My Questions for Wiki Leaks

I have been holding my breath to see if there is anything sensational to come out of Wiki Leaks about Kenya in the past one week but I have seen nothing ‘earth shaking’, except to state a well known fact that Kenya is indeed a swamp of corruption and that we facilitated exportation of military ware to South Sudan, in contravention of a peace accord we helped create. On the Tuesday Daily Nation, columnist Macharia Gaitho wrote what he thinks the American Ambassador here should have written to Obama, ending with the hope that he should be allowed to run for president of Kenya as he does not think highly of the three top men in Kenya.

However on a more sillier note (naturally), I would have hoped for Wiki Leaks to at least shed some light on the following 5 key issues:


Hoping Assange can help answer my five concerns


1. Is the American government (in cahoots with key Kenyan politicians) behind the mushrooming of FM radio stations and Mexican Soap Operas, two institutions that have done more to promote stupidity among the general population than schools have managed to, the aim of which is to keep the entire population focused on triviality and consumption thus being unable to realize that they are being bled dry by politicians and big business

2. Does the American Government think William Ruto and Alfred Mutua were born stupid or it is something they have had to work hard to achieve? Is Alfred Mutua a US spy planted by the American Government to make Kenyans generally look stupid so that no one takes us seriously?

3. Was the production of Tusker Project Fame Season 4 (music talent program modeled along the lines on American Idols) an attempt by the sponsors (East African Breweries) to kill of East African talent once and for all by making everyone so disillusioned that we all give up on talent and resort to drinking thus driving sales up for the beer maker?

4. Did the Obama administration help pass the law that states that Kenyan journalists and news reporters must lack critical awareness, have low standards of education and undergo lobotomy so at to make watching news rival watching the World Snail Athletics Championships?

5. Is Justin Bieber an American Government project to gain mind control of the world?

For now I will seat by my computer,waiting to see if the incoming set of cables will answer these concerns.

Image from google images. If you are the copyright owner of the photo and want it removed, let me know

From Kakuma to Lodwar

Last week I traveled by road from Kakuma to Lodwar in Turkana. Here are some pictures of whatever I saw on the road. Not a professional camera and in a moving car so don't mind the quality.



This is the Kakuma airstrip. Mostly used by UNHCR flights ferrying aid workers working at the refugee camp.



IOM flights carry refugees to Nairobi either for medical attention or resettlement cases destined for Europe, the US or Australia.



The road to Lodwar





Nice scenery!



Into the hills





Getting into Lodwar









Lodwar Airport! Finally...

Kikuyunizing Our Failures and Successess

Blame it on the Kikuyus. Going round the country discussing the root causes of the post election violence, nearly everybody except the Kikuyus, seem to think that the Kikuyus are the problem in this country. Of course this is rather disturbing to anybody who might have a clear grasp of what the genesis and nature of our problems are. Here are a few charges I have heard labeled against the Kikuyu:
1. The Kikuyus think that they are the ones born to lead. In some of the workshops I have attended, people are quick to point out that Kikuyus think they are born to lead and use the fact that Kikuyus have never voted en mass for a presidential candidate from another community since the advent of competitive multi party politics in the early 90s.
2. None Kikuyus cannot own land or successful businesses in Central province. Kikuyus have refuted this claim but I still wait for tangible examples.
3. Kikuyus "ate" during Kenyatta's regime, specifically benefiting from the former 'white highlands' and have also benefited from Kibaki's era. It is worth noting that nobody explains exactly how they have benefited from Kibaki's time. The yardstick for this is that a lot of senior government jobs were given to the Kikuyus but exactly how does that benefit the Kikuyus as a community?

These are just but some of the accusations that I hear left right and center but the main sticking point, especially in the Rift Valley, Western Province and Coast is the issue of land. on the other hand, I have also heard Kikuyus explain how they are the engine of this country, producing most of the food that we eat and generally propelling the economy. When Kikuyu leaders have been in charge of the country, the economic performance has been generally good, compared to the Moi era. My point here is not to vilify or praise the Kikuyus but my concern is that if this sweeping anti-Kikuyu sentiment (especially upcountry-- it is not so noticeable in the cities) continues to grow, we might be looking at a time when people will be determined to cleanse out the Kikuyus. Could this be leading to the making of an atmosphere conducive to genocide? In Mumias for example, we heard sentiments that "this time we shall not wait for the elections to get rid of the Kukuyus"...meanwhile I am aware that there was a ministry created to promote national cohesion. I wonder who the minister is. If we are to address the real mabadiliko in this country, we need to start confronting these issues.

Regaining Trust: Our Challenge

Recently I went through the Rift Valley attending several workshops on peace-building among the communities that were hard hit by the post election violence. The good thing was that this was not your usual workshop crowd but rather the average Kenyan, people who were both victims and perpetrators of the violence. One thing that hit me was when one participant in Nakuru said that one of the effects of the violence was that communities have lost trust in one another. If this is truly the case, then I am worried for our future...but again I am not surprised.

I can however say that I am disappointed at the lack of urgency in addressing this fundamental issue. How can we live with each other if we don't trust each other? While this a situation that your typical Kenyan politician will relish, as they can play on our fears for the sake of garnering votes, it takes a scary dimension when one considers a recent research finding by Media Focus on Africa that stated that a significant number of people are ready and willing to fight again. This is corroborated by sentiments in one of the workshops where some participants stated that next time they will get rid of all the Kikuyus in their area, while in yet another workshop, a lady participant said that she could not believe that she is actually seated in the same room with members from another community that had chased her from where she previously lived during the violence of early last year. It took a lot of pleading from other workshop participants to cool her down.

I don't have the answers to what needs to be done, but this is something that we all need to ponder about.