below)

which gives you not just current figures but also puts them in a historical context. You also have the option of downloading the data as PDF.

A search for the major languages in Kenya brings up not only the number of people who speak those languages and the location of where the languages are spoken, but also the numeral names from one to ten. Maasai returns the following results among other important data:

One thing that you will get on Wolfram and not anywhere else is the distance from your local town (I mean local as in ushago) to the nearest major town. For instance, Nyeri to Othaya or Mandera to Isiolo. In addition you also get a few facts about the areas even though not every little hermit is covered yet since Wolfram is still in development.

To compete with Google, Wolfram will have to move beyond the scientific precincts and embrace the average Joe. So far, the search site, perhaps owing to its technical origin from mathematica, leans more towards being more of a tool for the science and math heads.

THIS IS WHAT SHOULD BE DRIVING US MAD

2009-05-18T10:18:00.002-04:00

How unfortunate is it that one of the most influential blogs on Kenyan politics seems to have settled for cheap, tribal, divisive politics...nay, not politics even, raw, puerile, feudal propaganda. How depressing that the younger, more enlightened generation (I can assume those two qualities because they can at least use the Internet), the Obama-esque change agents lurking in the wait to deliver us from the evil of the "tired old politics" of colonial era politicians, are the ones fanning animosity amongst Kenyans based on ethnicity.

The average proletarian doesn't have any problems with his oppressed counterpart from a different tribe - unless the ones his politician conjures up on his behalf and sends him to war over, while his (the politician's) and other bourgeoisie kids from the "contemptuous" lot drag race on government BMW's after a hard day of work stealing maize from famished granaries.

The real outrage, the blood which the gallant warriors of democracy who burnt women and children cowering in a church should be baying for, is that of their elected and selected leaders whose first order of business was to secure themselves a pay hike, exempt themselves from taxes, all the while remaining vehemently nonchalant on matters which could mean life or death to the average folk. I now hear that it is quite usual for MPs to trade votes for a few mils on the back alleys of parliament.

How is it that in a country whose per capita income is a measly $560/yr (14th poorest country in the world) the legislative members are paid $220,200/yr, over $390 times more than the per capita income while in one of the richest countries in the world, the US, legislative members get $174,000/yr only 4 times over the country's $41,770 per capita income? Isn't this where all the outrage, regardless of tribe, should be directed to?

I have seen US members of congress at the Capitol late at night carrying out house business, sometimes even sleeping in during filibuster motions...so their not so shabby check is oftentimes earned. What about our pot-bellied warlords and thieves? We have turned an institution whose allure should be the need to serve, the readiness to sacrifice for the greater good, into a lucrative haven for the most greedy and unsavory of characters.

It makes sense that during her formative years, the USA did not remunerate her founding fathers but rather only offered a $6.00 sitting allowance. Benjamin Franklin was completely opposed to the idea of compensating public servants. For that reason, when US needed men of honor and sacrifice most, she got exactly that. When Kenya - at this juncture of Armageddon -needs selfless leaders to steer us away from a catastrophe, we get goons who would have been making a comfortable living in the black market had politics not been as financially attractive.

And what are we think of the blogging groupies then, who perhaps don't get a share of the loot but fervently lick the boots of these masters nevertheless? What are we to think of the peasantry blind to this common enemy and instead allows itself to be drawn into a war amongst itself... against its interests?

It is so easy to give up on Kenya.

8 MONTHS FOR A DOUBLE MURDERER!!!!!? WE WERE BETTER OFF 49 YEARS AGO

2009-05-14T12:47:00.001-04:00

Tom Cholmondeley has been sentenced to 8 months in jail for killing Robert Njoya in 2006. In addition to this grotesque travesty of justice, Justice Apondi tells the court that part of the reason why the sentence was so light is because Mr. Cholmondeley is a "first time offender." Well, a first time offender who has killed twice.

All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

49 years ago, a Mzungu named Peter Poole was sentenced to death by a white court for killing an African boy who had thrown a rock at the Mzungu's dog when it came charging at him.

What is a bit curious reading this Time article is that a good number of African leaders, including our hero Tom Mboya, were opposed to the punishment of Mr. Poole. They were essentially pressuring the white court not to hang one of their own, at the behest of the slain boy receiving justice!

_____________

Meanwhile, Philip Ochieng apparently wasn't thrilled that I commented on his column with a slight challenge. He tersely wrote back:

"My job is to advise on English. But if you want to continue in your folly, I cannot force you out of it."

My response:

My folly? My response was full of praise for your column, Mr. Ochieng. I regard you as an informative and honest intellectual.

I refuse to believe that you are not open minded enough to entertain a challenge as benign as the one contained in my response to your previous column.

What will become of us if our intellectuals haul rocks at students in response to questions?

Mr. Ochieng, nothing in my correspondence warranted this kind of a response; I'm afraid.

Wishing you well,

Cicero

TRIBALISM IS NOT THE PROBLEM

2009-05-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

Here is the delayed posting, your thoughts are welcome.

ONE FROM THE "CONTEMPTUOUS KINGDOM" CHIMES IN

2009-05-11T19:34:00.001-04:00

How Can I get atonement for that original sin? How do you rectify a problem if the problem is you? I guess one answer is what happened in Kiambaa, Eldoret early 2008.

There is no end to people's absurdity.

This is the most repulsive retrogressive mindset a person can have.

Following your rationale, you should'nt have a problem with someone associating you with any of the Black stereotypes because it's "really about the contemptuous Black people." An individual wrongdoing indicts a whole population!

What an idiot! http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-is-not-about-uhuru-its-about.html

I DARE THE MIRROR!

2009-05-09T12:57:00.000-04:00

Do I war with nature

Or stop short and tard when Canaan’s yards o’er?

Am I Icarus heaven-bound? Stiff limbs ‘gainst the limber

Pinioned masters, or Brother Wright but wrongly flutt’ring?

What I see of humanity! Just wrecks and wrecks upon shores.

From newly, doomed babes born, to those that failed again before.

Have you seen my children cry, as flies

Licked salt from the corners of their eyes?

Their toad-like bellies poking sickly underneath

Ill –fitting garment once tailored for distant friends?

And where the lights burn bright, daily groping in the dark

Or yelling and cursing on rooftops flagging Noah?

