Kenya Stockholm Blog

Formation Of Kenya Football Team Questioned

The impending formation of Orkarinte Football Team by Mr. Clay Onyango has been questioned by Mr. Dancan Munala who has wondered why Mr. Clay is calling Kenyans to join a team of his private company called “Orkarinte” which is neither public nor owned exclusively by Kenyans.

Speaking to KSB, Mr. Munala said that while it was a good idea for Mr. Clay to have taken the initiative to set up the football team, it was wrong for him to present it as a project targeting the Kenyan public in Stockholm when, in reality, it was a private initiative linked to his personal business.

“It is one thing to call Kenyans to join hands to form a Football team but it is totally another issue to call them to join a team whose name refers to a private company ”, Mr. Munala told KSB.

He said that Mr. Clay should have chosen a neutral name related to Kenya for the team instead of choosing the name of his company, arguing that the miss on the name will isolate Kenyans interested in joining a Kenyan football team which has nothing to do with private economic interests.

“The problem is that anybody who joins the team will be seen to be part of Orkarinte even if they have nothing to do with the company”, Mr. Munala said.

He said that being part of a private Company in any way in Sweden has several and serious economic implications especially with the Swedish Tax office and that for team members who will not be in the know about the internal workings of the Company, serious economic set-backs might follow them in case the Company enters into an economic crisis. 

“Since Orkarinte is registered, the Football team will have a right to look for sponsors and if economic matters related to the team remain ambiguous, team members might one day wake up to find themselves faced with transactions they don’t understand”, Mr. Munala said.

Stressing that he had nothing against the initiative, the ODM-KS secretary said that it was important that the main implications of using the Company’s name in a National team be spelt out to avoid problems in the future.

Mr. Munala added that the best option could have been for Mr. Clay to mobilize for the team through the Kenya Social Forum, a Kenyan organization, which, he said, has a lot of room for the promotion of sports and other activities.

Mr. Munala criticized Mr. Clay for calling Wakenya to set up the team on the same day that Kesofo is also having its elections.

“Mr. Clay should have shown solidarity with Kesofo by joining the organization to drive his football agenda within the Forum. He should have avoided organizing a function on Kesofo election day because many Kenyan footballers like Mr. Makan Macharia are members of Kesofo”, he said.

Okoth Osewe

March 29, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Kesofo Elections Might Be A Walkover

Election of officials of the Kenya Social Forum In Sweden (Kesofo) scheduled for Saturday 31st March will most likely be a walkover for the Interim committee officials. Names of candidates wishing to stand for elections were supposed to be submitted to the Forum’s Electoral commissioners by March 20th. Majority of those who presented their names were Interim officials who have been running the Forum since March last year.

Some Interim officials will however not be standing. They have cited family reasons although two have said that they might not be able to cope with the heavy responsibility of sitting in the Forum’s Committee.

So far, Kesofo members who were interviewed by KSB seem satisfied with the work the Interim officials have so far done and it looks like they will return to office.

A show down between members of ODM-K Scandinavia and Narc-K Scandinavia who are members of Kesofo appear to have been averted by the high level of political consciousness of Kesofo members. There is a general agreement that Party issues should not be mixed up with the Forum’s issues and this pact appears to be working well.

Okoth Osewe

March 29, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Trubadur’s Attack On Kenya Embassy Was Timely

Moses Trubadur, a Kenyan Musician in Stockholm, attacked the Kenyan Embassy for collecting personal information of Kenyans while doing nothing to help the community in Scandinavia. Broadly, Trubadur is right because for years, the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm has been repeatedly lackadaisical in helping Kenyans in situations of urgent and dire need. Since Ambassador Purity Muhindi took over at the Embassy in August last year, the situation has only deteriorated and few Kenyans are surprised.

As Trubadur aptly put it, we have an Ambassador who has never introduced herself to Kenyans in Scandinavia since she took over from former Ambassador  Kinyanjui. Purity has continued to perpetuate a “no hands policy” on matters touching on Kenyans in Scandinavia.

When Juliet Kavinga’s body was discovered last July after she was brutally murdered by a Swedish national, the Kenyan Embassy stood by as a spectator as if Kavinga was not a Kenyan national. Kenyans in Stockholm had to form the ”Juliet Kavinga Committee” to stop a group of opportunist Swedish nationals from exploiting the tragedy to make money out of Juliet’s body. Although the media reported on the story, there was not a single comment from the Embassy.

The Juliet Committee was formed out of anger after a total stranger announced in the Swedish media that he would bury Juliet’s body in Stockholm. Other Swedish opportunists set up a Foundation to “fund raise for Projects” even before the issue of transporting Juliet’s body to Kenya could be addressed.

Angered by the theatre in the Swedish media, the Juliet Committee mobilized Kenyans and raised Ksh 480.000 to transport Juliet’s body to Kenya. At the fund raising, sympathetic Embassy staff sent their donation privately through the late Mr. James Kiboi. Officially, the Embassy did nothing and the whole responsibility – from the memorial service to the transportation of the body – was left to Wakenya in Stockholm.

ANNUAL INVITATION TO JAMHURI DRINKING SPREE
Even if Juliet had left her personal details with the Embassy, there wasn’t much the institution could have done and this is the reality with the current collection of personal information from Wakenya by the Embassy. It is a time consuming-money wasting exercise that has no meaning unless the embassy could come up with a better explanation.

Throughout its history, the Embassy is known for inviting Wakenya for a two hour drinking spree during Jamhuri day and that is once a year – on 12th December. It is a drinking spree because there is never speeches, only drinks as people rumble for two hours. What does the birthplace of Wakenya got to do with Jamhuri. More intriguing, what does the birthdays of Wakenya got to do with alcohol consumed on Jamhuri day because that is the only day the Embassy normally uses its database to contact Wakenya.

