Kenya-Stockholm Woman “Comes Back from Hell”
Winnie (L) and best friends having a good time at the party
A Kenyan woman has told KSB that she “has been to hell and back”. Winnie, who is a mother of three, and who had just become a grandmother, said that there is a period when she “lost it” before friends began to desert her. In a stunning revelation when friends paid her homage to welcome her grand-daughter, Winnie said that she wanted the news of her “return from the living hell” in Stockholm published at KSB so that all Kenyans can know about her new status.
Winnie, who is divorced, said that her troubles started when she started losing direction. As a result of frustrations, she narrated to KSB how she sunk into alcoholism and other “bad habits” before she lost her mind completely.
“I was gone and now I am back”, she said as friends who had congregated at her apartment in Norsborg last Saturday congratulated her. She said that losing one’s mind is the most tragic experience a human being can undergo, adding that coming “back to life” is the ultimate victory.
“I became useless and my life became meaningless. Some of my best Kenyan friends then began to desert me”, she told KSB in front of friends who witnessed the dramatic revelations. A top KSB operative had been invited to the Party as a friend of Winnie and when the story appeared to have been served on a golden platter, the operative simply scooped it and here we are.
Many Kenyans who have or continue to undergo negative experiences rarely try to make their experiences public. This is why it was surprising when Winnie accepted to go public. Asked why she wanted her story known, Winnie said that when her mind “was captured by the devil”, many Kenyans knew about it but they refused to help her.
Apart from a few friends (whom she named) and whom, she said, were very helpful during her tribulations, Winnie said that majority of her long-term friends used her tragic predicament to spread negative propaganda about her before dumping her, hoping that she would be transferred to a mental asylum, never to be seen again in Kenya-Stockholm.
Luckily, and with the help of loyal friends, Winnie narrated how she began her long journey “back to the world of normalcy”, the challenges she underwent and how she overcame the difficulties before coming “back to life”. It was a very moving story and as she narrated her ordeal, it was all ears.
Without going into detail about what Winnie said, she stressed that the sad experience had enabled her to separate real friends from fake ones. “All my friends stood by me and I now know them”, she said. The friends who were in attendance had been treated to a heap of Nyama Choma during an out-door grilling session before they retreated into the house when the weather began to misbehave.
Your best friend could be your worst enemy
At first, Winnie’s contacts thought that she had called a “Caai wa mwana” and as information swept across Kenya-Stockholm that a crowd had gathered at Winnie’s apartment to celebrate the birth of her grandchild, mobile phones began to heat up as friends at the Party were mobilized to explain that the Party was an informal “courtesy call” and not a “Caai wa mwana”.
The big problem was that if the occasion took the distinction of a “Caai wa mwana”, it was incumbent that key stake-holders who had not been invited be part of the business. From inquiries that began to pour in, it was clear that “Caai wa mwana” is a very big deal in Kikuyu culture and regardless of Winnie’s personal circumstances, it could not be organized without certain forces being informed. Winnie said that she would soon consult with her relatives in Stockholm to organize a Caai wa mwana so that everybody who was interested could be invited.
Winnie assured all her relatives who were never invited to the Party that when the time for Caai wa mwana comes, they will all be involved at each and every stage of the process. “This is a Party for friends who stood by me at my weakest moment”, she said, adding that her idea was to thank these friends because without their relentless support, she may never have made it back to the “real life” of the living.
With a lot of “opening up” sessions taking center stage as Vinywaji “took over thinking systems”, the Party was a minefield of juicy storos but the KSB agent who was present, was strictly warned not to get out any “hot gossip” that flew in the air during the happy hours. According to insiders, if this agent “loses his senses” and begins to “open up”, the kind of crisis that can be precipitated in Kenya-Stockholm can be of colossal proportions. For this reason, the agent “has kept his mouth closed and lips tight” since leaving the Party. Not even an induction with hot vinywajis has been able to alter his position and this goes a long way to show the level of discipline of KSB agents. Sadly, the pilipili hohos may never hit KSB until they are de-classified some day!
What appeared striking was that in Kenya-Stockholm, when you are in problems, friends may desert you and when you are totally messed up, “good Samaritans” may begin to surface to explain how you could have been helped if Kenyans knew about your problem. With her tribulations having found their way to KSB during critical moments, Winnie said that no one can claim ignorance about her case.
“Some friends who knew about my problem are the same friends who took it to KSB before disappearing into thin air”, she said. Interestingly, she was not bitter with KSB for having covered the story because KSB never named her. She was also positive because since the storo was published here, no one can claim not to have known about it because despite the fact that she was never named, “Wakenya walijua! She congratulated KSB for the good job the blog site was doing in keeping Wakenya “on-toes”. The top KSB operative who was invited to the Party is a long-standing friend of the Winnie family and, according to some revelers, the guest list could have been incomplete without him.