Yet if I built a pyramid that stayed,

And schemes I drafted parted deep sea waters,

While it was just me; a lone star upon a sphere

Lorded by masters pale in comparison,

Wouldn’t you swab me, microscope me and say -

“How? Beautiful mutation birthed by Calibans!”

OCHIENG, I DISAGREE!

2009-05-08T16:18:00.000-04:00

This has nothing to do with politics!

It's a commentary on an article My names? There is no such thing written by my favorite Kenyan thinker; perhaps one of the only few Kenyan public figures whose name can go with "think" without sounding oxymoronic -Philip Ochieng.

Every Friday he writes a caustically witty column in which he gives grammar lessons to Kenyan newspaper writers by pointing out printed cases of incorrect usage of the language and then brilliantly weaving in topical themes to illustrate the "how to's" and the "how not to's."

This week Ochieng wrote about the common mistake of pluralizing one's name. It would be wrong for instance, to say, "my names are Wangu wa Makeri Wahome" if the grouping of those distinct names is what forms "my name." A name could contain more than one name in it; and that I agree with.

But Ochieng goes off track when he equates having a name (which may contain multiple names such as Willy Brother Wangoto) and having "other names"outside a defined grouping.

You could correctly say "my name is Billy Jones" and proceed to name a hundred names contained in that name but incorrectly say "my name is Billy Jones" if Billy is what your other girlfriend calls you and Jones is a nickname you picked because you sound like James Earl Jones. But the reason why we normally wouldn't say "my names are" (unless we work for Kenyan newspapers) is because for people with multiple names, only one is required for a particular context. If your wife or girlfriend knows you by the name Sukaringuru, you would have had a lot of s’plaining to do the day you introduce yourself thus: “my names are Billy Sukaringuru.” I even doubt the whole sentence would come out!

Our duly appointed prime minister could therefore say, "My name is Raila Amollo Odinga" but he cannot say "My name is Raila Odinga, Agwambo, Tinga, Wuod Akinyi, Nyundo, Hummer, Hammer, Tinga." Well, he could but I would know that he is lying.

TRIBALISM IS NOT THE PROBLEM

2009-05-05T17:22:00.000-04:00

WHAT NOT TO EXPECT HERE....

2009-04-27T17:23:00.000-04:00

What I refuse to do is pretend to be a poltical "analyst." A self-styled diviner of the minds of these rogues we call our politicians...I refuse elevate their status by psychoanalyzing their moves and making tired predictions (like our erstwhile blogmates!)as if their actions make sense in the first place!

What I would rather do though, is have an exchange of ideas on where to go from here, we are mad at the politicians, so what?. And I dare not approach this venture as a superior partner but as a person who equally values your input in this epoch matter facing us, namely THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY.

I am not a guru coming with a miracle prescription but an ordinary mwananchi who sees some truth in what Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King said in 1967, "A time comes when silence is betrayal." However, by not being silent I do not mean that we get up and burn buildings and uproot railroads or even just whine and whine on blogs. Gripping and grizzling, as pleasurable and oftentimes lucrative an exercise, will not move a brick. CHANGE will be brought about by honest men and women who will labor in abscurity and perhaps even never make into the margins of history books; not the false prophets who bask in the glamour of ostensibly prepresenting the poor while doing things that keep them poor.

Before Barry was Obama, he was an underpaid Harvard grad slogging in the mire of Southside Chicago.

I mean that we SERIOUSLY CONTEMPLATE ACTION(S) which will move the country forward. For starters, unless people sober up (and by people I mean the populous minus the politicians)...unless we sober up and realize that 2012 (or sooner) could well be the end of the road for Kenya as we know it, then 2012 (or sooner) might just be that; THE END OF THE ROAD FOR KENYA. The reason is simple: When the US was attacked on September 11, 2001, things changed in the way Americans conducted business...you could tell that there was an aggressive effort to say "never again."

Up until this day, you cannot travel through an airport without taking your shoes off (ironically echoing how Muslims enter their sanctuary). Yet 9/11, as tragic as it was in the loss of life, was never an existential threat to the US; the future of US as a country was not even remotely threatened by Al-Qaeda. Yet for Kenya, 2007 December was clearly a moment which we came very close to disintegration, to annihilation as a country. Have we said never again?

What is to stop 2012 from presenting us with an even more cataclysmic conflict? How can politicians fervently crusade for positions in parliament, marshaling up their reliable constituencies into a frenzy of righteous indignation and yet remain blissfully blind to a rapidly approaching precipice? What about us, the people? How can we sit and just hope on the unlikely possibility that we can have the exact same scenario as 2007 in 2012 but be greeted with different results, somehow?

A TIME COMES WHEN SILENCE IS BETRAYAL.

R.I.P

2009-04-27T16:37:00.001-04:00

AFTER THE BREAK........

2009-04-24T08:18:00.000-04:00

I am back after "getting away" to re-energize, to re-group, to re-focus. I appreciate the emails sent to future4kenya@gmail.com with ideas on "what needs to happen in Kenya."

This is about the only place where we go beyond the whining and the victim poseur and ask ourselves "then what?"

In due time, I am going to post what I think is a practical, plausible cause of action which could be taken by the average Kenyan to move the country beyond the terrorism of current politics.

Again, thanks B.C

2009-04-10T12:19:00.000-04:00

WHAT MUST HAPPEN IN KENYA?

In a few weeks, I am going to unveil what I think is a pragmatic plan to bring about change in Kenya and involve the masses in the political process. In the meantime, if you have any ideas on what you think needs to happen in Kenya to move the country forward, please send an email to future4kenya@gmail.com.

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY RIOTS and "NIKO NA BEEF!"

2009-03-31T12:52:00.000-04:00

Stay tuned for a new, light-hearted segment called "niko ba beef"

THIS WEEK....WIKI HII

2009-03-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

Thoughts from last week
Do Kenyans have a responsibility to Kenya?
How can we achieve a "people-to-people" conversation

AND A BRAND NEW SEGMENT!!!!!!!

NIKO NA BEEF#@*&$@$*

THIS REQUIRES A PRIME SPOT...WELL SAID, B-CAROTENE

2009-03-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

It is clear that national debate is framed by politicians and the media, often as they feed their fantasies and frenzies.