A few years ago, a Kenyan woman, was knocked down by a surface train under mysterious circumstances that pointed to possible murder. Those in the know believed that the Kenyan woman’s death had something to do with being pushed on to the rail by unknown people. When the Embassy was approached to try and help in turning stones to unearth the truth, the institution refused, choosing instead, to accept uncritically the verdict by Swedish police that the Kenyan woman had died in a ”train accident”.

Don’t worry that the scene of the accident was neither a train station nor an intersection. It was at a secluded and well fenced off area that was off limiti to pedestrians. Even for a lay man, it was difficult to understand how the Kenyan woman could have left a pub in Järfella in a car and in the company of four Swedish men at 10.00 PM only to be found dead hours later.

While the Embassy stood by and watched events from Birgerjarlsgatan 37, Wakenya organized meetings to raise funds for the woman’s son to travel to Sweden from Kenya because the Swedish authorities refused to talk to anybody who was not a “next of kin”.

Wakenya raised enough cash and both the lady’s son and uncle travelled to Sweden over the case. Mrs Nyambura Ngatia was at the head of campaigns to bring the woman’s relatives to Sweden. At the funeral, which was held at Järfella, the Embassy never sent a single representative.

THANKLESS EMBASSY AFTER SOLIDARITY WITH KIBOI’S FAMILY
The body of Mr. Achacha got stuck in Sweden for three months as Wakenya stuggled day and night to raise funds to transport his body to Kenya. As usual, the Embassy was nowhere to be seen. Even if Mr. Achacha had left his personal details to the Embassy, there is nothing the Ambassador could have done to help because this is the official policy.

Then, when Mr. James Kiboi passed away in a house inferno in Norway last year, his body was readily transported to Kenya through the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm and no Kenyan was asked to contribute a penny towards the transport.  Dead bodies aside, is this discrimination or do Kenyans in Scandinavia need to accept that there are some Kenyans whose dead bodies are more important than others?

Kenyans did not just stream into Kiboi’s residence daily to mourn with the family. They pitched tent at the residence for days but what happened in the end? Kenyans had to make noise for the Embassy to organize a memorial service for Kiboi so that they could pay their last respects and Gerry Midenyo led the campaign. After Kiboi’s burial, the Embassy never even bothered to send a “thank you” message to Kenyans for the huge solidarity during the trying moments.

A thank you message that was published in the Daily Nation praised Prof George Saitoti and others who attended the funeral but left the whole of the Kenyan community in Stockholm out because they are not important. The advert was placed by Kiboi’s family but the Embassy could also have made an effort to reach Wakenya because Kiboi was an Embassy official. A Kenyan who had travelled all the way to Kenya to attend the funeral was never mentioned in the Nation report and Kenyans in Stockholm wondered why their efforts were never appreciated. The Embassy must be told the truth even if it means repeating it several times. 

If the Embassy has a policy of not transporting bodies of Wakenya back home for burial, how comes that the body of the late Dr. Mukaru Nganga was transported to Kenya at the Embassy’s expense? Surely, the demarcation between “VIP Kenyans” and “Odiangabuks” (worthless and ordinary) is very real when a Kenyan dies in Scandinavia.

Arthur Opot passed away on 20th November 2005 but his body was stuck in Sweden for more than three months as Wakenya struggled to raise funds. Where was the Kenyan Embassy and what could they have done with Opot’s personal information? I hear someone at the Embassy saying that “We could have informed the next of kin”. Stop there because that role is normally played by Wakenya.

MAGGERO’S BODY WAS REDUCED TO ASHES AS EMBASSY WATCHED
Mr. James Wuod Maggero was one Kenyan who had very strong connections to the Kenyan Embassy. It was for this reason that Jenipher Awuor, (the Assistant Ambassador?) made an effort to visit him at hospital during his last days.

But when he passed away, the Embassy simply made a disappearing act. This was despite the fact that Wakenya were fighting tooth and nail to try and block the cremation of maggero’s body without the involvement of his family back in Kenya.

What did the Embassy do? It never attended a single meeting of Wakenya, choosing instead, to host Maggero’s Swedish wife at the Embassy who had apparently gone to inform the institution that Maggero, a Kenyan citizen, had passed away.

Maggero’s body was eventually reduced to ashes under the very nose of the Ambassador and without a single intervention on grounds that the matter was ”a private family affair”. Once again, don’t worry that Maggero’s Kenyan family never attended the cremation because the Embassy could not help. The family sent a letter through a lawyer asking for a delay of the funeral but the Embassy had already decided not to get involved.

SACKING NJENGA TO HIRE A SWEDISH COMPANY
Too much attacks based on dead bodies? Let us look at the case of Mr. Njenga Muirani, a Kenyan national whose case is also the most recent. He was working for the Embassy but after Ambassador Kinyanjui left, Njenga was immediately fired from his job as a gardener to be replaced by a Swedish company.

To add to his tribulations, the Embassy refused to pay Njenga his salary of 10.000 kr because the person he worked for (James Kiboi) had died. Although Njenga transformed Kiboi’s bushy villa into a neat abode fit for a diplomat (the neighbors reportedly clapped their hands and helped with cutting equipment when Njenga arrived), Josephine Awuor wrote to Njenga telling him that he will never be paid. It was a slap on the face. The case is still pending.

There are some things Embassy staff can do better. Instead of spending more time in helping Wakenya, an Embassy official has set up a religious sect in Stockholm at a place called Baggarmossen. We won’t go into allegations of what happens at this sect because we are still gathering evidence. But one question could be posed. Has the Embassy embarked on a clandestine “recruitment drive” of sect members through the collection of personal data and addresses of Wakenya?

