I Have The Leaders That I Deserve!

They say a country deserves the leaders it gets, I wonder how true this is for Kenya. Let me reflect on this by picking out a few leaders we have and put this theory to test.

Obviously the place to start is Kibaki, the president. Personally I think Kibaki is petty and only concerns himself with pettiness, unless of course pushed to act by other forces. In the midst of more pressing national concerns, the old man from Othaya will find time to call a press conference to claim that he only has one wife. As if we care. The bugger will chuckle at himself when he calls one pumbavu. Recently, he was quick to suspend several PSs only after he heard that those in the office of the PM had been pressurized to step aside, in the process suspending even those who had already stepped aside. The guy will only react when the PM has actually done something, it is like he is trying to tell Raila "I am bigger than you", or "my thing is bigger than yours!" I will contrast this to the manner in which Kenyan media were so glued to the Esther Arunga / Hellon story. As if it matters. So the public gets hooked on the fact that an adult of sound mind is keeping the company of someone they don't like. You go on twitter, facebook, TV, radio, it is all you can see or hear about. Then a mob at the coast decides that they have nothing better to do with their time than try to stop a gay wedding! I am sure that if you mark those faces well, you will see them pop somewhere else pleading with the government to come and help them because they are so poor!

Another high profile leader we have is the thug from Eldoret, William Ruto. I call him a thug because those of us old enough to remember 92 can still recall the thuggery that went on to ensure that Baba Moi remained in charge. Now the other day I see folks in Rift Valley protesting and demonstrating because he has been suspended for allegedly stealing maize. Simply because he is in a power struggle with one that we don't like, it is now alright to stay put as a minister even when allegations of corruption are hanging over your head. Tomorrow we shall be blaming the government for lack of willpower in fighting corruption. I am not trying to say that I approve of the government's way of handling corruption, but the point is that the person who has to be a victim of this fight has to be from the other community!

Another high profile leader we have is Kalonzo Musyoka. The chap is self confessed committed christian, like many Kenyans. Many Kenyans are so committed a christian that they cannot withstand the provision of the Kadhis court in the constitution. They are so committed a christian that they will not hesitate to pelt with stones, hack with machetes or burn down those they consider to stand in their way. There is no contradiction in being christian and promoting tribalism, watching after your stomach first while the country burns, or ignoring a public promise for political convenience. That is why we Kalonzo as our leader!

Because we are Kenyans, someone will deduce my ethnicity from my profile and ask why I am not alluding any negativity to the PM, and will therefore conclude that I support the PM so I will not point an accusing finger at him. One will therefore say I am tribalist. But just to give them that satisfaction, I will stop here.

PS: Re Raila (I can't resist it) - You campaign to be the people's president. You then burden them with the likes of H Kosgey, W Ruto, D Otieno and all those who had faithfully served in the same regimes that you demonized as autocratic, undemocratic etc etc.

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...

Cultivating Somali Xenophobia

I know that that of late there has been a lot of discussions on Somalis and Muslims in Kenya, and that most of the discussion online are basically trash. However with some time on my hand this afternoon, I decided to go over some of the stuff that people are talking about and was quite surprised about how this is developing. Here are some of the stuff I got from my Inbox from a group that calls itself young professionals....

From a Winifred Nyambura...SOMALIS OWN NOTHING IN KENYA AND IT IS ONLY A LEASE. AND SURELY WE ARE REJECTING THE KATIBA ON ONE GROUND - THE CITIZENSHIP LAW IN THIS COUNTY MUST BE AMENDED IMMEDIAETLY -U KNOW SOMALIS ARE COMING TO KENYA AND GIVING BIRTH LIKE RATS SO THAT THEIR KIDS CAN BECOME CITIZENS. SO WE ARECHANGING IT RIGHT AWAY. WE WANT ALL OF THEM WHETHER BORN IN KENYA OR WHEREVER TO GO BACK AND WORK HARD IN THEIR COUNTRY AND PUT IT IN ORDER.

From Chalis ... there is no way we are going to allow useless characters who have f****d their country to destry ours as well. They have to be trimmed, whether they come in as islam or whatever form,as a country we have to act,in fact i have dealt very closely with somalis, muslims,,,call it whatever name. let then take their extremists behaviours, thninking, ideologies etc etc to afghanistan, irag or werever!!!!

From one David Okello..."The muslim brotherhood is well gone over board and it needs to be "trimmed" (they will take this wrong). The Somalis in places like Kajiado are just too many and currently they are building a very big mosque, this is right under the internal ministers nose, his constituency?"

Another writer...We demand that the Army of Kenya take control of the border and checkpoints immediately and replace these APs and Kenya Police. We have just received shocking news that, 4,000,000 (four million) Somalis have crossed Kenyan border and are in Mombasa, Nairobi, Masai Land, Kisumu and are seeping like a bad smell deeper into the rural village communities in Kenya within the last one year

From the same writer as above...The government must not only be worried of this cleric but also the Somalis who are entering Kenya in large numbers and buying not only the Masaais out of the Rift Valley but also turning Nairobi into a Somali city. Kajiado is filled with Somalis who run businesses who cannot express themselves in either English or Swahili. These are Al-Qaeda Fundamentalists imported to create chaos in Kenya and spoil the future of our children.

Okay, I will reserve my comments for later...

New Year New Perspectives

This year I decided to change the nature of the my blog...the previous one never really got going because I think what I was trying to say was just all over the place. Most of the Kenyan blogs are political or have have political inclinations, or have a 'development' mindset and these thoughts are just all over. I therefore could not really find anything to say, either because everybody is saying the same thing, or everybody wants to talk and not listen. This year I want to engage more on my reflections, on anything. I am not going to be trying to get anybody to read or listen to me, but rather I intend to be doing more of listening to others and talking to myself...okay, maybe this does not make sense but who cares? I feel I need to talk to myself more about my work, my family, my friendships, frustrations etc...instead of this notion of badilisha Kenya, more about badilisha Myself. Then I will perhaps write more regularly...

I'm Back But Some People Are Smelling Like Shit

I have been away for quite a while, slightly more than a month but I don't feel I have missed much anyway. Kenya is still Kenya, the usual shenanigans over appointments, Mau, starvation, power games etc. Of these, one thing that has aroused strong feelings is the debate on Mau conservation. It's been painful watching one set of politicians open their foul mouths to once again use their communities to defend their corruption while another set retreat from doing their work because of political considerations, their rhetoric notwithstanding. It is someone who lives on another planet that still needs to be convinced of the urgency to save the Mau complex, and other water towers. I almost threw up when the former president Moi opened his mouth to comment on the same issue, the very person who had 24 years to right any wrong as far as our environment was concerned. It also sickens me to hear his defenders come out daily saying what a marvelous job he is doing...this is one guy who should consider himself lucky to be still walking about freely...

...Then there is Ringera but the less said about that the better!

In both these cases, the people who come out smelling like shit are:

On Mau...(Raila, W. Ruto, I. Ruto and the Kalenjin MPs, arap Moi and Kibaki)

On Ringera...(Kibaki, Mutula Kilonzo, Kalonzo, Ringera, Martha Karua)