The civil society (read the human rights types and others) and wananchi at large are idea-takers--sort of. They come in last, sweating and panting, reacting, with very low probabilities of making meaningful difference.

I generalize somewhat, but my concern lies with the mwananchi and my desire to see wanjiku and others to some extent drive our politics. Indulge my naivete.

Well, some person once said (paraphrased)the "third estate is everything but it currently is nothing, but can be something." I prefer not the path of a violent revolution and believe there are ways in which wananchi can get to directly frame national debate. I prefer not the pathway of the so-called "civil society" as their channels of accountability are frightening, often upwards and outwards to their foreign funders. Their accomplishments in Kenya's recent political history are yet to be objectively documented.

But I do think that there is another path: a people-to-people dialogue and empowerment. One that draws upon the distinct (and somewhat mundane) strengths of the Kenyan people--their local level associational lives. People cooperate in many different ways towards many different purposes (ummm let's exclude vicious crime gangs and witch-burning types) as they solve their problems. It seems to me that anyone interested in shifting the tenor of the debate, sustainably, would have to engage with the very local. Here lies an excessively manipulated, overexploited, underappreciated, self-deprecating fountain of strength.

So there are constraints, but how can this people-to-people thing (for lack of a better name) at the grassroots be organized? That, I believe, is part of our future.

WE ARE NOT ALONE.

2009-03-26T08:41:00.001-04:00

Father Gabriel Dolan wrote to me in regards to the efforts that we are trying to advance here. Fr. Dolan is a long time activist for peace, justice and fairness and most of you may know him from the days of Nyayo when he was imprisoned and tortured for speaking the truth to the powers on behalf of the voiceless. He recently authored a compelling piece on the the Saturday Nation, "What Kenya Needs is a Movement, Not New Elections."

Dear Wahome,

Greetings from Mombasa and sorry for delay in responding to your very wise comments and additions to my column of Saturday last. I have been both challenged and encouraged by the many responses. It clearly struck a chord with many Kenyans including the Diaspora. I am aware of many voices trying to put this movement together and I am hopeful.

I accept that your reservations are genuine concerns and I will include them in the follow up article on April 5th. I believe however that if the poor even give 20shs per month they will feel connected and participating, and will demand accountabiliy. Remember if 5 million gave 20shs per month that is a staggering 100 million. The Diaspora have a key role and I accept that. They should not just be a branch to the movement but perhaps have their own movement that will mobilise and conscienise abroad, something more than KCA.

I will keep in touch, but thanks again for your concern and wise advice and good luck with your foundation,

God Bless,

Gabriel (Dolan)

_____________________________________________________________

Father Dolan's human rights activism in Kenya goes back almost a decade. He locked horns with the powers that be during Moi's time because of his penchant for speaking out. For instance, when an ally of the present agriculture minister Kipruto Kirwa was killed, Father Dolan expressed his candid opinion that Mr Bett had been assassinated. The police issued a warrant for his arrest.

He has won

various awards, including the Kaiser Award from the Law Society of Kenya. Some time back he put together a document on land rights that you can access by clicking here.

Even though he was a thorn in the flesh of the ancien regime, NARC quickly found out that Father Dolan would hold their feet to their fire too. The following is a letter which was published in the Daily Nation on the 29th of February 2004 http://demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com

WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS ON THE FUTURE OF KENYA

2009-03-23T09:54:00.000-04:00

Introduction:

Why a video blog?

What do I intend to achieve?

Can there be a practical relevance really as far as advancing ideas that will move the country forward?

Watch and discuss.

___________________________________________________________________________

By Cyprian Orina Nyamwamu

Today, March 24, 2009 is Impunity Day in Kenya - the Human Rights Defenders Day.

It was the 24th day of March in 1996, when Daniel arap Moi’s State assassinated our dear Karimi Nduthu.

Karimi Nduthu had just finalized an investigative report into the state sponsored ethnic clashes of 1992 and 1993 which targeted targeting ethnic populations of the Gikuyu, Kisii, Luo and Luyha in Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and Coast Provinces. During these two years Kenya witnessed the deaths of over 1,000 Kenyans and the uprooting of nearly half a million Kenyans from their homes- this Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) phenomenon is not new after all! The victims were mainly from ethnic communities were considered sympathizers of the opposition FORD Kenya, FORD Asili and the Democratic Party and therefore were considered Madoa doa (ugly spot or blemishes) in Daniel arap Moi’s so called KANU strong holds of Rift valley and Coast Provinces. read more

AWAITING KIBAKI'S PRESS CONFERENCE ON ACTIVISTS' ASSASSINATION

2009-03-06T10:15:00.000-05:00

So I am beginning a countdown on how long it is going to take President Kibaki to get in front of cameras to explain to the world why two human rights activists have been murdered just days after his "kasuku" accused them of supporting Mungiki.

Much to his credit, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has issued a statement condemning the murders and distancing himself from the previous declaration by the GoK spokesperson. The question is why did it take the loss of two lives for Raila to tell Kenyans that ODM was not in accord with the criminalization of the Oscar Foundation? Read Raila's complete statement here

Now the question some are going to ask themselves is, can the government be that blatant? Can the government be as callow as to kill these two men right after telling the world that they literally had them on their sights? You will have to refer to the recent press conference in which the media was dared by the first lady... in the full glare of the media...to appreciate how those in power believe that they have us on chokehold.

Now what for the grand illusion of a coalition? How can Raila continue to be part of a government which he believes is killing its own citizens? Shouldn't the conscientious thing be for him to resign instead of waiting for something tragic to happen and then saying retrospectively, "no, we were not part of that?"

No press conference from Kibaki yet....still waiting...

KIBAKI HELD HOSTAGE, LUCY'S PUBLIC MELTDOWN!!

2009-03-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

IS YOU KTN?

Here is a video which embodies what is wrong with Kenya. Here is the first family holding a very emotional press conference, here is the first woman breaking down in front of journalists and what is it over? The debilitating food shortage? The shaky coalition? Persecution of Post Election criminals?

Nuh, it is about Mr. President's extra wife or the lack of one.

Clearly you can tell Kibaki did not want to do this press conference. He was bamboozled by the real president, a person I cannot bring myself to addressing as a "lady," since she is the antithesis of one; a one Lucy Kibaki.