KSB crew takes this opportunity to congratulate Winnie on her brilliant come-back to the world of the living. Winnie is a good example among Wakenya in Stockholm to the effect that despite the difficult circumstances individuals may face, there is always an opportunity for a come-back. The most remarkable observation was the role of friends in Winnie’s come back.
According to the general mood at the Party, friends can either make or break you. The revelations proved Bob Marley’s message that sometimes, “Your best friend could be your worst enemy and your worst enemy your best friend”.
eOkoth Osewe
Stephen’s Graduation Party on Saturday 9th June
Mary Kiringa Mwangi cordially invites Kenyans and friends alike at the graduation Party of her son, Stephen which will take place on Saturday, 9th June 2012. The event will take place at a Lokal in Skarpnäck and the address is Varmfrontsgatan 20. The event begins at 16.00 up to midnight. For further information, ring: 0736894527.
Okoth Osewe
Vumbi Dekula at Little Nairobi: 1-2/June
Akadevu-Music present’s Dekula Band “Ngoma ya Kilo”
Place:Lilla Wien”Little Nairobi”
Date:01-02 June 2012
Time:21.00-01.00
Add:Swedenborgsg.20
Pendel:Södra Station
What Else Did You Do When You Were Holidaying in Kenya?
You are married but reality of “ndogo-ndogos” tempts you into “mpango wa kandos”
Kenya Diasporan back from shags heading to the city in a mission to paint the whole country red during holiday.
I get all sorts of questions via email from Kenyans at home about all sorts of subjects about Kenyans abroad, sometimes with focus in Sweden. I am not usually able to answer all these questions because I don’t have time. Sometimes, I find the attitude of some Kenyans at home towards Kenyans abroad very weird but when I look at some of the issues critically, it becomes apparent that some Kenyans abroad are also responsible for nurturing stereotypical attitudes about the Kenya Diaspora community. Let us begin from the basics.
You are a Kenyan based in Stockholm and you are returning home on holiday. You have been planning every bit of the trip and when you land at JKIA, you are anxious because you want everything to fall into place. During the last one year, you have been saving for the trip and raising KSh 100k to carter for your personal expenses (aka keeping the standard) is very much within your reach. After all, you will, for a break, be living like a King so the budget is fair enough. In any case, why should you go on holiday to face the same hardship oppressed Wananchi are undergoing after vulture politicians have stolen tax payer’s money?
Sending cash home “to alleviate poverty” is very taxing but it helps you psychologically because it reminds all beneficiaries home that you are an economic power to be reckoned with. When you arrive well loaded, relatives, friends and observers alike, are always very expectant because you normally carry some goodies from ulayani to please the eyes – electronics, clothes, watches, anything. Once you have dished out everything, you begin your holidays in earnest.
You begin to spend big. If you don’t hire a “top of the range” car to help you move round, you swing in a taxi almost everywhere you go. At the pub, you sort all the bills and when you are around, all other wallets remain locked in pockets.
In your mind-frame, you are always more Swedish than Kenyan, not out of your liking, but out of your many years of experience ulayani. At 120 Kenyan shillings, a bottle of Tusker is damn expensive for “watu wa home” but in your brain, you cannot help wondering why stuff is menacingly cheap in Kenya. Wananchi are crying that unga is expensive but when you convert the amount in kronazz, it adds to 14kr and you begin to wonder what you can do with that amount in Stockholm and you quickly run out of options. Just to zoom in a public toilet at the Central station to pee costs 10kr and at current rates, that is already the price of Tusker in Kenya at a well-to-do pub in town. Since you are in Rome, you agree that life is very expensive in Kenya. You cannot dare say that 14kr is nothing in Stockholm and cannot even buy a soda at Pressbyrå.
As you make your presence felt, you are always surrounded with a gang of five or more friends (ma jama wa mtaa) whose job is to take you around and show you places. You have been away for too long and you are no longer used to what happens around so you surely need some help. You are out having a good time in town and everybody is happy except that everybody has whispered a small personal problem you may have to solve and you have promised “to look into the matter” at some time. Members of your entourage are patient as long as they have access to you. In Stockholm, people rarely follow you anywhere because everybody is bussy. Unlike in Stockholm, you feel important and you are enjoying every bit of the attention you are getting. You are very much respected and there is no racism to think about. Sometimes, you wonder how the world can be different!
When the tummies of your minders are filled up with Nyama choma and their heads are spinning after constant vinywaji consumption as you flex your financial muscles, the bill is under Sh 4k. You smile because that is about 400kr, cash that can hardly enable you to have a good time at some third rate Stockholm joint, buy beer for five friends and feed them to capacity.
