Afro-Jam To Stage Live Show at Rågsved on Saturday
African Night! AFRICAN NIGHT!
Live music & drums, Saturday 6th February from 21.00-06.00 hrs.
Tube Station-Rågsved:
Venue: Rågsveds Folketshus.
On stage: Africa Faréta Pablo Machine; Vumbi Dekula and Yaya Sella.
Top African Dee Jeys; Dj Jackson; Dj Nganda and the notorious Dj Jimmy.
Entre 50:- SEK
More info at: www.afrojam.se or
www.afrojam.podomatic.com.
All are Welcome!
Jane Nyakairo Says “Thank You Very Much”
Jane Nyakairo would like to thank everybody who attended the ”open House” cum Prayer meeting that she had called at her residence following the death of her Sister in Law. Speaking to KSB, Nyakairo said that the meeting reached its key objective of helping her spouse travel to Kenya to attend the funeral of his sister.
Nyakairo also corrected a posting at KSB which indicated that it was her who was set to travel to Kenya. In setting the record straight, she said that it was her spouse who was to travel and not her. Her spouse left for Kenya on the morning of Saturday January 30th and is currently in Kenya.
Nyakairo said that she will continue to be in Stockholm and anybody who comes across her should not question her why she never traveled home after the Prayer meeting. She said that it was important for her to point out this because in the past, some Kenyans had called others to raise funds claiming that they wanted to travel home to attend a funeral but later failed to travel thereby raising many questions.
Okoth Osewe
Lazima Serikali ya Kibaki na Raila Iwajibike
Makala ya Nguvu ya Hoja kwa KSB Jumapili Januari 31, 2009
na Ndugu Mwandawiro Mghanga
Ndugu Mwandawiro Mghanga
Sasa ya mno. Hatuwuwezi kuvumilia tena. Sharti serikali ya Rais Mwai Kibaki na Waziri Mkuu Raila Odinga iwajibike. Lazima tuelezwe kinagaubaga ni nani hasa ambaye ameiba pesa za kuhakikisha kuwa idadi kubwa ya watoto nchini wanapata fursa ya kupata elimu ya msingi na hata ya upili kupitia kwa mpango wa ruzuku maalumu inayotolewa na serikali. Sasa ruzuku hiyo imeibwa na mafisaa wa serikali wenyewe na hivi sasa maelfu ya watoto kote nchini wako katika hatari ya kukosa elimu.
Na hata wakipata elimu, itakuwa ni elimu bure maana hakuna fedha za kugharamia mahitaji ya elimu bora, hasa kwa watoto wa wananchi wengi ambao ni makabwela na mafukara. Kwani serikali za Wingereza na Marekani ambazo zinatoa fedha nyingi za kugharamia ruzuku ya elimu ya kuhakikisha kuwa kila mtoto ana fursa ya angalawa kuenda darasani zimeamua kusitisha kutoa misaada yao. Nami nakubaliana nao, wanawezaje kuendelea kutoa pesa ambazo hazifikii lengo lake na badala yake zinaibwa na watu serikalini ambao wanakua mamilionea kwa uporaji na ufisadi huu.
Umma wa Kenya unastahili kukasirika zaidi kuliko wafadhili. Kwanza ni makosa kwa serikali kuendelea kufanya mipango ya elimu inayotegemea kuendeshwa na wafadhili wa kigeni. Pili ni vibaya kwamba hadi sasa hakuna hatua yoyote ile iliyochukuliwa na serikali dhidi ya wale waliyoiba pesa hizi. Na tusiambiwe kwamba wezi hawa katika idara ya elimu na kwingineko hawajulikani. Polisi wapo; kitengo cha polisi cha uchunguzi wa uhalifu (CID) kipo; taasi ya huduma za ujasusi wa kitaifa (NIS) ipo; afisi ya mkuu wa sheria ipo; macho ya wananchi yapo; na hata tume ya kupambana dhidi ufisadi ipo – taasisi zote hizi haziwezi kushindwa kujua ni nani aliyeiba pesa za serikali. Je, pamoja na ukweli huu mbona serikali ya Kibaki na Raila inakataa kuwachukulia hatua wanaohusika?
Mbona inaendelea kuwalinda wezi na matapeli wakati raia wanaumia? Au ni kwa sababu watoto na wajukuu wao ambao wanasoma shule za kibinafsi hawana shida? Ina maana gani kuendelea kuwa na serikali ambayo imejaa ufisadi na wafisadi? Lazima Kibaki na Raila wawajibike mara moja, wala hatuwezi kukubali waendelee kujitia hamnazo na kupuuza maoni yetu.