This here, is real comedy. This is stuff that producers of reality TV shows pay millions for!!!! ENJOY

2012...WHICH WAY?

2009-01-22T18:49:00.001-05:00

Is there going to be an Obama Revolution in Kenya?

What is an Obama Revolution in the first place?

It is clear from reading commentaries in newspapers and exchanges in various Kenyan blogs that Kenyans recognize that something needs to change in the way the country is being run. There is a clear voice of dissatisfaction uniformly emanating from a wide section of Kenyans that uniquely cuts through the old tribal and political alliances.

Three things have made this awakening possible:

1. everyone is in government: when you co-opt the opposition into the ruling establishment, you stop them from whining and criticizing where and when they normally would have. This has left the people as the lone voice capable of dissenting when and where necessary.

2. the rogue parliament: those who killed their neighbors to get their leaders in power now understand that all politicians are the same and they are only out to look after their interests. The Media Bill debacle has further given Kenyans a glimpse into the psyches of men and women whom they pay $15,000 a month to ostensibly represent them.

3. Barack H. Obama: Kenyans have seen that an election could be about issues. They have also witnessed the power of the people and the power of confronting old prejudices. Obama's effect will probably be more manifest among the young generation whose tribal allegiances are perhaps not beyond reversal.

Yet it is not enough for us to just know that we need change. We must also ask ourselves what we want for change. There are myriads of challenges staring at us and they have to be confronted but even before we begin, we first need to have a country, a united front where we truly are "in one accord." Nothing will move forward as long as we remain a disunited, patchwork of tribal chiefdoms that view each other with utmost distrust.

Now there is our task; we need a leader who will have the capacity to speak and be thought by the 42 tribes to be speaking for them. I know I am asking for something akin to a miracle, but that is why people need LEADERS and it is times like these that CRY FOR SUCH LEADERS. Someone with the interest of the country at heart and knows that regardless of the alliances needed to win elections, no part of the country is less Kenyan than the other.

President Obama has seen the need to unite America in order to deal with the economic crisis facing the country. He has actively sought that unity by making bipartisan appointments and preaching unity at every opportunity. America isn't nearly as badly divided as we are and neither do they face nearly as many problems as we do...then what makes us think that we can do anything without first uniting?

Immigrants Rights and Social Justice

2009-01-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

I gave a speech titled "Telling our Story," the day after President Obama's inauguration at the Worcester City Hall. Below is the video followed by the full text.

TELLING OUR STORY

I was born and raised in a country called Kenya. A country known for producing excellent long distance runners and very recently, a country proud to have provided genetic material for the new US president. Yesterday, the first black president was inaugurated. The day before, we honored a man who marched to make that dream possible.

A poet from Brooklyn summed up the historical journey of the black civil rights movement by saying quote, “Rosa Parks sat so that Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so that Barack Obama could run. And Barack Obama ran, so that our children could fly. I don’t know if Barack Obama, by virtue of having Kenyan blood in him, had any other choice but to run. But I know this, I know that I want my 6 months old daughter to one day fly.

America has undoubtedly made strides towards ensuring racial equality and civil rights for all her citizens. But speaking to you as an immigrant from an African country, I can tell you that much more remains to be done in order to make America see the need to treat immigrant workers with respect and dignity.

Those of us who labor day and day out, night in and night out, taking care of their sick and elderly in nursing homes, in fast food restaurant and convenient stores, in factories, in vegetable and fruit farms in Santa Maria Valley in California…we have had enough of negative rhetoric about immigrants stealing American jobs, crowding hospitals and schools, increasing crime rates in cities, bringing strange diseases to the shores of America….we have had enough of those xenophobic lies from the Oreillys and Lou Dobbs of America…

Now it is time for us to tell our story. It is time for us to tell them how immigration has always been part of the American fabric. How immigration benefits the economy. It is time for us to tell them as Professor Alan Krueger, a professor of economics at Princeton University found out that there is no evidence from past immigration patters to suggest that immigrants take jobs away from.

Let the people know that unlike what they hear on FOX NEWS and talk radios, immigrants do not lower the wages of American born workers but rather, as shown by a study done in 2005 by the National Bureau of Economic Research, immigrants actually raised the average wage of the American worker by 1.1% during the 1990s.

Speak up be heard. Tell them that no human being is illegal. Tell them we do not come here so that we can take advantage of free government services, tell them a woman does not risk her life crossing the Rio Grande or the desert of Arizona hoping for a piece of free government cheese..

If we wanted a piece of anything, it would be a piece of the American dream. Tell them we do not come here for free stuff, we come here to work. In fact the so called illegal immigrants are the only people who pay taxes in but never collect their benefits later. About $600 billion dollars (enough to bail out a few banks) $600 billion dollars of unclaimed benefits are being held by the Social Security Administration in what they call the Earning Suspense File.

If we were to ask for anything, in exchange for the $600 billion dollars, aside from the silence of Hannity, Lou Dobbs and O’Reilly, it would be for the hard working, descent immigrant to be treated with dignity and respect and for America to acknowledge the crucial role he played by the immigrant in propping up the economy and in the enriching the culture.

The problem is not people refusing to “wait in line” for their turn to be welcomed in America. The problem is that there is no line. The problem is not how many people are coming to America today. The problem is who is coming to America today. For instance by 1920, nearly 72% of all Worcester residents were either foreign born or had foreign parents. 72%. What about today? Only 14.5% of the population of Worcester is foreign born.

Yet the anti-immigration noise has never been louder. That is why we must insist on being heard. We must insist on the truth about who we are and why we are here. We must insist on letting America know the value of not just immigrant labor but also the diversity of cultures in an increasingly global world. There cannot be a global economy without free movement of labor. The debate thus far has been one sided. Our voice has not been heard. We must insist on telling our story.

New Look, New Mission....Video Blogging

2008-12-28T16:44:00.001-05:00

In the month of December, 2007, Kenya changed forever. It is upon us to now chart the course which will determine whether that change was for good or worse.

This blog aims to encourage earnest and honest debate on the future of our country, much the same way as Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlets did for America and her quest for independence from Britain 230 years ago.