An equivalent amount in Stockholm can only be ok if you are meeting one buddy for a chit-chat. Even then, you are within the comfort zone because the vinywaji-buying is always pendulating and this circumstance always reduces the size of the hole the pub experience can drill on your poor wallet. In any case, the wallet is filled with worthless credit cards to help you sustain the image of a person “sitting pretty” financially Miguna Miguna style. The truth is that you are part of the statistics at the debt collection agency (aka krono) since your bills surpassed your income long time ago. Instead of failing to pay your rent and risking homelessness (ungechekelewa), you abandoned some credit-based bills and this is how you got admission at krono. That is one of your most kept secrets!
Air-lifting Kenyans to study at Swedish universities
You are a kijana and although girls are very scarce in Stocky or expensive when you are lucky, you suddenly become the darling of the girls as soon as you hit home ground. Sometimes, you almost feel like it is your democratic right to be surrounded with young smooth chicks whose attention are all hooked on you expecting some financial stuff.
Sometimes, you are married but when you begin to absorb the reality of Kenyan ndogo-ndogos with sharp titis mounted horizontally; and with shaking kilos of round madiabs pointing backwards from the posterior, you voluntarily download your conscience from your consciousness as you fix plans for mpango wa kandos. You are hoping that mama watoto in Stockholm will never catch wind of your excursions with “vikarias” because you are miles away. In fact, you have even moved away from relatives so that you can get your freedom to do as you wish. You call it “freedom of association”. After all, you have the money and since money talks in Kenya, why not get spoilt for once before you return to prison in Stockholm? You argue.
For your friends who have been hanging around; or for family members who have been watching the “impact” of their kith having relocated abroad; and for observers witnessing your “success” from the point of view of “the huge size of your wallet”, you have left a lasting impression that will encourage members of the population to try and relocate to Stockholm. The impression you have created is that in Stockholm, money grows on trees for how else would you be able to spend such a huge amount of money within such a short time if you don’t have that money in plenty? And if it doesn’t grow on trees, how could you be wasting it at such a high rate?
Matters are made worse because when you left Kenya a few years ago, you were jobless and very hopeless. Your apparent “success” is being associated with your “Diaspora status” although behind this “success”, you know that the saving and planning process for this trip has never been easy. However, you are sure that you can always pull the trick every year so no one will ever discover that in Stockholm, you are literally breaking your back at MacD or other joints to make ends meet.
After you have been doing five thousand dishes per day at some restaurant, or after you have been cleaning around in a building like a robotic machine for ten hours, the routine when you get home is usually to find yourself sleeping on the sofa where you collapsed. That is if you don’t end up snoring on your bed until the next morning although you were just taking a nap ahead of a shower.
Back on holiday in Kenya, you have tuned your parasitic acquaintances to believe that you are the Manager of some successful Company in Sweden. To sustain the image of a Mdosi, you even have contact cards of some phony Company you registered in Stockholm many years back when you used to sustain illusions of doing business in Sweden before reality struck. Then there is the worst part.
Through your “Company”, and because you are being pestered with questions about friends and relatives seeking your help to relocate to Sweden, you have begun to make bogus promises: that you can help the son of this and that contact to gain admission at a Swedish University because education in Sweden is free. Jameni!
At the back of your reasoning mind, you know that this is “mission impossible” but you proceed to encourage the prospective student to acquire a Kenyan passport and hand you all academic documents so that when you return to Stockholm, you can talk to a good lecturer friend of yours at Stockholm University to help with admission! The truth is that you are yourself unable to gain admission at any University although you live in Sweden but now, you are cheating some ignorant bloke in Kenya that this is very possible. Haya! That is not the only big lie you have told. There is another one.
The girls you promised marriage are looking for you
There are these contacts who are, basically, 8-4-4 drop-outs and who are themselves sure that their academic ambitions are over in Kenya. They are idle. What they want is just an opportunity to land in Stockholm and settle down to begin a new life. Instead of being honest by enumerating the difficulties which might be involved in the process, you let go “the pack of lies” once again because you must sustain your importance as a Diasporan. You have a different strategy of how such hopeless persons can be helped.
You can facilitate a flight to Stockholm after which you can help (through your good contacts) to fix a cute Swedish white chick who can marry your candidate and help him settle. The truth is that you have, yourself, never managed to hook a white chick because you don’t have the skills pronto!