Hatua iliyochukuliwa na serikali ya kutumia shilingi milioni arobaini kumahamisha Sheilk Abdullah al Faisal kutoka Kenya hadi Jamaica ni ya ujinga, utapeli na ya ufujaji wa pesa za umma. Wala si dhani inakusudiwa kulinda usalama wa kitaifa kuliko kujipendekeza kwa mabeberu wa kimataifa na kuhatarisha usalama wa nchi yetu kwa sababu ambazo hatujui. Si wezi kumuhukumu raia huyo wa Jamaica kwa kuwa tu tumeambiwa na mabeberu kuwa yuko kwa orodha ya magaidi. Orodha yenyewe imefanywa na nani na ina ukweli gani? Hatujaelezwa Faisal amefanya nini, lini na wapi ndipo akawekwa katika orodha ya watu hatari ulimwenguni? Na ikiwa ni gaidi hatari jinsi tunavyoambiwa, mbona yuko huru nchini kwao Jamaica na aliingia nchini kwetu kihalali na akafanya mambo yake hadharani bila kuvunja sheria za nchi yetu. Mbona serikali inataka kutufanya taifa la kuvunja haki za binadamu wanaotembelea nchi yetu. Mbona serikali hii inafanya mikakati ya usalama kutokana na uvumi unaoenezwa na wakolonimamboleo? Wageni wanaostahili kuchukuliwa hatua ni wale wanaonyemelea na kuingia nchini na kuishi bila kujitambulisha kwa serikali. Aidha, hakuna serikali au mtu yoyote mwema anaependelea ugaidi na magaidi.
Lakini kumpachika mtu jina la ugaidi bila ushahidi wowote na kumdhulumu bure ni kitendo ambacho hakiwezi kuvumiliwa na wale wenye busara na ustarabu. Katika hatua za kishenzi na uhange za kukabiliana na Faisal, ambazo zilizua zogo lililosababisha maafa, majeraha, uharibifu wa mali na watu kukamatwa na kufungwa, waliyofurahia ni nani? Ni al-Shababu ambao walifaidi kipropaganda kwa kutangazwa kwamba wana wafuasi Kenya na uwezo wa kusababisha na kuathiri mambo Nairobi. Kisha biashara ya utalii Kenya ikazidi kupata madhara kutokana na sera za kiusalama za kijinga za serikali ya Kibaki na Raila.
Nayo yanayofanya na wabunge Naivasha ni wazimu mtupu. Si ajabu kuwa wengi wa wabunge wanaoshughulikia urekebishaji wa katiba huko Naivasha ni watu ambao hawajashiriki katika harakati za kidemokrasi nchini tangu uhuru. Ni watu ambao walikuwa viongozi wa serikali ya imla na walichuma mabilioni kutokana na ufisadi, ukabila na uporaji wa mali ya umma uliyokuwa ukiendelea katia serikali za KANU za Kenyatta na Moi. Wengi wa wabunge wanaojitia kutuandikia katiba ni wale waliyorithi mali na mashamba ya wizi kutoka kwa baba zao na wanaoendelea na utamaduni wa ubakuaji. Na huku wachache waliyokuwa wazalendo jana wakiangalia na kukubali, wanyonyaji na wapinga maendeleo wanafanya kazi ya kuandika katiba ya kulinda na kuendeleza utamaduni wa imla, unyonyaji, uporaji na uvunjaji wa hali za binadamu. Wako tayari kutilia manani maoni ya mabeberu kuliko yale ya wananchi wa Kenya. Ni wasaliti.
Wala hakuna aliyewatuma Naivasha kutuandikia katiba. Kazi hii ilifanywa kitambo na wananchi wenyewe kitambo hadi kufikia kilele chake kwa kongamano za Bomazi na uainishaji na Kamati ya Wataalamu. Wamefanya kazi ambayo si yao na wakavuruga na kuharibu kilelelezo cha katiba. Badala ya mfumo wa urais uliyoko sasa wamependekeza mfumo wa urais wa kifalme.
Wameondoa haki halisi za binadamu, utamaduni wa kitaifa, tume ya ardhi, haki za jamii juu ya ardhi zao na mengi ya kulinda haki za wengi ambao ni mafukara. Kwa vile ni matajiri na wana wa waporaji wanahakikisha katiba italinda mali ya binafsi na kupinga mali ya umma. Wengine hata wamethubutu kupendekeza kuwa katiba inayoandikwa Naivasha ipitishwe bungeni na iwe katiba mpya ya kitaifa pasina kura zamaoni. Tupende tusipende. Lo, kumbe harakati urekebishaji katiba hazijakaribia kuisha!
Mwandawiro Mghanga, Barua pepe: mwandawiro2002(at)yahoo.com
Jane Nyakairo Has Lost Her Sister in Law
Sadness and mourning has once again gripped Kenya-Stockholm following the passing of Jane Nyakairo’s Sister in Law. Kenyans, friends and well wishers are invited to an “Open House” cum Prayer Meeting today, Friday 29th January to assist Nyakairo to travel to Kenya to attend the funeral. The address is Röntgenvägen 5, 10th Floor in Flemmingsberg. Further information can be obtained through: 0762105600.
KSB sends deep condolences to the family of Jane Nyakairo which has just been struck by tragedy. We hope that the family will have the courage to go through this difficult moment of great shock and sorrow.