We have committed a fatal mistake of surrendering our fate to the whims of politicians, a few politicians at that. We are so much at their mercy such that they decide when we should hack our neighbors to death, rape their daughters or make-up, hug and sing Kumbaya.

To guard against the loose talk

It is time to take our country back.

New Look, New Mission....Video Blogging

2008-12-28T16:44:00.000-05:00

In the month of December, 2007, Kenya changed forever. It is upon us to now chart the course which will determine whether that change was for good or worse.

This blog aims to encourage earnest and honest debate on the future of our country, much the same way as Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlets did for America and her quest for independence from Britain 230 years ago.

We have committed a fatal mistake of surrendering our fate to the whims of politicians, a few politicians at that. We are so much at their mercy that they decide when we should hack our neighbors, rape their daughters or make-up, hug and sing Kumbaya.

To guard against the loose talk that happens behind cyber anonymity, I have decided to be supplementing my posts with a video blog, which I believe is also more intimate of a medium to get my message through. You can respond to the video messages either on this blog or on youtube or in both places.

It is time to take our country back.

NOW, WHICH DIRECTION WILL AMERICA TAKE?

2008-08-29T11:43:00.001-04:00

- McCain Picks Sarah Palin, a one term governor from Alaska for VP. Does this take the Obama's inexperience off the table? Is the choice of a female candidate going to attract Hillary's disaffected democrats? Is it going to energize the GOP's conservative base given her strong conservative credentials?

-How about Obama's acceptance speech?

THE SWIFT BOATING OF OBAMA

2008-08-12T21:32:00.000-04:00

Book links Obama to the January 2008 church killings in Eldoret, Kenya.

There is cause to worry if you are an Obama supporter. The number one book on the New York Times bestseller list, Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, is a vicious attack that paints Obama as a man too dangerous even for the dungeons of Guantanamo Bay. But that is not all that is worrying me - heck, Fox News and talk radio while their days away mongering fear on "Hussein Obama". My major source of concern is the fact that the author, Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, is the person widely believed to have won the 2004 elections for George Bush when the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" ads, prompted by his book Unfit for Command, rubbished beyond repair John Kerry's patriotism and military service.

Like the book on Kerry, Obama Nation, is packed with blatant lies; albeit poorly masked behind 700 footnotes which the author hopes readers would not bother to verify. Corsi attempts to paint Obama as a dangerous leftist ideologue unfit for the presidency due to his "radical connections". My Kenyan background and thus familiarity with Kenyan politics, enables me to point out some obvious lies in the book that appertain one of the "radical connections", a Kenyan politician known as Raila Odinga. With verifiable facts, I am going to debunk Corsi's claim that Obama supports Raila Odinga, a "communist Kenyan politician responsible for the murder of hundreds of Kenyans and a supporter of Islamic terrorists".

The lie about Raila Odinga's association with Obama is two fold: that Raila is a communist, responsible for the deaths of Kenyans and a supporter of radical Islam and secondly that Raila Odinga is such a close Obama associate as to warrant concern were the things Corsi alleges about him true. Thus Corsi writes:

I have pursued Obama’s extensive and continuing connections with Kenya, the homeland of his father, where Obama has continued to involve himself personally in advancing the goals of Raila Odinga, the radical socialist presidential contender who comes from Obama’s home tribe

I am not a fan of Raila Odinga, neither do I know what ideology he professes. What I know is that he is currently the Prime Minister of Kenya, a solidly capitalistic state. I also know that he partly owes his ascension to that position to none other than the United States of America. Under the direct intervention of George W. Bush, the Kenyan constitution was altered this year to specifically create the post of Prime Minister for Mr. Odinga who had rejected the outcome of the elections.

Kenyans voted on December 2007 in the most contested election in the country's history. Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, won by a narrow margin contrary to what opinion polls were showing in the run up to the election. The country erupted in violence. There were two forms of violence: on one hand there was a group from Raila's Luo tribe who felt that they had been denied their democratic right through a fraudulent election. This group mainly demonstrated by marching on the streets. Despite there being numerous running battles with the police and property damage in the process, there was hardly any violence against civilians.

Then there was another group; mainly men from the Kalenjin tribe who supported Odinga for presidency and resented the fact that he had lost but their anger seemed not to be a protest against the perceived injustice of rigged elections but rather a barbaric attack on members of the Kikuyu community who lived among them - with or without Odinga's presidency. It therefore strikes me as recklessly disingenuous and utterly insensitive to the pain Kenyans suffered, when Corsi attempts to link Obama to the infamous massacre in Eldoret where 40 women and children were burnt to death as they sought refuge during the election violence. In an interview on Hannity and Colmes, he says:

These Christians and elders in a little village, 50 Christians came into this church and refuge. The Lou (sic) mob, and that's — Odinga is a Lou (sic) tribesman, Obama is a Lou tribesman in Kenya. They burned the church down and killed the people.

full transcript here

As I mentioned earlier, the church was burned by Kalenjins...not Luos. I should know, I am a Kenyan. The Kalenjins were trying to evict Kikuyus from Rift Valley province as a result of a long standing land feud. Eldoret is in the heart of Rift Valley. Eldoret is Rift Valley's chief town. But regardless of who killed who in Kenya, I would sure hope that Americans (and anyone else who is not Corsi) knows that Obama is not a Luo but an American born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas.

If we believe that Raila Odinga is all these bad things, and for that Obama should be considered "unfit" for presidency because of his association with Odinga, should we not also question the legitimacy of President Bush who has a public and substantive relationship with Mr. Odinga? Earlier this year when Mwai Kibaki appeared to be adamant about refusing to share power with Mr. Odinga, president Bush took it upon himself to send Condoleezza Rice on an errand whose purpose was to make "leaders hear from her first hand that the United States desires to see that there be no violence and that there be a power sharing agreement that will help this nation resolve its difficulties" Telegraph

So if...
-Bush supports Odinga.
-Odinga is a communist, terrorist supporter
-Bush endorsed McCain
-Shouldn't it then follow, Dr. Corsi,
that..

McCain too is "unfit" for presidency due to his radical association? So when is that McCain book coming out?