The Embassy is not in the habit of summoning Kenyans to meet Kenyan MPs and other officials during their trips to Sweden. During their sojourns, these officials are normally “well insulated” from Wakenya so that they may escape from “embarrassing questions” from fire-breathing Kenyans in Stockholm so what does the Embassy want to do with personal information of Wakenya?

Only in Scandinavia do we, as Kenyans, have an Embassy that grabs its own land then sells it after distorting the boundary. The case is still pending before the Swedish authorities.

At KSB, we believe that Ambassador Muhindi should first put her house in order before stretching out her hand to Wakenya. Trubadur’s attack on Kenyan Embassy was timely and to the point.

Okoth Osewe

March 26, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Kenya Embassy Collecting Personal Information Of Wakenya

The Kenyan Embassy In Stockholm is sending letters to Kenyans in the Nordic region asking for personal information. According to a letter signed by Jenipher Awuor on behalf of the Ambassador, Mrs Purity Muhindi, the Embassy is circulating the letter because it is “updating its records of Kenyan Nationals in the Nordic region”.

An attached form is then supposed to be filled in with personal information and mailed to the Embassy. The letter has not yet reached all Kenyans and when KSB called the Embassy to sniff what was going on, an official said that the letters are still in the process of being dispatched and that all Kenyans will receive them as soon as possible.

“We are working on the letters and they will come either today or tomorrow”, the official told KSB.

Even before they arrive, the move is already being questioned by Kenyans. According to Moses Trubadur, a Kenyan musician, the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi has refused to call Kenyans so that she can introduce herself to members of the community and now she is asking for personal information.

“I don’t even know who is who at the Embassy”, Moses told KSB.

The Kenyan musician said that the Embassy has a history of doing nothing when Kenyans run into problems in this country and wondered why the information about the next of kin together with other personal information were being collected by the Embassy.

The information required includes date of birth and place of birth. What is interesting is that Kenyans are also required to enter both Passport numbers and Passport reference numbers. The irony is that once you submit to the Embassy your Passport number, the institution should be in a position to establish both your date and place of birth. Moses wondered what the Embassy wants to do with his birth day and birth place.

He said that many Kenyans have been dying in Sweden with the Embassy having had nothing to do with helping their next of kin to transport their remains to Kenya.

“I better give this information to Kenyans because they are the ones who take responsibility when something happens to one of us”, he said. He speculated that the Embassy could be on a “spying mission” on Wakenya because the info they are looking for is irrelevant especially after you have given your Passport number.

Last Saturday, a group of Kenyans were brutalized by Swedish guards at Slussen tube station. Do date, the Embassy has not done anything about the case. The institution has not even taken contact with the victims to try and establish what happened to Kenyan nationals or to establish the circumstances under which they were attacked.

It is this kind of “I don’t care attitude” on the part of the Embassy that continues to expose it to criticism especially from Kenyans in Sweden who view the Kenyan Embassy as “an address” in Stockholm city.

Okoth Osewe
 

March 22, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Brutality Against Immigrants By Swedish Guards Is “An Everyday Recipe”

Less than 48 hours after I was brutalized by Security guards at Slussen tube station, Aftonbladet, a leading evening Newspaper in Sweden, carried a headline story titled “Guards Film When They Humiliate And Pin Down Their Victims” (Monday 19/0372007). The thrust of the story was that the degrading films (shot with mobile phones) are normally circulated among the guards as “trophies”.

If the situation is transplanted to war-torn Iraq, the films whose picture clips were published in Aftonbladet amounts to “Swedish Abu Grahib” scandal films with holding cells at tube station being the “prisons”.

“People circulate these kind of films between themselves all the time. Very many know about it”, said a 26 year old guard who was interviewed by Aftonbladet Reporter Simon Bynert. The guard said that the films are seen within the guard fraternity as sources of “increasing status”. He estimated with surety that there are about 50 such films doing the round in Stockholm alone!

Interestingly, Sven Erik Alhem, a Senior Prosecutor, told the paper that it can be difficult to pin the guards down in court with the films although he admitted that what they were doing is criminal. According to him, one obstacle could be the legal position that it is the victim of such filming who should follow up the matter.

The brutal and racist handling we were treated to at Slussen tube station by barbaric guards was a continuation of brutality of immigrants (especially Africans) by Swedish guards at tube stations, restaurants and other social places where the guards are found.

A GLIMPSE OF PREVIOUS CASES OF BRUTALITY AGAINST AFRICANS
We were just the latest statistics in the mountain of reports gathering dust in various Swedish archives. In 99% of the cases, the guards always go free and that is if the cases make it to court. Previous attacks on Africans have even been more brutal, sometimes leading to victims being picked up by ambulances, undergoing brain surgery or ending up being paralyzed altogether.

In one of the most outstanding cases that happened in November 2000, Seidou Konte, a Gambian national, was attacked by Swedish security guards at Tre Rammare Restaurant. Seidou had to undergo brain surgery for his life to be saved. A week after his operation, Hospital authorities tried to throw him out into the streets because keeping him in Hospital was “too expensive”.

The hospital’s ground for wanting to cast him out was that Seidou had no residence permit to live in Sweden and that according to the rules, no insurance company would foot his huge bill which was, nevertheless, growing. He was only saved after Discrimination Bureau that was set up by Juan Fonseka, a Latin American, intervened. When the case came up in Court, Seidou lost and the case was closed.

The attack on Seidou came barely 10 months after Adonis Hocheimy, a Gambian national and father of a young girl, was brutally attacked by guards at Västra Skågen tube station. Unlike Seidou who escaped with a brain surgery, Adonis ended up being totally paralysed from the waist downwards. He landed on a wheel chair.