If it’s a woman who “needs help” to relocate, the plan is equally easy – you can help fix a nice Swedish man who can shack with the woman in marriage, thereby help her with settlement. On this account alone, the precious goods have been made available “to entice you” and you are on what can only be described as “high consumption” of the goods. While Kenyan politicians are “Party-hopping”, you are effectively “Vajey-jey-hopping”.
In fact, you are impressed with the “Diaspora magic” and, as the goods get sweeter, you proceed to lie even more – that once in Sweden, the chick will quickly land a job (which you will fix) and be able to live a decent life, just like you. You will be there for her from day one because you have a big villa where she can stay as she tries to find her way out. Once the “seed of relocation” is planted in the heads of contacts back home, what follows is real application for passports and fund raising by families to purchase the ticket.
Since the promised relocation is a process that may take time, you excuse yourself by stating that you will first have to return to Stockholm “to prepare the way” and “lay the foundations” before the trips can be facilitated. You board the plane and after landing in Stockholm, you keep quiet. Your back-breaking job hardly gives you time to pay attention to anything else apart from visiting Vasa ocassionally “to discuss the situation in Kenya”.
You know too well that no one will call you from home with enquiries because due to poverty, making phone calls ulayani is very difficult. The worst you expect is an SMS which is easy to deal with because you just have to ignore them. In case emails are sent through the fake contact card you left behind, you are safe because either, you never check mails at that address or it has already expired after the web site was closed down when you abandoned your bizz ideas.
There were some young girls who were hanging around you when you were in town and interestingly, you promised to marry them as you consumed their goods liberally. They are the easiest to dump because every contact detail you gave them was fake.
Unable to reach you, some contacts have now contacted KSB seeking help. Kumbe, you took 50.000 Kenyan shillings from a father of four as “registration fees” of a son at Stockholm University but since you left home, you have never communicated? The family is crying and seeking a refund if the deal is off but you have gone underground! What else did you do when you were on holiday in Kenya? Let us know…
Okoth Osewe
Decoding The National Alliance (TNA) of Uhuru Kenyatta
I believe that one day, a government which can confiscate the massive land grabbed by the Kenyatta family will come to power to right the wrongs of the past…
Despite the pomp and fanfare witnessed at the launch of Uhuru Kenyatta’s new Party – “The National Alliance (TNA)” – the lavish event exposed three stark realities in Kenyan politics: the growing political emptiness of opportunist parties vying for power; the deepening political confusion in the run up to the next general elections and the inability of the Kenyan bourgeoisie to put forward a credible political alternative that could address the economic and social crisis in Kenya.
Most importantly, the launch confirmed the need for continued pursuit of a revolutionary outfit that could pose a serious challenge to the rotten capitalist system of government to pave the way for the reconstruction of the devastated Kenyan society where millions of poor people continue to suffer untold human suffering at the hands of the wealth-grabbing political elite represented by Uhuru Kenyatta and Company.
For millions of deprived Kenyans who are unable to put food on the table, the lavish launch of TNA was a hopeless exercise, if not, a sordid public display of how millions of stolen tax payers money can be wasted by the wealth grabbers on hopeless political pursuits to maintain the status quo.
After show-casing a bunch of well-fed, well-groomed and well-dressed youths “at the helm” of TNA’s leadership, and after these youths were bamboozled into choreographed expressions of personal political ambitions vis-à-vis the political and social crisis in Kenya, it was very depressing when the 28-year old TNA’s Chairman, Mr. Johnstone Sakaja, announced, in his inaugural speech, that the youthful Party apparatchiks who had just been paraded would not vie for Parliamentary seats under the banner of the new Party. This was the first serious signal that all was not well.
The dilemma that propels Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid
What this means is that these young marionettes, who were all profiled as key agents of a “generational change” in Kenyan politics, will remain perpetual spectators in TNA. This is because their political roles will be usurped by Uhuru Kenyatta’s clowns who have been competing among themselves to sell the unsellable ethnic ideals of the moribund “GEMA monster” whose phony leaders, led by the late John “Kimendeero” Michuki, unilaterally anointed Uhuru the “King” of the Kikuyu.
It was after this coronation that Uhuru announced at a GEMA meeting in Limuru (early this year), that he would soon make public his new political bandwagon that would promote the GEMA agenda of Kikuyu hegemony in Kenyan politics. This is the brief formative history of TNA. Since his anointment as leader of the Kikuyu, Uhuru has been sailing against the anti-Kikuyu wave in Kenya as he faces stiff opposition from a cross section of prominent Kikuyu personalities opposed to the perpetuation of tribalism by the waning GEMA establishment.