As far as Raila's terrorist sympathies and a Memorandum of Understanding that he signed with radical Kenyan Muslims as the book purports, promising to among others, introduce sharia laws to the constitution, that particular document was proved to be a fake last year. Like Corsi's book, it was a dirty campaign tactic targeting Mr. Odinga. The memo signed between Odinga and the Muslim community in Kenya contained campaign promises that were benign and very public. You can read the actual memo here.

Obama has never publicly expressed support for Mr. Odinga. In fact during his last visit in America in the month of June, Odinga tried unsuccessfully to secure a meeting with the senator while he received a warm welcome at the State Department by Miss Rice. Despite this being a public event that was widely reported in the news, somehow Corsi missed it. Instead, he chose to preoccupy his readers with lies about Obama's "daily phone contacts with Odinga."

What about a McCain supporter who only a few months ago offered to help Raila Odinga's campaign for free!!? Dick Morris, who also has an Obama bashing book called fleeced, traveled to Kenya towards the end of 2007 and volunteered his services as a campaign strategist - pro bono! Here is the video...

Dick Morris and Raila.

MAZRUI WRONG IN COMPARING OBAMA TO MANDELA

2008-07-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

On his commentary that appeared on Sunday Nation on July 20th titled, “Cut From the Same Cloth? Mandela, Obama and the Dawn of a New Era.” Professor Ali Mazrui articulately traced the metamorphosis of Nelson Mandela from a radical leader of armed resistance into a “conciliatory” statesman of global reputation. However, he goes completely astray when he attempts to compare Mandela with US democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Professor Mazrui argues that both Mandela and Obama are “cut from the same cloth” in the sense of “their embodying a short memory of racial hate, and their impressive readiness to forgive historic intolerance.” Whereas this statement is true of Nelson Mandela owing to his long incarceration and his subsequent grudgeless treatment of that past, Mazrui fails to show any racial injustices that may have been directed towards Barack Obama.

Of course an argument could be made that Mazrui invokes “racial hate” in the case of Obama to collectively refer to the years of oppression that African Americans had to endure, as opposed Obama’s individual grievances. But it falls apart under Mazrui’s own assertion that “Obama’s tolerant multiculturalism may be due to personal factors” such as his lack of a direct ancestral link to those who bore the blunt of the most extreme forms of racism in America.

Obama cannot therefore be seen as an ex-Black Panther who suddenly develops a soft spot for white America as Mandela is an ex Umkhonto we Sizwe firebrand turned preacher of racial tolerance. Furthermore, it is an open secret that Obama’s “blackness” is suspect among some in the African American community as can be seen by his initial poor performance in opinion polls among blacks and the recent, not-so-Freudian slip from Jesse Jackson.

Obama is still young and may well prove in later years to be of the same mold as Madiba. However, he presently seems to be doing nothing more than what a clever Black American politician needs to do in order to win an election. Not even Obama’s denunciation of Reverend Jeremiah White proves, as Mazrui seems to believe, Obama’s “post-racial tolerance”. Obama would not have bothered to give that impressive speech in Philadelphia about race relations in America had it not been for the revelation of Reverend Wright’s controversial sermons. Surely had this “divorce” been based solely on principle, it would have occurred earlier than 21 years down the line,no?

5 QUESTIONS KIMUNYA MUST ANSWER IMMEDIATELY

2008-06-30T19:13:00.000-04:00

This is now getting ridiculous. The secretiveness being exhibited by the government reminds me of the repulsive Armenian Saga which to date, the government has not bothered to explain to Kenyans. It is therefore not unreasonable for a prudent person to act with exceptional cynicism in regards to the Grand Regency debacle. We know from experience how the public can be taken for a ride but this time the vigilance of the governed will not let things be swept under the rag so soon or at least...so easily.

Several things need to be established independently right away.

1. What is the current appraised value of the hotel? It would help if at least 3 separate assessments were made.

2. How was the bidding process conducted and aside from the Libyans, who else put an offer and for how much?

3. If indeed the building appraised at 7B several years ago as Mr. Kilonzo alleged, what explanation could be there for it fetching only 2.9B? If for some reason its value depreciated, wouldn't it have made more sense to hold on to it as a source of revenue or to sell at a such a time when the market would be favorable, rather than getting rid of it at a seemingly throw away price?

4. With the new claims from Mr. Orengo that the sales price was 1.85B and not 2.9 as earlier thought and stated by Kimunya, can all the documents related the transaction be made public so as to clear up this matter?

5. How could the seller and the buyer be represented by the same attorneys? Isn't there an obvious conflict of interest here? Such things do not happen even on a small scale real estate transaction! Usually, there is a buyers attorney and a sellers attorney since the interest of the two are usually almost diametrically opposed. They buyer wants to get the property at the lowest price and the seller wants to fetch the most from it.

THEY ARE NOW QUESTIONING OBAMA'S CITIZENSHIP

2008-06-11T19:36:00.000-04:00

Updated 06/11/2008 at 10:53pm

Since Obama's campaign says they won't release his birth certificate, the rumor mill has gone berserk with wild speculations over "what Obama could be hiding". A Chicago news commentator even goes as far as suggesting that Obama does not want his birth certificate seen because he is actually a Kenyan citizen, a disqualifier for becoming a US president. I even heard a radio show host speculate that Obama's mother might not have known or wanted to reveal Obama's real father and to keep that fact from the world, Obama is refusing to share his birth certificate.

Other petty insinuations range from his middle name actually being Mohamed (like anybody is going to care) to his first name being Barry and n0t Barack.

The latest word from my sources as I write this, is that Obama might actually release his birth certificate tomorrow.
Read what Michelle Malkin says.
and the National Review Online

What do you think, should Barack Obama release his birth certificate just to ward off these rumors?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN
Executive editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

ATTENTION: ASSIGNMENT/DAYBOOK EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF BLOCKBUSTER CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE DISCLOSING THAT UNDER KENYAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, BARACK OBAMA IS A KENYAN CITIZEN:

(CHICAGO)(February 8, 2007) Chicago-based Internet journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin will hold a news conference Friday, February 9th at 11:00 A.M. to announce that U. S. Senator Barack Obama is a citizen of Kenya and became a citizen of Kenya under the Independence Constitution of Kenya in 1963. Obama has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. He is also a U. S. Citizen.