According to the guards, Adonis tried to get into the tube station without a ticket. The case of Winnie Mukaru, who was arbitrarily locked in by the guards, was different from that of Adonis because while she had a ticket, she was manhandled because the ticket attendant refused to stamp it, a position which the guards were defending at the time they cast Winnie into the cell. They were two huge guards and after they seized Winnie, they threw her in the cell like a mango being thrown into a hollow basket. They did it in a split of a second and even my digital camera could not catch the real action. We cannot give all examples here. However, the case of Mr. Abert Taabu, a Kenyan musician resident in Stockholm, is worth mentioning.

In April 2002, Taabu became unconscious after he was attacked by guards at Tre Rammare, the same restaurant where seidou was also attacked. When Mark Gaya, a Kenyan who was then the Chairperson of Kenya United Welfare Association (KUWA) tried to intervene, Mr. Gaya was himself swept off his feet by a group of guards before he could even reach the scene where Taabu was being brutalized. Just like myself on Saturday, Mark Gaya lost his mobile during the process but he did manage to pull out Taabu’s mobile from where the Kenyan was lying unconscious on the ground. It was Mark Gaya who called the ambulance and the police. The case did not even make it to court despite the presence of witnesses.

POLICE/STATE CONSPIRACY IN THE ABORTION OF JUSTICE
The fundamental point is that the guards brutalize people because they are implicitly protected by the Swedish Legal system which has notoriously failed to deliver justice to victims of attack. The main tactic used within the system is to prevent any case of brutality from reaching the courts and this is done through the office of the Prosecutor.

The conspiracy begins from the police who take statements at the scene of crime. When we were brutalized, the police refused to file a case arguing that I had “injured myself” when I fell down. But when the policeman was confronted by witnesses, he quickly backed down and took my story.

The next point of conspiracy comes when the police records the statement at the police station. Loop-holes are normally created to try and weaken the case. For example, Seidou’s case could not go forward because police refused to stage a live parade so that Seidou could identify the guards who attacked him. Instead, they wanted him to identify the guards through old pictures. The police were calculating that he would identify the wrong guard and create a ground for the case to be dismissed in case it went to court.

At that time, Seidou had no legal status and this complicated the situation because he could not get a lawyer to help him through the process. Due to lack of legal representation, the Gambian had difficulties in dealing with legal issues that continued to pop up during his struggle for justice. While I was visiting him in hospital, police came and asked him when he intends to return to Gambia! It appears as though police thought that by intimidating him using his return to Gambia as ammunition, the brutalized Seidou would develop cold feet and dump the case. He didn’t.

THE TACTIC OF “BLACK AGAINST BLACK” TO PROMOTE RACISM
Politically, the case of Swedish security guards walking away with wanton brutality against immigrants especially Africans is because of  institutionalized State racism and discrimination of immigrants that also exists in other public sectors. The housing and the labour markets are areas where State racism is probably at its apex.

In Sweden, Immigrant groups have been congregated at “Immigrant areas” while professionals of Immigrant backgrounds are routinely denied jobs using petty reasons even if they are qualified. Currently, Rinkeby in Stockholm is the biggest slum area in Sweden, having been created through a scotched earth policy of denying Immigrants opportunities to settle in “Swedish areas” even if such Immigrants are economically stable. The consequence is that “gangs” comprising of first or second generation of immigrant youths have emerged in Sweden, a country that was once projected as the most advanced Welfare State on earth.

We were attacked by the guards but it should not be a shock if the case is thrown out and that is IF it reaches the courts. The most important aspect of the attack is that it was not another hidden statistic. We brought it out and this is what Africans and other Immigrant groups who are targets of attacks should be doing. I wish to send a vote of thanks to two Kenyans, both Mr. Makan Macharia and Mr. Daniel Mwaura for having rushed to the scene after they gathered that we were under attack.

Another angle which could be examined is the role of Africans being used by the system to promote racism and discrimination in this country. In the Saturday attack, an African woman purportedly from Uganda and whom, we were told, is notorious when it comes to giving Africans difficulties at tube stations was in charge.

In the case of Winnie, it was a classic case of setting “Sister against sister”. When the guards then come in to attack, the system has put into place a process where charges of racism and discrimination can simply be thrown out of the window. It is not surprising that After the African ticket attendant refused to stamp Winnie’s ticket, she quickly called the guards so that she could stand aside and enjoy the drama as her “opponent” is humiliated and harassed before being thrown into the holding cell with indignity! The tactic has been working well – thanks to the House niggers!

At Restaurants where Africans are not allowed entry, it is not strange to find an African guard stationed at the door with one or two white guards. When it reaches the point where the African has to be told that he is not welcome, it is the Nigger who normally does the job.

In case an argument erupts between the black guest and the Black guard, it’s easy. The white guards will zero in to throw the black guest out as the black guard watches events quietly, as if nothing has happened. Brutality by Security guards against Immigrants is an “everyday recipe” in Sweden . For readers outside there, that is the Sweden we live in.

Okoth Osewe 

March 21, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | 1 Comment

Purchase Of Jordanian Fighter Jets Stinks Of High Corruption

The dictatorial government of Kenya under Mwai Kibaki has sent its top military officers to Amman, Jordan to negotiate the purchase of old and dilapidated F-5 Fighter jets. The whole project stinks of corruption and has the hall-marks of previous and dirty scams linked to suspicious purchases and contracts by the failing Kibaki government.