Progressive Kikuyus like: Reverend Timothy Njoya; former Attorney General Charles Njonjo; Spokesperson of “Kikuyus for Change” Ngunjiri Wambugu; MPs Gitobu Imanyara, Mithika Lunturi, and Alex Mburi; former MPs Wanyiri Kihoro and Paul Muite; former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga; billionaire Kikuyu businessman, Stanley Githunguri; musician Eric Wainaina; former Chairman of the Kenya Human Rights Commission Maina Kiai; Chairman of the Kenya Red Alliance (KRA), Martin Ngatia, Coordinator of the Sweden-based “Making a Difference” Joseph Munene together with Kikuyu Academics, Civil Society leaders, Church groups and a growing list of forward-thinking Kikuyus have all seen through the GEMA smokescreen and came out openly to oppose Kikuyu ruling class agenda of political domination of other ethnic groups in Kenya.
These progressives have consistently sent strong warning signals to their confused kindred against embracing a tribally chauvinistic, antagonistic and atavistic GEMA-conjured concept that only a Kikuyu is entitled to the seat of President of the Republic of Kenya.
Unfortunately, Uhuru Kenyatta, his family and cronies alike, have grabbed enormous wealth in Kenya such that in their narrow world-view, the preservation of this stolen wealth can only be guaranteed by a Kikuyu president. This dilemma is the sole propeller of Uhuru’s Presidential bid. The TNA scheme is simple. In this anti-democratic mission, the filthiness of the tactics and the absurdity of the strategy is of no significance.
Can the “new generation” be led by a suspected war criminal?
Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking to camouflage the GEMA agenda under the cloak of a more fashionable “politics of generational change” as a spring-board to State House and, in this strategy, the hastily constituted TNA ramshackle is the perfect construction for this catastrophic journey that has just began. In his typical naiveté, born out of spoon-feeding since childhood, Uhuru believes that with the politically attenuated leadership of the new party, TNA is the magic wand which will help mesmerize the Kenyan youth “en masse” to deliver him the Presidency.
In fact, if Uhuru does manage to gather a formidable following outside the known bracket of the lumpen Kikuyu youths who were mobilized to form a crowd for the Media outside KICC, it will be safe to conclude that Kenyan youths have become politically bastardized and depraved, if not, perverted and confused. This is because with his land grabbing family background, history of mega corruption scandals in government and alleged blood on his hands following the 2007 Post Election Violence, Uhuru Kenyatta is the last Presidential candidate any sane youth can vote for. His station is in the ICC, not State House. What is more?
TNA’s hastily assembled leadership is packed with “political babies” who have been “silenced in advance” through guaranteed pampering using the billions of Kenyan shillings Uhuru has been stealing from the Treasury as Finance minister since he abandoned his role as Leader of Official Opposition to enter into a dirty pre-election pact with octogenarian Mwai Kibaki who stole elections in 2007 before rewarding Uhuru with the DPM’s post and a Cabinet position to boot.
Unless the crisis of capitalism in Kenya has wiped out all intelligence of “progressive Kenyan youths” seeking a real “generational change” in Kenya’s political leadership, it is impossible to understand how a new breed of youthful leaders could construct a brand new political Party to vie for power, register it officially then hand it over on a platter to a suspected war criminal who has officially been indicted by the ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity at The Hague, a serious case built on evidence of a macabre massacre of more than 1,500 Kenyans in the name of installing a Kikuyu as Kenya’s president in 2007.
The situation is even more flabbergasting when the leader of the new Party has been confirmed as an intolerant, corrupt, and arrogant ethnic chauvinist who happens to be the son of a former iron-fisted dictator known to have been a top land grabber who frustrated, tracked down, arrested, silenced, imprisoned, detained, crippled, maimed and routinely assassinated his opponents in the process of converting Kenya into an autocratic one-Party State, all in the name of confining political power in Kenya within “The House of Mumbi”. Surely, is there any sane Kenyan who can still be hood-winked by Uhuru Kenyatta’s out-dated antiques into voting for him in any election, presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, parliamentary or otherwise?
TNA launched without a Political program
In any political Party, the most valuable asset is not memories of a pompous launch using stolen money but a well pampered political Program. Although satellite connected information systems with huge screens at strategic counties were mounted to create the impression of a “massive national Party”; and despite its profile as a “high-tech” outfit using “state of the art” technology for communication, TNA has no website where its ideas could be scrutinized. The web address that was made available during the launch is not even worth visiting for any information about the Party because there is nothing.
This is after the Party spent an estimated Ksh 150-200 million on the launch. For a glimpse of the Party’s politics, one has to glean whatever is available from the speeches of marionette Johnstone Sakaja, the Party’s Chairperson, marionette Onyango Oloo, the Secretary General and the ICC suspect himself, Uhuru Kenyatta. Even then, one still draws a blank because the speeches were loaded with slogans about “generational change”, “forgetting the past”, “upholding justice for all” “creating an enabling environment”, “empowering the youth” etc. None of the key issues at the hearts of millions of Kenyans were touched. A few examples will suffice.