“For our ‘Obama Week’ leading up to Barry O’s announcement on Saturday that he feels qualified to lead the free world, ContrarianCommentary.com unleashed a worldwide team of constitutional law experts to delve into Kenyan law and the question of Obama’s citizenship. They were also participating in our CIA-style psychological profile of Obama that will be released Saturday in Chicago. And what we discovered was amazing, a political blockbuster,” says Executive Editor Andy Martin.

“Under the Independence Constitution of Kenya, Obama became a Kenyan citizen on December 12, 1963. He has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. On his senate web site, Obama tap dances around his own dual nationality when discussing his father. Obama obviously knows, because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

“Once again, we find Barry O concealing fascinating information about his identity. There is nothing unusual about dual nationality. Indeed, ancient Roman Law doctrines of jus sanguini and jus soli come into play, because both Kenya and the U. S. recognize dual nationality. Once again, the issue is not ‘legality.’ The issue is the cover-up; Obama’s concealment of his own identity. From us, and most of all from himself.

“I find it amusing that Channel 2 in Chicago is (Thursday night) running a series on ‘Do we know the real Barack Obama?’ when they don’t really know, because 2’s news is produced by the same old hacks that take spoon-feeding from Obama & Co.

“Friday we will blow Obama out of the water with disclosure of his lifelong deceit and concealment. Obama’s attempts to portray his father as an ignorant ‘goat herd,’ moreover, were part of his attempts at ‘identity theft’ against his own father, designed to create an imaginary picture of Barack Sr. It is inconceivable that Obama’s father was ignorant of Kenyan law, since he served as a government official and held a Ph.D. from Harvard. And it is inconceivable that Obama Sr. never told his son that he was a Kenyan national. Why has ‘junior’ hidden this information for decades?” Martin will demand Friday.

“The American people, when deciding who to support for president, have a right to know if their ‘president’ is also a citizen of Kenya and owes dual loyalty to Kenya because he has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship.

“Further, I defy Obama or any of his flacks to defeat or deny the historical constitutional facts on which our blockbuster disclosures are based. We have nailed Barry O with his own hidden truths once again.”

NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Internet journalist/editor Andy Martin

WHERE: Southeast corner of Wabash and Huron Streets,
Chicago, (St. James Cathedral)

WHEN: Friday, February 9, 2007 11:00 A.M.

WHAT: Andy Martin will announce that under Kenyan law Barack
Obama is a citizen of Kenya and has never renounced
his Kenyan citizenship

MEDIA
CONTACT: (312) 440-4124

WEBSITE: ContrarianCommentary.com

E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com

WHEN OBAMA FIRST MADE HEADLINES

2008-06-06T12:46:00.000-04:00

I dug up this old New York Times article that was written after a 28 year old Obama made history...yes he was making history even back then, by becoming the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT of the Harvard Law Review.

I am aware that some radio talk show hosts are already terming Obama as the "first affirmative action" president implying as Geraldine Ferraro said, that Obama is only where is because of his skin pigmentation. How do they explain that 18 years ago he made history based purely on his intellectual merits?

It is telling how the young Obama is not keen on following the more lucrative path to Supreme Court clerkship and private practice but rather wishes to go back to Chicago Southside to work with the poor.

Complete article below...

First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review

By FOX BUTTERFIELD, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES

LEAD: The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.

The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.

The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

''The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress,'' Mr. Obama said today in an interview. ''It's encouraging.

''But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent who don't get a chance,'' he said, alluding to poverty or growing up in a drug environment.

What a Law Review Does

Law reviews, which are edited by students, play a double role at law schools, providing a chance for students to improve their legal research and writing, and at the same time offering judges and scholars a forum for new legal arguments. The Harvard Law Review is generally considered the most widely cited of the student law reviews.

On his goals in his new post, Mr. Obama said: ''I personally am interested in pushing a strong minority perspective. I'm fairly opinionated about this. But as president of the law review, I have a limited role as only first among equals.''

Therefore, Mr. Obama said, he would concentrate on making the review a ''forum for debate,'' bringing in new writers and pushing for livelier, more accessible writing.

A President's Future

The president of the law review usually goes on to serve as a clerk for a judge on the Federal Court of Appeals for a year, and then as a clerk for an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Mr. Obama said he planned to spend two or three years in private law practice and then return to Chicago to re-enter community work, either in politics or in local organizing.

Professors and students at the law school reacted cautiously to Mr. Obama's selection. ''For better or for worse, people will view it as historically significant,'' said Prof. Randall Kennedy, who teaches contracts and race relations law. ''But I hope it won't overwhelm this individual student's achievement.''

Change in Selection System

Mr. Obama was elected after a meeting of the review's 80 editors that convened Sunday and lasted until early this morning, a participant said.

Until the 1970's the editors were picked on the basis of grades, and the president of the Law Review was the student with the highest academic rank. Among these were Elliot L. Richardson, the former Attorney General, and Irwin Griswold, a dean of the Harvard Law School and Solicitor General under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.

That system came under attack in the 1970's and was replaced by a program in which about half the editors are chosen for their grades and the other half are chosen by fellow students after a special writing competition. The new system, disputed when it began, was meant to help insure that minority students became editors of The Law Review.

Harvard, like a number of other top law schools, no longer ranks its law students for any purpose including a guide to recruiters.

Blacks at Harvard: New High

Black enrollment at Harvard Law School, after a dip in the mid-1980's, has reached a record high this year, said Joyce Curll, the director of admissions. Of the 1,620 students in the three-year school, 12.5 percent this year are blacks, she said, and 14 percent of the first-year class are black. Nationwide enrollment by blacks in undergraduate colleges has dropped in recent years.

Mr. Obama succeeds Peter Yu, a first-generation Chinese-American, as president of The Law Review. After graduation, Mr. Yu plans to serve as a clerk for Chief Judge Patricia Wald on the of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Yu said Mr. Obama's election ''was a choice on the merits, but others may read something into it.''

The first female editor of The Harvard Law Review was Susan Estrich, in 1977, who recently resigned as a professor at Harvard Law School to take a similar post at the University of Southern California. Ms. Estrich was campaign manager for Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts in his campaign for the Presidency in 1988.

Correction: February 7, 1990, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about the election of Barack Obama as president of the Harvard Law Review misidentified the United States court on which Patricia M. Wald is Chief Judge. It is the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, not for the Federal Circuit.