To begin with, Jordan does not manufacture advanced military Aircrafts of the F-5 type. In fact, Jordan is one of the poorest countries in the middle-east whose economy is very unstable. We know that the F-5 Aircrafts are manufactured by Northrop (BAE), a company owned by Americans. A curious question that emerges immediately when the F-5 contract is examined closely is why the Kenyan government does not want to buy the Aircrafts directly from Northrop, choosing instead to purchase them from the Jordanian Royal Air Force. The truth is that Jordan has upgraded its military equipment and is seeking to dump old Aircrafts. Under the circumstances, Kenya is a better dumping ground.

The advantage for the Jordanians is that Kenya has unpatriotic Military Generals mainly drawn from one ethnic group and whose major decisions are influenced by the possibility of corruption. The Kibaki regime is facing elections and the regime needs money to buy and destroy votes in oppositiion strongholds ahead of the coming elections in December. The F-5 Fighter jet project is a clear strategy by the Kibaki dictatorship to defraud the tax payer which will foot the bill at Ksh 2.4 billion.

At the moment, arming the military using such a colossal amount of money should not be a priority for the Kibaki dictatorship especially at a time when Kenyans are starving to death and millions are losing their lives due to lack of basic medicine to treat curable diseases like malaria. Poverty, malnutrition, high death rate and dropping life expectancy are more urgent issues that require urgent funding. The purchase of second hand military equipment at a time when Kenya is not at war is not and should not be a priority.

In Kenya, majority of Kenyans live in slums. The country has become a “tourist attraction” because it has one of the largest slums in the world. This year, more than 300,000 children missed class one because of lack of schools, teachers and basic equipment such as books, desks, blackboards, dusters, chalks etc. To embark on a Ksh 2.4 billion project when there are other urgent areas that deserve economic input is a demonstration of lack of sensitivity and fore-sight on the part of the government. We believe that the main driving force that has blinded the Kibaki regime when it comes to sound investment of tax payer’s money is corruption. It is in this light that the F-5 Fighter jet project needs to be seen.

Apart from bringing the issue to public attention, we call upon patriotic and progressive MPs like Honourable Mwandawiro Mghanga to take up the issue in Parliament. MPs who claim to be the people’s watch dogs should resist this scandal of purchasing second hand Air crafts because under the current crisis, expensive war machines should take a back seat in the country’s priorities.

We condemn the Kabaki’s regime and his corrupt military generals who are more interested in stealing from public coffers in the name of arming the country. The project is a conspiracy between the Kibaki government and the Kings of both Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The agenda is to defraud the Kenyan people of Ksh 2.4 billion. This must not be allowed to happen.

Since independence from Britain, Kenyan armed forces have been spending billions of dollars in military equipment from the West. Today, most of these machines cannot be used because they are either worn out or decrepit.

For example, Strike master jets and Attack planes, Hawkerhunters, Hawks, Caribou, Buffalos, Donniers, F-5 Phantoms, Puma helicopters, Hughes helicopters, Bulldogs, Chimpmunks,Gazelles, Beavers and Harbin Y-12 that were purchased after independence are unusable because they were equipment that were dumped in the country after they became obsolete.

These aircrafts have cost Kenyan tax payer millions of Kenyan shillings in maintenance even though their ability to be used in a modern war-fare is not just questionable but also reduced as a result of advancement in technology. Although they have never been used in war, they are routinely used in military parades and other funny manoeuvres to frighten the public, to create the impression that Kenya is “well armed” and to please the Commander in Chief, President Mwai Kibaki whom, nevertheless, sleeps for sixteen hours a day at State House. The same case applies to military machines owned by the Kenyan navy and the Kenya army.

We would like to remind Kenyan tax payers that our military establishment cannot repair the mighty and old war machines being accumulated by a regime that, from our view, will lose power in December. Already, military equipment like helicopters are being transported to South Africa for repair because our military engineers and technicians are sleeping in the barracks because corruption has permeated the maintenance industry within the Kenya military establishment. If they are not sleeping in the barracks, Kenyan military engineers will be found lazing around at bogus seminars around the world presenting papers.

We wish to add that the Military generals have failed their soldiers in fighting for higher wages and accommodation because men and women in uniform sleep in tents and old British colonial military barracks that are dilapidated.

We propose Ksh.2.4 billions to be used in uplifting Soldiers salaries, accommodation and insurance. To use the money on old aircrafts which Kenya will never use and which the military has no capacity to maintain is a flagrant waste of public resources.

This project is yet another indication that the Kibaki government should suffer a huge and humiliating defeat in the December elections. The degree of corruption we are witnessing today is simply a continuation from where Moi left it and this is another important point which Kenyan voters should note as election campaigns continue.

Martin Ngatia and Munala Wa Munala

March 21, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | 25 Comments

Brutality By Security Guards At Slussen: What Happened

The Kenya Social Forum Executive committee had just completed a marathon three hour meeting at Wananchi Pavilion on the evening of Friday March 16th. The meeting started at around 19.30 hrs and had been called to discuss the coming Kesofo elections scheduled for Saturday March 31st.

After the meeting, Committee members did not leave immediately. Informal discussions about elections, the political situation in Stockholm, the future of Kesofo and recruitment of Kesofo members continued. Both ODM-KS and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia members discussed various issues related to the two political parties. Jokes were cracked and hot gossip (kama kawaida) laced exchanges until everybody left the Pavilion. By then, it was some minutes past midnight.

After everybody called it a day, myself and Mr. Munala, ODM-K Scandinavia Secretary who is also the Editor of Jamii, remained behind to compare notes about the meeting. We retreated to the ODM-Kenya Scandinavia Office adjacent to the Pavilion.

Suddenly, I got a call from Kesofo Chairlady, Winnie Mukaru that she was at Slussen tube station and that she was being manhandled by the guards after an argument errupted between her and the ticket attendant.