Okoth Osewe
Wafula Buke Should Stop Living In The Past
Wafula Buke has published an unwarranted and unjustified broadside against the distinguished Miguna Miguna that cannot go unchallenged. Apart from green envy that reeks throughout Buke’s article, “Miguna, while you were away (The Standard, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010; Sunday Express, January 24-30, 2010; Weekly Citizen, January 25-31, 2010), the diatribe is replete with factual errors and misrepresentations. Clearly, Buke is enraged by something. But we will restrict this rebuttal to facts, which, obviously, Buke find very difficult to handle.
Buke accuses Miguna of three things: First, that in his recent articles on William Ruto and the KKK grouping, Miguna did not acknowledge that Buke was the chair of the Students Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) while Miguna was the Finance Secretary and that Buke was jailed for five years while Miguna and other student leaders were released after spending weeks in incommunicado detention in Nyayo House in 1987. Second, Buke asserts that those like Miguna who subsequently fled from Kenya, completed their studies and established themselves professionally abroad have no liberation credentials and deserve no recognition as they chose degrees rather than military training. And thirdly, that Miguna is an “opportunist” who returned from exile after the 2007 elections to take positions they are ill equipped and qualified for.
At the outset, it is imperative to mention that Buke is currently employed as a personal assistant to the agriculture minister, William Ruto. This fact ought to have been disclosed to readers so that they could place his diatribe against Miguna in proper perspective. As well, The Standard newspaper allowed itself to be used as the launching pad of an unfair personal attack on Miguna. Miguna’s articles that Buke purports to be responding to were published in The Star; not The Standard. Although Buke’s poisoned chalice was classified as “news analysis”, there was neither news nor analysis in that invective. Buke failed to pinpoint any specific article or portions that he had problems understanding.
Let’s start at the beginning. Miguna’s articles were not about Buke. So, he had no obligation to say anything about Buke. In November 1987, when Buke was a third-year BA student and chair of SONU; Miguna was a second-year BA student, finance secretary of SONU and managing editor of the students’ newspaper, Campus Mirror. After three weeks of incommunicado detention at Nyayo House, Miguna and four other student leaders were released from detention without charge because there was no evidence against them. They were, however, expelled from the University. Shortly thereafter, Miguna fled into exile where he successfully obtained three degrees; BA, LLB and LLM. Miguna became a barrister, solicitor and mediator in Canada where he practiced law for 14 years before returning to Kenya. Miguna also published three books, one in which be lionized Buke. Are these the kind of achievements Miguna should be ashamed of?
Court records disclose that unlike Miguna, Buke was tried, convicted and jailed based primarily on his “confession” to the “crimes” alleged. Was Miguna responsible for Buke’s confession and incarceration?
Buke claims that his girlfriend aborted five times when he was in jail. As sad as that sounds, why is Buke blaming Miguna and not Moi?
In November 1987, William Ruto was a first-year BSc student; three years behind Buke who had repeated twice by that time. Twenty three years later, Buke is one of the personal assistants to Ruto while Miguna is a special advisor to the Prime Minister of Kenya, a published author and a licensed lawyer both in Canada and in Kenya. Between the two former comrades, who should Kenyans be proud of?
When Buke was released from prison, he fled to Uganda, where he was, once again, jailed briefly for embellishing his story to the Ugandan authorities. After the Ugandans released him, he crossed into Tanzania, but only found Miguna’s trails there. Unable to convince the UNHRC to recognize him as a refugee, Buke returned to Kenya, crest-fallen and became a political-hand-for-hire by people like Cyrus Jirongo and William Ruto. Is Buke blaming Miguna for his failures? Is that why he is writhing with jealousy at what Miguna has achieved?
It is true Miguna has been prolific in his incisive political analysis on topical issues, which Buke cannot match. That’s not new for many of us who have known him since our student days. Buke knows that Miguna was the ideological and philosophical backbone of SONU during his time. That’s why he was elected the managing editor of the Campus Mirror. Unlike Buke who was a below-average student, Miguna was always the top of his class. No wonder he graduated with distinction with two of his three degrees. Unsurprisingly, Buke was readmitted to the University of Nairobi more than ten years ago but has been unable to complete his undergraduate studies. If he wants to blame someone for his failures, why not blame former president Moi?
My friend Google tells me that Miguna was the founding Coordinator of the Committee for Democracy in Kenya (CDK); a pro-democracy organization in Canada whose members included veteran liberation generals like Dr. Willy Mutunga, the late Dr. Odhiambo Mbai, Onyango Oloo and Adongo Ogony. We are also aware of the contributions the exiled ANC veterans like Govan Mbeki, Chris Hani and others made towards the liberation of South Africa. Is Buke saying our liberation was fought and won in our prisons?
Buke has very low opinion of thousands of Kenyans who risked everything to flee into exile to avoid persecution. He denigrates their contributions to the liberation struggle. However, apart from being a former prisoner and SONU leader, what exactly are Buke’s achievements? What significant contributions has he made to the struggle? Or are we to take it that being a jailbird is itself a contribution? Does Buke know what it takes for a political refugee to get three first-class degrees abroad?