Dodging the big political questions
Specifically, no speaker addressed the thorny issue of landlessness in Kenya. This was not strange because Uhuru Kenyatta’s family is the biggest land grabber in the Republic. According to the Ndungu Report, the Kenyatta family collectively owns land the size of Nyanza province, home to almost 8 million people. Consequently, Uhuru Kenyatta is not in a position to fight land grabbing in Kenya or to address the issue of landlessness across the country.
Secondly, TNA did not articulate to Kenyans how it would confront tribalism because Uhuru Kenyatta is one of the top tribalists in the Republic. He has publicly associated with GEMA, an open tribal outfit whose key tenet is that Kenya belongs to the Kikuyu ethnic group. When he was Minister for Finance, Uhuru packed members of his Kikuyu ethnic group in every key financial institution to facilitate smooth looting of the economy. In fact, key government institutions are packed with Kikuyus “from top to bottom”, and in certain instances, Kikuyu language is the official language of communication! For TNA, the question of tribalism will continue to remain a no go area because the boss is, himself, the main criminal.
Thirdly, TNA went totally quiet on how the Party will tackle the issue of corruption because according to documentary evidence in the public domain, Uhuru Kenyatta remains one of the most corrupt politicians currently with access to state power. In advanced capitalist democracies such as Sweden, Uhuru can never be allowed to run for high office because no one would vote for him.
In one corruption case, the son of Jomo carted away Ksh 7 billion from the Treasury and got away with it by claiming that the entry of the missing funds was actually the result of a computer error. In a recent case that has been well documented by Mwalimu Mati of the Mass Group, over Ksh 400 billion could not be accounted for in the Treasury between 2009 and 2010, time when Uhuru was the Finance Minister. No one has questioned the son of Jomo because as a top Kikuyu in government, he is protected. Further, when the Kenyan shilling began to depreciate last year as a result of wanton looting of the economy, Uhuru simply refused to surface in Parliament when summoned to explain the crisis and he got away with it because Kibaki, a Kikuyu, was protecting him. The failure of TNA to come up with a Program that could explain how the Party would fight corruption was therefore not accidental.
To cut a long story short, TNA was totally quiet about the Party’s commitment to implementing the new Kenyan Constitution. Why? Because Uhuru Kenyatta, its leader, is probably the record holder when it comes to violating the new Constitution followed by William Ruto. Despite being an ICC indictee, Uhuru has refused to relinquish his post as DPM in total violation of the Constitution. Even as he launched TNA, he had not resigned from KANU and this was in utter violation of Political Parties Act in the new Constitution.
Under the guise of “Prayer meetings” following confirmation of charges at the ICC, Uhuru has been moving from county to county, spreading hate speeches as a way of inciting a new civil war in Kenya before he is locked at The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity. Committing TNA into implementing the new constitution means that the Party will have to make a commitment that it will surrender its leader to face trial at ICC, a prospect that is fundamentally “mission impossible”.
Instead of circulating its Program, Kenyans were treated to spontaneous chants of “I believe”, an empty and meaningless slogan which could have more relevance within the religious community when it is chanted repeatedly in a mesmeric moment of prayer as the faithful fathom about the eventual trip to heaven where they would enjoy life after death.
Can the real “I believe” prayer be chanted please?
If Kenyans must chant the “I believe” solgan, it ought to be during those moments when they assert their belief that when the right time comes justice will eventually prevail in Kenya. The narrative would go as follows:
I believe that one day, Uhuru Kenyatta will be carted away to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity so that the souls of hundreds of Kenyans who lost their lives can eventually rest in peace; I believe that once Uhuru is carted away, and, on the basis of strong evidence available at the ICC, Uhuru will be found guilty of the alleged crimes and locked behind bars for 80 years, yes I believe…
I believe that one day, a government which can confiscate the massive land grabbed by the Kenyatta family will come to power to write the wrongs of the past; I believe that in the history of Kenya, thousands of landless Kenyans who have been evicted from their homes by the Kenyatta family will one day be settled on confiscated Kenyatta family land; I believe that the beneficiaries will include Kikuyu IDPs who have been languishing in filthy camps following the Uhuru-instigated PEV in 2007 yes I am a believer…
I believe that the huge business empire set up by the Uhuru family using stolen wealth from poor Kenyans will one day be recovered by the State to be used for building hospitals, dispensaries and schools across Kenya; I believe that workers living on starvation wages as they are exploited by the Kenyatta family will one day be compensated using resources confiscated from the Kenyatta family; I believe that the billions of Kenyan shillings stolen from the tax payer since the Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta will, one day, be tracked down and confiscated to bring to an end the Kenyatta family wealth-grabbing menace, yes I believe…
Okoth Osewe
Vumbi Dekula at Little Nairobi: 25-26/May
Akadevu-Music presents: Dekula Band “Ngoma ya Kilo”
Place:Lilla Wien”Little Nairobi”
Date:25-26 May 2012
Time:21.00-01.00
Add:Swedenborgsg.20
Pendel:Södra Station
Mudavadi is Not the Saint He Pupports to Be
Seen more as a dishonest traitor than a new Saint.