As patriots on the front-lines, we armed ourselves with cameras and other equipment and rushed to the scene to investigate. When we arrived, we found Winnie Mukaru arguing with the ticket attendant after making her way back to the station following her violent eviction from the scene by guards moments earlier. She was making a second attempt to get her ticket stamped so that she could travel. Apparently, the attendant was an African woman reportedly from Uganda. By the time we arrived, the guards had left.

According to the argument we gathered at the scene, the attendant had refused to stamp her ticket because she presented it while talking on her mobile phone. According to Winnie, the attendant had insisted that it was rude for her to have presented her ticket for stamping while at the same time talking to someone on her mobile. A contact who identified the attendant told KSB that she is well known for giving Africans trouble for some unknown reasons.

As the argument continued with Mr. Munala taking notes as I took pictures, a group of guards arrived and told us to stop taking pictures. They had been alerted by the Ticket attendant.

“This is a public place and you cannot prevent us from taking pictures”, I told the guard who insisted that we had to leave.

In the meantime, Winnie continued to argue with the ticket attendant as two guards insisted that she leave the station. She tried to show her ticket and said that she had a right to get into the station but the guards stuck to their guns. The situation was changing quickly and soon, the guards divided themselves into two groups with one group insisting that we stop taking pictures and another group getting ready to get on Winnie. They were getting worried that events were being documented.

Suddenly, Winnie was seized by two gurds who quickly dragged her into a nearby holding cell after which they closed the door. I managed to take a picture as the guards shut the door of the holding cell where Winnie was thrown. It was at this point that the guards noticed that the documentation was much more organized. They began to focus on us.

Swedish security guards have a history of brutality especially against Africans in Sweden and we did not want to take chances because they were calling for re-enforcement. After Winnie was locked in, we started moving away from the scene in slow motion so that we could get out of the station. I continued to take pictures and Munala continued to question the guards why they were acting illegally.

The last picture I took was when we were standing on the stairs of the elevator as Munala continued talking to two guards at very close range. When I reached the end of the elevator, I saw two guards running towards me. I got into the street in a bid to maintain a good distance from the guards. Before I could make extra steps to even move further from the station, I was swept off my feet with a powerful kick and as I fell down, two guards descended on me. They twisted by arms behind my back with machismo, in the process, applying brutal force on me although I was not violent.

The brutality with which they handled me shocked many passers by who stopped to watch the unfolding drama. The guards seized me from the streets and dragged me back into the station where they pushed me into the holding cell. I found three guards keeping a close eye on Winnie. After about five minutes, a young Swedish man who had witnessed the guard’s brutality against me was hauled into the cell by two guards. He told me that he refused to leave the station as had been ordered by the guards because he wanted to be a witness of the brutality. He told us that two other witnesses were also waiting outside to tell their story to police once they arrived.

It did not take time before police arrived at the holding cell. They questioned the guards about what had happened then turned to Winnie before they took my story. I showed the policeman my injured knee which was still bleeding with fresh blood as a result of the brutal manner in which I was handled by the guards. 

The policeman then asked me if I wanted to file a complaint and I said “Yes”. He requested that we go out so that I could record a statement and we left.

After I gave him my story, I was surprised when the policeman started telling me that he could not file a case because I had sustained the injuries by myself when I was falling down. I did not even have time to respond because we were by now surrounded by three Swedish witnesses who shouted the policeman down and told him that I had been brought down by the guards. It was after this intervention that the policeman accepted to file a case.

In the meantime, Munala resumed taking pictures outside the tube station as police wrote down my story. Police then took the story of one of the witnesses and insisted that one witness was enough although four witnesses were available.

Munala took the phone numbers of the witnesses who promised to support the case against the guards if it came out in court. After all statements were taken, police insisted that we get into the police van so that we could leave the scene. We were dumped in a nearby station but I was so much in pain that I had to go for medical check up. A doctor has since documented my injuries which will be used in court when the case comes up.

My body has been aching thoughout the week-end. I thank Wakenya, friends and other contacts around the world who have called me or sent mail wishing me quick recovery. A deeper analyisis of the brutality of security guards against Africans in Sweden will be rendered later at KSB. 

Okoth Osewe
 

March 18, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Breaking News: KSB Crew Brutalized By Guards In Stockholm

Mr. Okoth Osewe is currently undergoing medical check-up  in a Swedish Hospital after being brutalized by guards at Slussen tube station. KSB had been called to the scene by Ms Winnie Mukaru, Chairlady of Kesofo, who was herself manhandled by the guards  following a tiff with the ticket officer.

Mr. Osewe was brutalized by the guards when he refused to stop taking pictures of the developments. Two guards followed him out of the station and bruatlized him infront of a passers by in the streets. Police arrived at the scene and took statements from both Mr. Osewe and three Swedish witnesses who promised to support the case in court. More later.

Dancan Munala

March 17, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Kenya – Stockholm Scene Getting Packed With Action

A seres of activities are planned in Stockholm as the community gets busy. The Kesofo Executive committee is meeting on Friday March 16th to plan the coming Annual General Meeting of the organization. Kesofo officials have been running the Office on an interim capacity and now, Committee members have to seek mandate by getting themselves elected. So far, the team, headed by Ms Winnie Mukaru, has done good work. They have registered the organization, fixed a Post Box, put up a Bank account among other stuff.

Although membership in the organization is drawn from Kenyans of different political persuasions, there appears to be no major controversies or stiff competition especially on positions in the Committee.

An explanation could be that there is a lot of sacrifice and little political mileage to be gained through Kesofo whose structures are decentralized in a way that leaves the Committee with less power.

Secondly, Kesofo is seen by members more as a Forum where anybody can come and implement a Project with the Committee playing a facilitatory role. The AGM is scheduled for March 31st at Wananchi Pavilion from 14.00. Only registered members will be allowed to vote as per the Kesofo Constitution. We hope that the elections will proceed smoothly.