Buke attempts to gloss over his perennial chumminess with retrogressive forces by claiming that while Miguna was away, he [Buke] adopted new strategies and built new alliances in order to defeat the Moi/Kanu dictatorship. The problem is that the Rutos, Jirongos and Kalonzo’s of this world that he has been associating with since coming from jail have never been involved in any initiative for genuine positive change in Kenya. It is possible, like his byline proclaims that Buke is a “perennial struggler.” A struggler for pennies from the deep-pockets of looters, maybe; but definitely not a struggler for not fundamental transformation of Kenya.
We are also curious about Buke’s views on and involvement in the recent unfair attacks on Miguna by PNU that he refers to approvingly to. Could it be that the envious Buke is so jealous about Miguna’s achievements that he would rather assist PNU in their evil schemes?
It is unfortunate that people who have nothing to offer except their failed lives have conveniently conspired with the enemies of change to attempt to undermine Miguna’s undiluted commitment for the liberation of Kenya. But they should know that Kenyans are very proud of Miguna’s past and present contributions. No amount of envy, jealousy or propaganda will change that. Lastly, Mr. Buke, even my three-year old daughter knows that Miguna returned to Kenya before the 2007 elections. The evidence is in your TV clips.
Ongoro Wamunga
The author a Nairobi based strategic planner, consultant and novelist. He was expelled from Kenyatta University during the same period as Miguna. wamungapaul@yahoo.com
Vumbi at Lilla Wien on Friday/Saturday
Place: Lilla Wien Bar & Restaurant
Time: 21.00-01.00
Date: 29-30/January/2010
Friday-Saturday
Address: Swedenborgsgatan 20
Pendeltåg: Stockholm Södra
A Terrorist Attack On Kenya Is Inevitable/Flashback
Pro Al Faisal demo in Nairobi
“For the terrorists, there may be no reason for treating the Kenyan government as a regime that may change its attitude towards Al Qaida and for this reason, it may be time for Kenya to pay through a well coordinated terrorist attack. The terrorists may decide to strike before June when sources say that President Barack Obama may travel to Kenya on his way to South Africa to open the World Cup. The period between now and June is therefore critical” (KSB: January 27th 2010).
It may be a matter of time before a new terrorist bomb explodes in Kenya especially in the city of Nairobi because extremist Islamic fundamentalists now have enough reasons to attack Kenya once again. Since 1998, Kenya has had two serious terrorist attacks “to teach the country a lesson” and now, we may be on the verge of experiencing another attack unless something dramatic happens. Why?
The Abdulla al Faisal fiasco has left Kenya very vulnerable especially after the government used its security forces to attack Jamia Mosque (the symbol of Islam in Nairobi) during a demonstration by Muslim youths to protest against the arrest and harassment of Al Faisal who arrived in the country incognito and quickly took over the face of “Muslim persecution” in Kenya by the government. His presence in the country was like a “wake up call” to Muslims that the government of Kenya hates them.
Al Faisal had not committed any known crime in Kenya at the time of his arrest and attempted deportation, save for the existence of his name on the US list of terror suspects. The number of Muslims who attended the pro-Al Faisal demo indicates that the Islamic Cleric had support of ordinary Muslims across the country regardless of what their leaders were saying. For Al Qaida, it is unlikely that the mistreatment of Al-Faisal at the hands of the Kenyan authorities will go unpunished and this is one reason why Kenyans ought to be bracing themselves for a vicious attack. It will be a sign of weakness on the part of Al Qaida if it cannot respond and send a clear message to the Kenyan government through a huge explosion that will send Kenyans running helter-skelter in Nairobi or elsewhere in a moment of shock.
Traditionally, Islamic militants rightfully view the Kenyan government as a puppet regime which takes orders from both Washington and London. Following the bloody US war of aggression in Iraq, Kenyan Muslims suspected of having links with terrorists became victims of repeated renditions to Guantanamo and today, some Muslim victims have not been repatriated to Kenya. Al Qaida has never punished Kenya for the renditions. Although Al Faisal passed unscathed through other African countries like Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Angola, Al Qaida (and Muslims alike) may interpret his nabbing in Kenya as the product of American/British influence thus the need to teach the Kenyan government a lesson one more time. Al Qaida is not known to send delegations to State House but to attack with bombs.
Our country is the headquarters of CIA, M16 and Mossad operations in East and Central Africa while in North Eastern Province, both American and British troops have unlimited access to vast and cordoned-off military zones where US/British soldiers can train at will and on a routine basis as they rape Kenyan women. American war ships are known to dock at the Port of Mombasa so that their troops can relieve tension with Kenyan women at the Coast. According to Osama bin Laden, the 1998 August 7 terrorist bomb which destroyed US Embassy in Kenya and in which more than 200 Kenyans perished was a punishment by Al Qaida for Kenya’s link with the United States. Osama has just sent an audio message to Obama to expect continued Al Qaida attacks and targeting Kenya, an American ally and basically, a sitting duck, could be a good start.