When Musalia Mudavadi began his campaign for internal democracy in Orange Democratic Party (ODM) I knew that something was wrong. I recalled how Mudavadi, together with Wycliffe Oparanya and Yusuf Chanzu joined ODM activists in Emuhaya had campaigned for the current MP Wilbur Ottichillo after Kenneth Marende ascended to the position of Speaker of the National Assembly. So his war of attrition against his own party, reminded me of two historical events. One during Kanu era and the other, during the era of the Mugwumps in American history in 1884.
During the Kanu era, those of us who did not like Kanu, had to fight Kanu within Kanu. Those who left after the advent of multiparty lost their jobs, while those who remained faithful to the party got cushy jobs in public service. The second historical event was the era in American history when Republicans chose to support Groves Cleveland — a Democratic candidate — during the presidential election of 1884. These Democrats switched parties because the Republican candidate, James Blaine, had been tainted by financial corruption of that time, all the while employing that the “sanctimonious or had a holier-than-thou” attitude.
Was it a farce?
It is my contention that after five years in the cold following the 2002 elections, Mudavadi held a grudge against ODM. So he joined ODM in 2007 — not because he loved the party or its ideology — but so as to destroy the party from within. After all, this is a lesson from Raila when he joined Kanu and worked closely with Moi, endorsing Kanu’s theory of ruling Kenya for a hundred years. This then explains Mudavadi’s paradox of freedom and internal democracy. According to Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, those who want to abuse freedom most have used this strategy.
Inherent contradictions
No president has attached his name more completely to promotion of democracy than George W Bush. Yet it was Bush who attacked Iraq and escalated the war on Afghanistan under the pretext of 9/11. This reality has forced many Luhya to question where Mudavadi can be an advocate and guardian of democracy, yet he was the same one who rebuked the Luhya elders (Burundi Nabwera, Ambassador Justus Mudavadi — his uncle and Mr Wangamati) who made efforts to mitigate against the unbroken string of negative war of attrition between the Deputy Prime Minister and Raila Odinga.
Most have also forgotten the deliberate and vindictive attempt by the Deputy Prime Minister to weaken ODM in Emuhaya. For a long time, Members of Parliament from the Itamis or Emuhaya had to get permission from the late Hon Substone Mudavadi — sometimes referred to as the “King of the Mululu” — before seeking any office. And just last month, an ODM branch chief in Emuhaya “was ousted for backing Raila”. If followers of the DPM believe in democracy, why would they kick a person out of office because he expressed a political standpoint that is different?
And now that he has abandoned ODM, Mudavadi is leaving a people who looked up to him for guidance and leadership integrity. It could be that Mudavadi has been called upon by ‘Raila hate groups’ who feel that the status quo will not be maintained if Raila comes to power. These could be the landed aristocracy afraid of historical injustices in the land sector, or the monied aristocracy who fear that Raila will bring out the scandals of the past.
When economists talk about moral hazards, they mean a situation where there is tendency for one to take undue risks because the costs are not borne by the party taking the risk. A person with insurance against his house or business, for example, may be less cautious because the negative consequences of the fire are now the responsibility of the insurance company. Is Mudavadi looking for a safe haven? According to the DPM, it took him five years to realise how poor and limited ODM really is. This is plausible. But it bears remembering that all the major scandals from Ken-Ren, Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing to Grand Regency are in the hands of the ruling class.
Class of allegiance
If ODM takes power, chances are that all the historical injustices about land and scandals are likely to be exposed. It also bears remembering that the Goldenberg scandal took place the DPM was the Minister for Finance. Musalia is a child and heir apparent of status quo. He is a Western Province replica of many such symbols of ethnicity.
Mudavadi has turned out to be a force of divisive politics. No name represents the splendor and catastrophe of political division so completely and conspicuously as that of Mudavadi. He has proved to Kenyans that allegiance to class and status quo must always take precedence over allegiance to nation, as was evidenced in the push to save the Ocampo Four.
Indiatsi Nasibi
The writer is a lecturer of management and economics at USIU.