REALLY REALLY UGLY DAYS AHEAD FOR OBAMA

2008-06-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

The race card was flung around numerous times during the democratic primaries battering Obama to a point where his erstwhile white supporters started shifting their loyalties to Clinton. Towards the end of the primaries, the Clintons had almost succeeded in painting Obama as a "black" candidate; it would be hard to imagine an Obama win if the elections were held all over again "knowing what we know now" about him. Such is the talk on the conservative media.

But what do we, or rather what do "they" know about Obama?

Shocking news are doing rounds in republican circles about a tape recording of Michelle Obama at Trinity Church (same church where Rev Wright delivered his sermons) in which Mrs. Obama is rumored to be going on an "anti-white" rant even derogatorily referring to them as "whitey". Larry Johnson of No Quarter writes:

Someone took the chance and started reviewing the recordings from services at Jeremiah Wright’s United Church of Christ. Holy smoke!! I am told there is a clip that is being held for the fall to drop at the appropriate time.

You can read about what Republicans are saying about the rumor here. It is being said that the tape will be held until the "right moment in fall" when its release would definitely hurt Obama's chances at the White House beyond redemption.

Now, whether the tape really does exist or not, this rumor gives us a snippet of what is to come in this campaign. Whereas McCain might want to present himself as a clean player, there is going to be surrogates out there that will without a doubt try to rip Obama to shreds. My only hope is that the DNC is prepared for the inevitable onslaught.

OBAMA AND KENYANS: SPERM SUPREMACY WAR?

2008-06-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

To what extent should Kenyans celebrate the history making nomination of Obama for the Democratic Party ticket?

Perhaps not surprisingly, there is already an ongoing war between "Luos" and "Kikuyus" in cyberspace (in quotes because I do not mean them to represent the whole) on whether Obama's success should be seen as a triumph of a "son of a Lake" or if Obama's connection to Kenya is only as a result of him having been a sperm beneficiary from Obama Sr. and as such no champaign should be popped in Kisumu.

A few months ago, this speculative post appeared on mashada.com:

Over the past weekend, some of Clinton's biggest fund-raisers gave her checks, including the one from Friends of PNU in Atlanta, who kicked in the maximum allowable contribution, $2,300, on March 3 after attending an event organized by Clinton's campaign, wanjuguna.blogspot reported this month. An associate of one of the reps of PNU Atlanta Mr Njuguna chipped in $1,000 on the same day.
For a full list of Kikuyu donors from Atlanta go to HillaryClinton.com - Online Headquarters - Georgia/kikuyu donors

Any sane person could not help but wonder if ethnic animosities between Luos and Kikuyus had gone to the extent of Kikuyus throwing their weight behind Clinton just so that she could defeat a guy who was fathered by a Luo; his outstanding oratory skills and ability to inspire millions not withstanding. Upon probing however, this post turned out to be mere hot air bent on fueling the anger between these two groups.

In other words, unbeknownst to him, Obama is a pawn in the war of tribe between Luos and Kikuyus. Some Luos are using this instance of Obama's success to gloat over "one of their many accomplishment" and those who see Luos as natural braggarts are ridiculing the "tenuous association" that Obama has with Kenya, a mere product of a "sperm transfer". An anonymous poster on kumekucha.blogspot.com says:

Obama, bless his soul, is NOT a Jaluo. Even just his behavior rights off that stupid claim. Biology is overrated, even goats have sperm.

In response follows varied responses hitting at "Mt. Kenya tribe" with one poster wondering why "no single Agikuyu seed" has sired a person of such importance as Obama! We are now down to a contest of sperm supremacy!

Obama clearly has adoration for his paternal roots. Back in 1992 when (whether he had presidential ambitions or not it did not matter because no one was paying attention to him) he paid a visit to his rural Siaya ancestral home a trip which he recounts in his book Dreams of My Father. It would have been been easier for Obama not to make that trip to Kenya after his father died. It would have been easier for this high rising Harvard Law grad to all together forget that he ever had a Kenyan father. It would have been much easier for him to change his name from Obama to a "Mc somebody" especially for political expediency where we all know how much punch in packed in a name...what with these recent "Osama" tongue "slips"!

In fact, the fact that this gentleman has chosen to embrace his humble roots and show his narrative as an exemplifier of the American dream, tells us a lot about his values and principles. When he decided to seek out the world of his father, he was aware that no inheritance was tucked away for him somewhere on the shores of Lake Victoria. He did it because he knows that knowing his fatherland was knowing a part of him. He did it because he was going to pursue the "dreams of his father", the dreams that the 23 year old Barack Senior must have had when he landed at JFK on September 1959.

So the people of the Village in Alego where Obama's father hailed should rejoice, they have reasons to, Obama would like them to. All of Nyanza should celebrate, Obama is, if not one of them, one of their's. Kenya, Africa and the entire world that values progressive leadership should join in the celebration.

We however do a lot of injustice to Mr. Obama when we reduce him down to a level of a pawn in our tribe wars.

GO OBAMA!

FIGHTING TRIBALISM: BEYOND ODM, BEYOND PNU

2008-01-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

I am not denying that there is an underlying and urgent need for the settlement of the election 07 fiasco.

I am not denying that it is imperative that a solution to the deadlock be found to ensure lasting peace and stability in Kenya.

However, we can put that aside for a moment, shed off the ODM or PNU tags and talk about the KENYA beyond our generation.

One thing that is juttingly clear is that we have a problem of tribalism in Kenya. I would argue that tribalism is the biggest challenge to ever face our generation...up there with AIDS.

The sad thing is that we have all buried our faces in the sand and wished it away. If we start by acknowledging that this is a problem then we would have begun fixing it.

We need a national program designed to foster unity among all Kenyans. The government should consider funding inter-province exchange programs so as to expose kids at an early age to other cultures and people within Kenya.

Young people, and that includes anyone reading this, should form a lobby that identifies leaders that fuel tribalism, censure them and work to get them elected out of office. Likewise we should recognize and support leaders who are progressive and work for the unity of the Kenyan people.

We all have a part to play in this. Kenya must live beyond us. The Kenyan Nelson Mandela is going to be that person who speaks to all the Kenyan tribes and they believe him to be speaking for them and from the heart.