Kenya Stockholm Blog

Are KSB Commentators Too Harsh On News Makers?

The case of Cheptoo, a Kenyan refugee facing deportation, is typical of a growing stream of young and energetic Kenyans running away from the country to escape from poverty and deprivation. Cheptoo is not alone. There are several Kenyans in her category who are here but who have already succeeded with their paper work.

Some of these Kenyans could be the same ones undermining her struggle for survival while others have converted it into a subject of ridicule. The case of economic immigrants looking for greener pastures is not unique to Kenyans. The problem with the Cheptoo case is that her strategy is out in the open while it is deemed weak by an assortment of “Kenya-Stockholm” experts who have supposedly examined the details.

The negative comments on the Cheptoo case are based on a growing and vulture-like culture among Kenyans in Stockholm to reduce one another to garbage or non do-gooders. The community is adopting a debased culture of brutality in the face of suffering, celebration in the face of perceived failure, and an inclination towards “adding petrol” to the fire even if it is a Kenyan brother or sister roasting in the furnace to near death.

In the past, it was possible to blame the messenger who was excavating these stories as a matter of pass-time but now, the real hyenas are surfing to feast on each and every calamity that befalls a country man or woman here in Stockholm. I dare say that slowly, I may be emerging as an angel who may one day sit at the right hand of the father because what KSB readers have been treated to since the comment section was opened reduces the main stories to sheer headlines that starves the reader of dirty detail.

Look at what happened after the Hellen story popped up in the open. Her enemies (real or imagined) came out to feast on the sensational details with gusto, occasionally volunteering new and dirty facts in the case as Hellen faced a bashing from left, right and center. Hellen was in the process of making her papers although she may have miscalculated with the Aftonbladet publicity by making statements that were viewed by Kenyans here as undermining the integrity of the Nation and Kenyans in particular. The story was published at KSB as a human interest story which had already been published in a leading Swedish paper but what happened?

Then Mr. Antony Adiwa got into problems with Lenza over a ticketing issue thereby creating a huge crisis which will take time to deal with. This time, Kenyans went back to the Internet archives to dig out a mountain of past errors in the Adiwa business to be brought at KSB for supper. It was a free for all and every commentator made sure that Mr. Adiwa felt the heat. KSB could not stop the comments after shreds of evidence allegedly of wrong doing began to line up one by one. As examples that pointed to wrong doing were poured out, names were also dropped. Adiwa’s failure to counter the allegations only added credence to possible guilt.

Our little Cheptoo and the lust of bachaleros
Now, the reputation of Adiwa is at stake while the reputation of his Agency is hanging on the balance because of fellow Kenyans seeking to get even. Throughout the Adiwa attacks, nobody was heard calling for forgiveness of sins. Members of the Bagarmossen church simply retreated to their apartments instead of providing direction towards possible atonement.

Is there anybody who has travelled to Kenya and came back without a problem with an “Adiwa ticket?” I think so. Did they also come up to defend Adiwa? The answer is no because they were also enjoying the beatings for no apparent reason. There was no stone that was left unturned and even the heavier “Jungu stones” were turned in a moment of rage.

There should be no mistake about this commentary. Kenya-Stockholmers found to be preaching water while sipping red wine should definitely carry their own crosses on the day of crucifixion and KSB will not be there to defend anybody.

Even in Kenya, suspected perpetrators of post election violence will now face a home-made tribunal where they are expected to defend themselves. What is notable is the brutality with which Kenyans in Stockholm are calling for accountability and the lack of mercy even in cases where there has been no direct wrong doing to a particular person. Take the case of Tonny.

He simply said that he was homeless after he was chucked out of his former wife’s house following a stroke attack on the lady. That was enough to open the flood gates of rebuke and ostricization. The family of his ex did not even have to defend themselves for allegedly having thrown Tonny out because there was a whole squadron of commentators to aim and fire missiles of different capacities.

From Tonny’s apparent lamentation, KSB readers learnt more than they had bargained for about Tonny as a person and how his life is allegedly organized. Just like Mr. Adiwa, the usually vocal Tonny has not made a single response to a million accusations. That was after Clay Onyango was treated to lengthy lectures of sorts that do not have to be repeated here. Interestingly, some Kenyans are very happy with the comments because they argue that as you make your bed so must you sleep or tuna on it.

Our little Cheptoo has not just been subjected to a thorough beating but she has become an object of sexual lust by bachaleros thirsting to lay her on their idle and king sized beds that may not have been rocking for weeks. One daring bachalero captured her showering with him in his bath tab on Christmas day. He was even sure to “rise to the occasion” as Cheptoo (whom he christened “Chep”) swings towards the kitchen to make him “that evening tea” and blah blah blah.

Should commentators get away with anything anonymously?
Further, Cheptoo’s picture has gone through an avalanche of analysis and consequently given rise to a deluge of conclusions about her. Although her refugee bait to the Swedish authorities had a village setting which positioned her as a victim fleeing from Female Genital Mutilation, commentators have already poked holes on the story to posit that she looked much more sophisticated to fit into a set up where she could have been hiding in a muddy maize plantation after fleeing from the knife.

She may have weaved her bait with the understanding that the Swedes might not be suspicious with “a case of the knife” at 21 years but commentators may now have jogged the minds of the authorities with presentations to the effect that at 21, she had already passed the “cutting age”.

Application of make-up, well trimmed eye brows, an innocent posture and other additions in her looks were all combined to package her as a disco-oriented stylish urbanite whose roots pointed more to Nairobi than some grass thatched hut near some maize plantation where she claimed, she hid before boarding a plane to Sweden. Yenyewe, picturing her from a maize plantation to a “knife and fork based” supper in KLM cruising at higher altitudes could be hard and people could just have hit the mark.

I sympathized with a fellow blogger who was reduced to “a beast” after he allegedly beat his ex senseless. The dressing down was almost spontaneous while the venom “tasted” like that coming from “rattle snakes”. This blogger, we were told, has been preaching peace in Stockholm but the way he was descended upon must have scared every potential wife beater or molester of women for it was harsh to be exact.

The blogger has not posted anything about the incident at his blog to give direction, a sign that when scandal hits home ground, silence could as well be golden. Some fans questioned why I have not exploited the story to attack the blogger. The answer is that I was already in shock at the sample of attacks by “comment brigades” and I was just too terrified to come online”.

It looks like Kenya-Stockholmers may have to brace for more intelligence and entertainment from the comments section which some people believe, was a sign that “democracy had come to KSB” where Osewe has been the arch dictator. I warned several times that commentary might come with its own complications but some Kenyans took these warnings as defenses.

Now that the commentators are here (just like the green-horns), some readers have began to understand the reality of the new situation at KSB. There will be no room for people to say anything anonymously hoping to get away. The hand of censorship will be at hand to chop down comments that put other people’s reputations at risk without tangible evidence.

A lot of water has already passed under the bridge during the “comments initiation period”. While, readers are encouraged to use the comments section to correct wrong doing, emphasis should be placed on building and not destroying one another because we are very far away from home.

Okoth Osewe

December 18, 2008 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | 6 Comments