George Obor’s Stockholm Funeral Committee to be Dissolved
George Obor’s family members posing for a shot after the funeral. Notice Joe Goga, a close Stockholm-based friend of Obor who traveled to Kenya for the funeral, and Obor’s dad (fourth from Left).
The George Obor Committee that was tasked with raising funds for the transportation of his body to Kenya will be dissolved on Saturday, 19th May at Obor’s residence in Stockholm. It is routine in Stockholm for such Committees to be dissolved once their mission is accomplished. The Obor committee raised 40.000kr overnight to help transport Obor’s body to Kenya.
During the dissolution, Monica, Obor’s widow, is expected to brief the Committee about the funeral in Kenya while any pending issues are also expected to be tackled at the meeting.
So far, there are no controversial issues on the agenda and the meeting is expected to run smoothly. According to information obtained by KSB, Rose Adero, a Kenyan lady who lives in Uppsala and who attended the Obor harambee in Stockholm, will attend the meeting as an observer because she is not a Committee member. Rose also attended Obor’s memorial service that was held in Stockholm two days before the body was transported to Kenya. Rose has been very supportive to many Kenyans in times of both happiness and sorrow. She is well known for her generosity, hospitality and patience especially in times of crisis.
According to Jared Odero, the Chairperson of the Obor Committee, the dissolution meeting will conclude the mandate of the Committee and anybody with any issue is kindly requested to contact the Chairperson who will then be obliged to raise the issues brought before him at the dissolution meeting.
The late Obor died in March following diagnosis that he was suffering from pancreatic and liver cancer. His death shocked many Kenyans because he was not known to ail from any lethal disease. He first went to hospital on 24th December last year after which he was operated on.
After a few days, medical tests showed that Obor was suffering from pancreatic and liver cancer although, according to doctors, he could not be treated because the cancer was at an advanced stage of development. Obor passed away at Stockholm’s Sjukhem where he had been admitted for TLC (Tender Loving Care) following conclusions by Swedish doctors that he had only days to live.
Okoth Osewe
Vumbi Dekula at Litte Nairobi”: 18-19/May
Akadevu-Music Presents: Dekula Band “Ngoma ya Kilo”
Place:Lilla Wien”Little Nairobi”
Date:18-19 May 2012
Time:21.00-01.00
Add:Swedenborgsg.20
Message from ICC: A Glimpse of The Hague
Scheveningen Prison: The Hague
The ICC currently has twelve detention cells in a Dutch prison in Scheveningen, The Hague. Suspects held by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are held in the same prison and share some facilities, like the fitness room, but have no contact with suspects held by the ICC. The ICC registrar is responsible for managing the detention centre. The rules governing detainment are contained in Chapter 6 of the Regulations of the Court and Chapter 5 of the Regulations of the Registry.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has unrestricted access to the detention centre.
Facilities
Each individual has his own toilet and washing area. They have access to a small gym and are offered training with a physical education instructor.
Detainees are provided with meals, but they may also cook for themselves, purchase food from the prison shop, and have ingredients ordered in, i,e Mursik, waru, mokimu. Each detainee has a personal computer in his cell, on which he can view material related to their case.They are offered computer training, if required, and language courses.
Detainees’ rights
Detainees are allowed to communicate in private with their defence teams and diplomatic representatives of their countries of origin. They are permitted visits from family members, wives and partners, and spiritual advisors.
List of detainees
The following table lists all the people who have been held at the ICC detention centre since it was established in 2006. The first person ever detained by the court was Thomas Lubanga, who arrived at the detention centre on March 17, 2006.
As of January 2012, the detention centre houses six suspects, including former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Taylor is being tried under the mandate and auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but his trial is being held at the ICC’s facilities in The Hague because of political and security concerns about holding the trial in Freetown.
Name:Thomas Lubanga
Arrived:March 17,2006
Name: Charles Taylor
Arrived: June 20, 2006
Tried by the Special Court for Sierra Leone but detained at the ICC detention centre.
Name: Germain Katanga
Arrived: October 17, 2007
Name: Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
Arrived: February 7, 2008
Name: Jean-Pierre Bemba
Arrived: July 3, 2008
Name: Callixte Mbarushimana
Arrived: January 25, 2011
Released: December 23, 2011
Released because Pre-Trial Chamber declined to confirm the charges against him
Name: Laurent Gbagbo
Arrived: November 30, 2011
EXPECTED DETAINEES:
Name: Uhuru Kenyatta
Expected date of arrival: June 2012
Name: William Ruto
Expected date of arrival: June 2012
Name: Arap Sang
Expected date of arrival: June 2012
Name: Francis Muthaura
Expected date of arrival: June 2012
ICC
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