A SEASON OF “OPEN HOUSES” IN STOCKHOLM
Nancy Arawo, a Kenyan resident in Märsta in Stockholm, has lost her Dad in Kenya. On the same day Kesofo Committee will be meeting, Nancy will be having an “Open House” at her residence in Märsta. This will allow friends and well wishers to mourn with her. Naturally, she needs to travel to Kenya to bury her late father and Kenyans know what this means in terms of digging into their pockets to help.

The “Opening of Houses” in Stockholm is becoming fashionable, not for fun but for serious business. Kenyans continue to lose close relatives back home and the best a Kenyan in Stockholm can do in such a situation is either to “Open a House” or call a fund raising especially if one needs to travel home.

There are some Kenyans who have complained that there are too many “Houses being Opened” but what is the alternative? You don’t send a letter home that a relative should die for you to “Open a House” and you are not obliged to force your head into any “Open House” so what’s your beef?

Talking about “Open Houses”, On Saturday 17th March, there will be another “Open House” at Rågsved. Eddie’s wife has lost her uncle, Steven Wambugu, who died in a train accident in Nairobi. The late Wambugu has left behind a wife and four children. Friends, well-wishers and sympathizers have already been invited to the function.

The “Open House” comes parallel to another “Open House” session which was announced on Monday by Mr. Willy Nyambok who lost a cousin called Lule Omiti in Kenya. At the time of his death, Lule was 23 years old.

There was some controversy between Willy and Mrs Pamela Omiti (wife of the late John Peter Omiti) on the question of fund raising but it looks like the matter died away without any further reports.

Lule was the son of Mr. John Peter Omiti, a Kenyan who has been residing in Stockholm for decades and who passed away in Kenya last month. The senior Omiti has since been buried while his son will be buried on Saturday 17th March. It was a double tragedy for the family and KSB sends condolences.

WANANCHI PAVILLION OPENS TO WANANCHI
After weeks of planning, Wananchi Pavillion has now been opened to Wakenya every Friday from 18.00 hrs and Saturdays from 14.00 hrs. Events during opening hours will include political discussions, political education, cultural and religeous activities, children’s playing sessions, seminars on various topics, youth activities, women group activities, meetings by groups and organizations among others. A Board headed by Mr. Dancan Munala has been appointed to manage the Pavilion on behalf of Wakenya. If you have an activity coming up, contact Munala for bookings.

A time table is being drawn for events as Kenyans who are interested in getting active are also contacted to see what is possible. A Kenyan comedy group is in the process of being set up with Comedian Njenga Muirani having shown a keen interest in entertaining Wakenya. You can be sure that new additions of video clips will soon be popping up at various sites when Wananchi Pavilion enters into a new face of sustained activity.

SOUND OF BLACKNESS IS BACK
As you might have noticed, “Sound of Blackness” is back and this time, Wakenya and other Party goers will be shtuad during Easter holidays so mark your calendar. DJ Frank and DJ Safi are the latest guys to watch on the Kenya DJ trail. These two Kenyans are turning the tables when it comes to the Kenya disco culture in Stockholm.

First, the DJ’s themselves are organizing the bash as opposed to history where Kenyan organizations have been playing a leading role in the Disco organization with DJs coming in as hired workers to make the event boom. Secondly, the group has come up with a theory that future Party organizers might have to copy – letting party-goers get in free before 22.30 hrs.

This strategy has been a hit especially with the “punky” youth whose paltry student allowances do not allow them to stretch their expenditures very far. The “Sound of Blackness” debut Party was a hit and the question is whether the success will repeat itself.

Just like Christmas, Easter is a period when Wakenya have nowhere to go because their Swedish friends normally desert them to be near their families. Unless you are kunjaring some Mswidi very tightly or have a very special link with a Swedish family, the Swedes are not in the habit of carrying extra baggage during Easter so the Norsborg bash may as well be a good point of ventilation as the cold snow begins to retreat.

So you better begin to weave that heap of hair, change that style and fix that “shut-up” attire you saw hanging at one of the top shops if you are on the lady’s side!

For sure, and to be democratic, some Kenyan males should be fined at the gate for surfacing at Kenyan parties with the same old rag mwaka enda mwaka rudi. They zoom in with battered pairs of shoes that have no doubt seen several Januaries and crossed multiple and cold winters, leaving the boots shapeless and out of tune with party environment. This is a scandal and Wakenya should form a Commission of enquiry to establish what is going on.

When a Kenyan was once prevented from entering a Swedish pub because he had a crooked pair of shoes, he called KSB to accuse the pub of racism and discrimination.

But when we requested to have a glimpse of the offending shoes, an ambulance nearly came to pick us up because we chocked on the floor with laughter. In short, we nearly laughed our lungs out.

When we gave the guy a condition that we publish the story only if a picture of the Viatu chafu kaze could also be published, he declined with a shot: “gwendeni hugo na hiyo mblogu yenu – bure kabisa!”  

FIXING ODM-K SCANDINAVIA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
A week after the “Sound of Blackness” shall have blackened Wakenya and their friends who might be of other colours, ODM-K Scandinavia will be at it with another controversy – picking up a Presidential candidate to take up Mzee Kibaki and other front-runners. The event will take place on April 14th and, according to sources, debates are heating up within ODM-KS which is full of free thinkers. There is no favourite candidate at the moment and the vote can go in any direction.

With the line up of events in Stocky, there is no shortage of where to chill and you just have to make a choice as to where you think your boredom will be taken care of after days of work or weeks at school.