The terrorist bombing of Paradise Hotel in Mombasa in 2002 by members of Al Qaida was to punish the country for its links with the Israelis and the choice of Paradise Hotel was not accidental because it was being owned by an Israeli. Since the Nairobi and Paradise Hotel bomb blasts, there has been no further and serious punishment of Kenya because Al Qaida may have thought that the Kenyan government had learnt good lessons. Unfortunately, the government has continued to act provocatively and in a way that suggests that it never got the message. This is another reason why a terrorist attack on Kenyan soil is inevitable.
During the Al Faisal demo in Nairobi, reports indicated that five Muslims were shot dead by police. According to a statement released through revolutionmuslim.com (which has posted the first interview with Al Faisal since his arrival in Jamaica) the prayer of Al Qaida is that Allah bestow upon the slain Kenyan Muslims the honor of martyrs. Be that as it may, Al Qaida will, most likely, want to revenge their deaths and there is no better way of doing so than exploding a huge car bomb at Nairobi’s Central Business District to kill as many Kenyans as possible or sending a suicide bomber to blast one of the five star hotels to kill “Kafirs”.
Kenya is at the mercy of the terrorists
The mass arrest of Muslims in Nairobi in the name of “flushing out terrorists” was obviously a provocation of Muslims and an open invitation of Al Qaida to attack Kenya. The government arrested people indiscriminately and without evidence that they were terrorists. Majority of them were of Somali origin, the home of Al Shabbab. To fuel the fire, Professor George Saitoti, the Minister of Internal Security, claimed at a News conference that members of Al Shabbab, a terrorist group staging an armed resistance in Somalia, had not just infiltrated the Nairobi demo but had traveled all the way from Somalia to organize it.
This claim may anger Al Shabbab members and since majority of those who were arrested were of Somali origin, Al Shabbab may actually find it necessary to set up a real base in Kenya to give the government a real experience of what it feels like to have them in town. In an audio message circulated in the Internet, Al Shabbab’s leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Sheik Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr, has promised that his forces will, this time, enter Kenya and cause trouble.
The situation is worsened by the fact that the US State Department and experts alike continue to theorize that Al Qaida is regrouping in both Yemen and the Horn of Africa. Under the circumstances, it may be smart for Al Qaida to begin setting up a new base in Kenya as US anti-terrorist work begins to focus on Yemen and the Horn of Africa. In the eyes of Al Qaida, the “ill treatment” of Muslims in Kenya is reason to prompt better ways of dealing with Kenya and a terrorist attack could be a better signal of things to come.
It is notable that last week, Mr. Leon Edward Panetta, the Head of the CIA, made a clandestine four day visit to Kenya to meet with both Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki. According to media sources, the CIA boss had carried a message to the effect that Al Qaida was regrouping at the Horn of Africa while he is reported to have made recommendations on what needs to be done to curb Al Qaida infiltration in Kenya.
“The CIA boss wanted to ask the country’s leadership to be tougher on terrorism and especially al-Qaeda, who America believes are rebuilding fast in the Horn of Africa”, the East African Standard wrote. It continued: “This follows reports that al Qaeda fighters have begun arriving in Somalia to carry out war against states seen by Islamists to be supported by the West”.
For the terrorists, there may be no reason for treating the Kenyan government as a regime that may change its attitude towards Al Qaida and for this reason, it may be time for Kenya to pay through a well coordinated terrorist attack. The terrorists may decide to strike before June when sources say that President Barack Obama may travel to Kenya on his way to South Africa to open the World Cup. The period between now and June is therefore critical. Attacking when Obama is in the country could be the best propaganda coup for Al Qaida.
Sadly, there is absolutely nothing the Kenyan government will do to stop Al Qaida attacks in Kenya because the government does not have both the intelligence and capacity to stop Al Qaida. The terrorist Movement has defeated attempts by governments like Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and even the United States from stopping their activities and if truth were to be told, Kenya has absolutely no chance even if the United States decides to help. At a time when various commentators are decrying the porousness of our boarders, any sensible observer will agree that the Coalition government will be helpless when Al Qaida decides to strike and this is why Kenyans should brace for an attack sooner rather than later.
The government’s Security intelligence could not even sniff that Al Faisal (a person on US List of terror suspects and who was moving around with his legal Passport) had slipped into the country when security was asleep so how will the Kibaki/Raila government be able to tell that terrorists have sneaked in with a deadly bomb?
To be honest, we are at the mercy of the terrorists and the best the country can do is to wait for the time they will strike and then deal with the casualties. The best preparation the government can make now is to equip hospitals (especially in Nairobi) and prepare paramedics for an emergency occasioned by a huge bomb blast somewhere in the middle of Nairobi city, the seat of Kenya government. The time is ticking…
Okoth Osewe
Joseph Okulo’s Fund Appeal Still On
Following the death of Mr. Joseph Okulo’s (John Holiday) sister and niece in Kenya, the family is still in financial difficulties because of the double tragedy. The deceased have not been buried and under the circumstances, the family continues to maintain an “Open House” at Hörnsgatan 137 in Stockholm. The family has therefore appealed to friends, well wishers and sympathizers for help.
Contacts who cannot be able to attend the “Open House” can forward any assistance to Mr. Okulo’s account number at: SEB 52360 00 4417. The family regrets a small error on account number circulated last week. The error has now been corrected. Any assistance will highly be appreciated.
Okoth Osewe
Jacinter Njoroge’s Email Account Hacked
A hacker has gained access to Mrs. Jacinter Njoroge’s hotmail account and has sent a mail claiming that Jacinter is stuck in London. The mails are being sent to everybody in Jacinter’s address book while the hacker is requesting friends to send 3.000 British pounds to be refunded by Jacinter once she is out of trouble. The email reads as follows:
“Did you get my previous message ,I sent you an email some hours ago,I left for United Kingdom and i was robbed on my way to the hotel please can you learn me 3000 Pounds today i will return it as soon as i arrive.You can send it through Western Union with my information below
Receivers Name: Jacinta Njoroge-lahti
location/Address:35A Gloucester Road, London, United Kingdom. I will wait to get the Western Union senders details with the MTCN number.Please take this as urgent.
Thanks Auntie J”
This hacking technique is common and last year, Catherine, a Kenya-Stockholmer also fell victim. The hacker gains access to logs of an email address through “Phishing”, a technique in which the hacker mimics a web site or sends mail purportedly from a mail server admin asking for account password on ground that emails are in the process of being verified. The hacker warns that failure to provide details may result in an email account being closed in two weeks.
Jacinter would like to inform all Kenyans, friends and contacts that she is safe in Stockholm and not in any problem. She said that contacts should ignore the email. She is currently unable to access her email account because the hacker has changed the password. She is trying to sort out the problem.
Okoth Osewe
Miguna Miguna Debate: Reply to Wafula Buke
Despite progress in Kenya's democratization process, millions of Kenyans are starving to death
There is no doubt that Miguna Miguna’s Canadian-Kenyan citizenship has plunged him into a serious political crisis and opened him to attacks from left, right and center. Given his circumstances, it was fool-hardy for Miguna Miguna to have abandoned his Kenyan citizenship, assumed Canadian citizenship, proceeded to Kenya to illegally acquire a Kenyan Passport and stand for election on the platform of an illegal dual citizenship.
After losing election, it was equally uninspiring for Miguna to have proceeded to assume high political office expecting to get away with the illegal act of acquiring dual citizenship simply because he was serving in the Office of Prime Minister, Hon Raila Odinga. Miguna’s critics are right in questioning his credentials as a defender of the Constitution which he has already violated without recourse.
Miguna’s problems have further been exacerbated by what is perceived by his critics as “sheer arrogance” in his dealings with people and an unwelcome assumption of a “higher moral ground” from where he has supposedly been pontificating and attacking “political opportunists” whom he has allegedly accused of “betraying the struggle”. It is against this background that I wish to respond to Wafula Buke’s onslaught on Miguna Miguna titled “Miguna Miguna, while you were away…” published in the East African Standard (Sunday, January 24, 2010).
The likes of Wafula Buke, former graduates of Nyayo House torture chambers, former detainees, former political prisoners currently inside or outside government, the fraternity of former Kenyan political exiles (at home and in foreign bases) together with numerous unsung heroes/heroines (dead or alive) of the struggle for democracy and human rights in Kenya over the past decades deserve sincere recognition for their invaluable contribution to the struggle in Kenya. There is no way of compensating these patriots for the enormous human sacrifices they made so that Kenya could be where it is today. Regardless of their current stations in life, to undermine their contribution to the struggle is unacceptable and politically suicidal.
Equally prominent in the list are millions of resilient people of Kenya – workers, peasants, students and, most importantly, the youth without whose contribution “in the theatre of war”, the struggle against the one party dictatorship under the authoritarian regime of former President Daniel arap Moi could not have been won. It is the Kenyan youth who took to the streets to pay with their lives for Kenya to become a multi-party state at the height of the Saba Saba uprising.
Back in exile, I cannot count the number of demonstrations we held outside the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm and Statements we released as part of the contribution for change in Kenya. Throughout the 90s, President Moi could not travel to Sweden because of threats of being followed by Kenyans here to remind him about human rights violations, theft of public funds through corruption, political assassinations, ruling by the mafia, extra-judicial executions and a host of other vices. We organized specific demonstrations to demand for the release of the likes of Koigi wa Wamwere and other political prisoners and the repeal of section 2A of the Kenyan Constitution so that Kenya could become a multi-party State. In our struggles, we viewed ourselves, not just as Kenyan exiles but also as part of the protracted political struggle in Kenya.
Whether or not they are in exile, the contribution of Kenyans abroad to the struggle for a better Kenya cannot be rubbished simply because one Miguna Miguna has found himself on the wrong side of the law. Through his writing, and until his gaffe, Miguna made very significant contributions to the struggle in Kenya. It has to be appreciated that writing is part and parcel of the revolutionary struggle regardless of one’s location.
In as much as it was wrong for Miguna Miguna to have assumed that every Comrade active during the anti-Moi struggle has metamorphosized into an opportunist, one does not have to be in Kenya to make contributions to the struggle otherwise the late Ayatollah Khomeini could not have surfaced from exile in Paris, France to assume power following the historic Iranian revolution in 1979. The African National Congress leadership was, for a long time, based abroad as Mandela and others languished in prison.
Eritrea is the newest State in Africa but during the country’s 30 year secessionist guerilla war, the financial support and political leadership of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front was based abroad with a history of having been founded in Cairo, Egypt. Dalai Lama is leading a struggle for greater autonomy for Tibet from exile. The late PLO leader, Yasar Arafat, led the Palestinian struggle from exile, time when he was also called a terrorist by agents of Western imperialism. The leadership of Hezbollah has operated from exile since its founding in the early 80s.
The Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) still operates from exile despite the capture in Kenya of its leader, Abdullah Ochalan by the Turkish regime assisted by the CIA. Examples in which serious political work has been done from outside the country abound. To assume that the struggle can only be waged when one’s foot is in Kenya is simplistic and ignores both documented experience and changing dynamics of political struggles across the world.
What happened after re-introduction of political pluralism?
Instead of exploiting the unfortunate “Miguna tragedy” to undermine contributions made by Kenyans abroad in the struggle for our country’s emancipation, serious questions need to be asked as to what happened because despite the enormous gains in Kenya’s liberation struggle by way of re-introduction of political pluralism and the defeat of the Moi/KANU dictatorship, millions of Kenyans are facing starvation.
The installation of the Coalition government led by former detainees and political prisoners has not ended corruption, tribalism, mass unemployment, deplorable living standards, stagnant wages in the face of rising inflation, collapsed social infrastructure, land grabbing by the rich, internal exploitation, external dependencies, nepotism, cronyism and other massive failures only identical with the vanquished Moi dictatorship. In his analysis, Miguna’s limitation is that he has not been clarifying why despite the enormous democratic gains in the last two decades, many Kenyans cannot put food on the table, send their children to school or have access to medical services because the public health care system has collapsed.
In the current dispensation, no Party is pointing out that the massive “delivery failure” after Moi’s defeat is intertwined with the failure to defeat capitalism, a system of government in which greed and wealth grabbing by the rich is an acceptable policy. In criticizing former Comrades and consequently drawing their wrath, Miguna’s fundamental oversight appears to have been his inability to point out the wanton ideological lethargy of these Comrades that has seen them retreat into NGO’s, set up ethnic/reformist parties when the country is ripe for revolution and their failure to attack capitalism, a blood-sucking system which needs to be overthrown.
After the Saba Saba uprising, political Parties were set up but they all practiced politics from the point of view of a rotten version of deformed capitalism, just like KANU. What is known about capitalism is that it is a rich man’s system of government that promotes corruption. It is a system designed to produce a few millionaires and millions of poor people. After the much celebrated democratic gains paid for with sweat and blood of thousands of Kenyans, isn’t it time to address the question of a failing political system managed by a minority class of wealth grabbers answerable to nobody but themselves?
Throughout the developed world, politics is about ideological competition but in our country, we remain stuck with ethnic politics, a weakness that has blocked the emergence of class politics at the electoral level and subsequently blocked workers (the producers of wealth) from participating in politics “which has been left to politicians”. Do our liberators lack perspective? Today, Kenya is probably the only country in the world without an Official opposition in Parliament and this condition has been accepted.
Our economy continues to be on the hands of Western multi-national companies and no Party is complaining or pointing out to the masses of the Kenyan people that this is a serious mistake that is hugely responsible for our problems. Almost all our distribution networks, the transport industry, telecommunication industry, key financial institutions (including insurance companies and major Banks), Nairobi Stock Exchange together with leading industries are either foreign controlled or on the hands of local capitalist sharks and their allies.
The country’s wealth is therefore being repatriated abroad with the government acting as a facilitator under a liberalized economic system of government where every profitable public property is on sale under the privatization program. This is why our people are languishing in poverty. Apparently, all established parties are not questioning this defective arrangement. Our politics is controlled by the United States and Britain so we are the leading exporters of flowers in the world presided over by a foreign controlled horticultural industry when our people are starving to death especially in Eastern and North Eastern Provinces because we cannot grow maize.
Despite his current difficult situation brought by his own political myopia, Miguna and others should not apologize for having fled the country to exile. Kenyans involved in Kenyan politics from their bases abroad must also defend their positions because they constitute a “Constituency” that can no longer be ignored in the country’s liberation struggle.
No one owns the struggle, the country has moved on and it needs contributions from everywhere as the struggle continues. Veterans of the struggle should not sit on their laurels or resort to blanket condemnation of contributors from outside the country because despite progress, the country is still under the York of neo-colonialism and imperialist domination. Miguna Miguna has made his mistakes but let us look at the wider picture, stop finger pointing and chest thumping and build a revolutionary Movement or Party that can give direction to millions of struggling Kenyans looking for a way out of the political, social and economic crisis.
Okoth Osewe
Take A Break!
African origin of the concept of Ambulance; If you think you are swimming in problems, wait…
Kenyan Baby-Sitter Needed
UPDATE: KSB would like to report that the lady has found a suitable candidate out of a list of contacts and this position is no longer available. She has called KSB and reported that the vacancy is now filled. We take this opportunity to thank everybody who responded and wish them well.
A Kenyan lady is looking for a baby-sitter to be engaged on a long term contract. Interested candidates will negotiate the terms and conditions with the lady who is kind, jolly and very organized. Get in touch with KSB (via telephone or email) for a link with the lady.
Okoth Osewe
Chapter Five on Culture Should Remain in Draft Constitution
Ndugu Mwandawiro Mghanga
The Parliamentary Select Committee on constitution has far exceeded its mandate. It is mandated to discuss about the contentious issues in the harmonised draft but instead it has decided to rewrite the draft and messing up an otherwise good draft. Its proposal to remove chapter five from the harmonised draft constitution is regrettable, to say the least. I suspect this decision is brought about by lack of understanding and appreciation of the meaning of culture, especially in the context of national freedom, values and development.
As rightly put by the draft, culture is the foundation of our nation, Kenya. Kenya is composed of a diversity of ethnic groups, languages, religions, customs, geographical locations and ways of lifes -which is culture. Culture is all that has been created and continues to be created by human beings as distinguished from that human beings find in nature. It is about life and society, history on earth. All human activities that manifest their conscious existence on earth is culture. This means that in the process of producing their material needs, people create and recreate culture.
In other words, in the struggle for survival, freedom and development, which is in fact increasing ability to make a living from nature, human beings are ever engaged in the activities of producing and reproducing material culture. And while producing material culture they, simultaneously, produce intellectual culture. Intellectual culture is the manifestation of peoples’ consciousness in nature and society. It is the historical achievements of people in science, education, literature and art. It is about the morals, customs, philosophy, beliefs, values and relations of the people concerned. Intellectual culture is also embodied and expressed by language that also contains and manifests the psychology of a people. It is for this reason that the draft constitution seeks to conserve and develop Kiswahili as our national language and the languages of our various ethnic groups.
Culture can therefore be summarised as the sum total of material and intellectual achievements of a society constituting its traditions and level of civilization that forms the basis for further development and progress. All Kenyan ethnic groups have, over time, created their material and intellectual culture to a lesser or greater degree respectively, depending on the historical, environmental, geographical and other material conditions that exist at a particular place and time. That is why all ethnic groups have always had something to contribute to Kenya’s national culture while assimilating the cultures of others into their own. It is also for the same reason that we should be proud of and celebrate our ethnic and cultural diversity.
Perhaps the recent post election violence may have influenced the MPs in Naivasha to remove the chapter on culture that celebrates the diversity of Kenya’s ethnic groups, languages and cultures. Some people conclude and suggest that doing away with our ethnic identities, cultures and languages and, instead, adopting the use of only Kiswahili and English will end tribalism.
During the national census there were attempts to misadvise Kenyans to avoid answering the question about their ethnic identity. In other words, Kenyan ethnic diversity is seen as a curse rather than a blessing and is even blamed for the post-election violence. Yet the fact is that there is nothing wrong with a person’s ethnic identity. On the contrary, it is not only inevitable but also desirable. What we should fight against is negative ethnicity – ethnic chauvinism – that destroys our common nationhood, humanity, democracy and peace by making us hate, despise, exploit, oppress and discriminate against other ethnic groups.
The truth of the matter is that negative ethnicity has always been used by the elites of Kenya since the time of colonialism to perpetuate themselves in power. Just before, during and after national elections, the political and economic elites of the various ethnic groups deliberately provoke negative ethnic feelings and even organise and sponsor violence against other ethnic groups in order to propel and maintain themselves to elective positions.
They do this by pretending to be champions of the political, economic, cultural, land and land resources interests of their ethnic groups, districts or provinces that are purportedly violated by the members of other ethnic groups. And since it is the ideas of those in power that dominate in a given society at a given time and place, ordinary citizens also imbue and even embrace the ideology of tribalism.
Our ethnic and cultural diversity has never been the cause of tribalism. It is the underdevelopment and myriad of injustices and social problems created by the current political and economic system that is to blame. Chapter Five of the harmonised draft should, therefore, remain to conserve culture and cultural diversity that forms the foundation of our Kenya.
Mwandawiro Mghanga, Nairobi Thursday, 21 January 2010
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