Okoth Osewe

March 14, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

Controversy Over Late Lule Omiti Cash Deposits

A controversy has errupted over deposit of funds to a bank account in support of funeral arrangements of the late Mr. Lule Omiti, the son of the late John Peter Omiti. The senior Omiti died last month while his son passed away yesterday in Kenya after a long illness.

Yesterday, Mrs Pamela Omiti sent an SMS to Kenyans in Stockholm appealing for economic assistance towards the funeral arrangements of the late Lule, arguing that the funeral of her husband Mr. Omiti had drained her financial resources.

In a message to KSB, Pamela wrote: “I am appealing to well wishers to help me with contributions to bury Omiti 23 years who died this morning. Remembering Omiti’s funeral, I was left with everything, food, sanduku (coffin), transport. I found it really tough and now again, I am faced with the same problem. Please, send your donation to Swedbank 832799938036770. Thank you for those who helped me during Omiti’s funeral. I send thanks. They can contact me on (phone number with held)”.

In a quick rejoinder, Mr. Willy Nyambok, a cousin of the late Lule and son of Mr. Ochieng Nyambik (brother of the late J.P Omiti) sent a counter SMS to Kenyans in Stockholm asking well-wishers to send cash to his father Ochieng in Kenya through Handelsbanken, Account number 254401481.

According to Willy, money should not be sent to Pamela because there is no guarantee that cash will reach the family in Kenya. Willy claimed that out of Ksh 80.000 kr that was raised by Kenyans in Sweden towards the funeral of the senior Omiti, only Ksh 8.000 was delivered.

There was no money to pay the grave diggers or to pay for cement that had been used in the grave. The bill was only settled after Kenyans in Stockholm sent cash through my father’s account”, Willy told KSB. Omiti was an ODMK-Scandinavia member and when he died, Party members raised cash and sent it directly to Kenya.

Mrs Omiti had said that she paid for the coffin and transport. However, according to Willy Nyambok who was in Kenya at the time Mr. Omiti passed away, money that was used to buy the coffin was raised at a Hotel near Kondele in Kisumu. He added that the coffin cost Ksh 16.000.

“Pamela refused to pay for expenses on the grave and argued that she never gave orders that cement be used to prepare the grave”, Willy said.

Willy said that Pamela had already separated with Mr. Omiti before the late Mzee left for Kenya and that under the circumstances, she had no mandate to fund raise on behalf of the Omiti family. He said that Pamela contributed to the arrest of Mr. Omiti by Swedish police before the late Mzee was jailed prior to his last trip to Kenya late last year after he left prison.

“Kenyans should not send a coin to her bank account”, he said.

When contacted for comment, Pamela said that Willy is lying and that it was her who sorted out all bills during the Omiti funeral. 

Willy has said that there is an “Open House” at his residence everyday to mourn and raise funds for the funeral. His address is Söderbyparkväg 10 at Handen in Hanninge (Bus number 830). Take off station is at Kvarntorpv and he can be reached at 0704444921 for any further information on the issue.

Okoth Osewe.

March 12, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment

ODM-K Scandinavia To Pick Presidential Candidate On April 14th

Members of ODM-K Scandinavia will pick up their preferred Presidential candidate on Saturday April 14th 2007 at the Wananchi Pavillion in Stockholm. The decision was reached at by the Party’s Executive committee which met on Saturday March 10th at Wananchi Pavilion.

Majority of Committee members think that the issue of the Party’s preferred Presidential candidate needs to be sorted out because it is subverting debate about Party building and diverting attention on how the Party can help ODM-Kenya seize power this December when General elections will be held in Kenya.

“All paid up ODM-KS members will be informed in writing about the issue and invited to vote for their preferred candidate”, Mr. Munala, the Party’s Secretary, told KSB.

According to information availed to KSB, voting will be by secret ballot while the results will be announced the same day.

“members of ODM-KS are supporting different Presidential candidates and for us to focus on how to help the mother Party win elections in December, we need to put the issue of Presidential candidate behind us”, Mr. Munala told KSB, adding that those who think that ODM-K is on the brink of collapse will be in for a big surprise.

He said that if the candidate picked by ODM-KS is not the same candidate supporters in Kenya decide on, the Scandinavia branch will respect this verdict and move on to elections as a united force.

“As a Party branch, we have a right to decide on a candidate and by deciding on the date of doing so, we are operating within our democratic space”, Mr. Munala told KSB.

The Party’s leadership believes that it needs to take a position on the issue of Presidential candidate as a matter of urgency because the same issue has been the source of constant animosity and suspicions in ODM-Kenya.

“The issue is dividing ODM-Kenya supporters and for the Scandinavian branch, we believe that picking a candidate as soon as possible is a step in the right direction”, Mr. Munala said.

Party members will decide between Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, William Ruto, Najib Balala, Uhuru Kenyatta, Nazlin Omar, Musalia Mudavadi and Julia Ojiambo who all want to be the Party’s torch bearer. Mr. Munala told KSB that voting for the candidates by ODM-KS members was the only democratic way of resolving the issue in Scandinavia.

He said that ODM-KS members are politically mature and that they are in a position to handle the issue effectively. He said that members of his Party respected differences of choice especially on the issue of Presidential candidate but that once the Party picks up its choice, all members should be able to unite behind the candidate.

The Committee meeting was Chaired by Mrs Hellen Opwapo, the Party’s Chairlady while it was attended by all Party officials.

The Committee also prepared a list of activities the party will undertake in the coming weeks. The meeting resolved that in the coming period, the Party’s leadership will concentrate on consolidating its membership, recruit new members, organizing sessions for political education, fund raising to finance the newly opened ODM-KS Office in Stockholm and coming up with new ideas on how the Narc government could be brought down from power.

Okoth Osewe

March 11, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment