I wish to inform all friends, fans and concerned Kenyans that I am fine following the Saturday attack on me by the Matoke businessman. I have received lots of email, SMS and phone enquiries from different contacts regarding my condition. Others have wanted to know whether the Matoke businessman has been harbouring a grudge against me and whether the attack had sinister motives. Kenyans and other contacts are looking for background information to help put the attack into perspective.
I don’t know exactly why he attacked me and at the moment, I can only speculate. I was one of the first people to assist the businessman after he set up his Matoke company. On July 24th last year, he approached me to put up an advert at KSB about the business so that Kenyans in Stockholm could know about it. The KSB advert at “Kenya Business Network” link category was part of his strategy to popularize the business and to set up a customer base in readiness for Matoke imports. Adverts at KSB are free and I had no problem helping a young and ambitious Kenyan pursue his economic dreams based on Matoke business.
The advert connection did not just come out of the blue. I knew the businessman through Mr. Githuku wa Muirani whom, I was made to understand, was related to him. He had come to Sweden as a refugee and was putting up in Göteborg or some location in Southern Sweden. I was at that time helping several Kenyan refugees with strategy on how to go about with their applications.
When he came from Göteborg, I recommended that since it would be difficult to deal with the case if the businessman was in Göteborg, he needed to move to Stockholm because living in Göteborg was the same as a foreigner who was in Kenya and residing in Lokichogio. Luckily, the businessman understood the logic and made his way to Stockholm so that he could continue with the battle for papers.
When the case was presented in summery, it was my view that the businessman had no chance of asylum because the case was very weak. I had brief discussions with one of his main contacts and recommended that he needed to go for “Option B” which I will not get into. The points were well taken and after a long struggle with “B option”, he got his papers and settled in Sweden. Everybody was happy and we maintained good contacts although we never met much because we didn’t have much in common. Besides he also needed to continue with his life and I was also very busy. This was in the late 90s.
THE ALFA AND OMEGA OF “MATOKE BUSINESS”
We did make some real contacts from time to time. During a Nyama Choma at Fittja Beach, the businessman was of tremendous help. He was practicing for his driving licence and since we needed some transport, we agreed together with his Stockholm contact that he would help us with certain Movements as a way of finding his way in Stockholm as he went about with his driving practice. Things were fine. He got his licence and after two years, he began pursuing his ambitions as a Taxi driver and he made it. However, the businessman had big capitalist ambitions and soon, he decided to venture into the Matoke business and this is where we came into contact once again because he needed to popularize the business.
Since he was just beginning, I thought that it would be a good idea to boost his morale by establishing myself as one of his key customers. When he first imported Matoke from Kenya, he called me and requested if I could send an SMS to Kenyans that the Matokes were finally in town, straight from Kenya and I did. I was one of the first Kenyans to order a pack of 12 Matokes in a carton at 200 kr. He delivered the package right on time and all of us were happy. In solidarity, I encouraged him to inform me as soon as another batch arrived so that I could place another order.
The second batch of Matokes did arrive and once again, it was the same process – SMS to Wakenya followed by my personal orders which was also delivered. This time round, he had expanded the business to include passion fruits which I also ordered. Things were moving fast then suddenly, the Matokes stopped coming from Kenya. I did not try to find out what might have happened but I just put one plus one together and concluded that may be, the business had somehow collapsed because of complications in Kenya-Stockholm.
The underground news channel BBC was awash with stories that the Matokes were too expensive and that cheaper ones were available at Tajmahal and that kinda thing. Other Kenyans had put in dirty propaganda that the businessman was undermining Kenyans after he got his Taxi licence.
The story went that the businessman was feeling on top of the world because he was not cleaning Wazee at old people’s homes or washing dishes like other Kenyans who had been here for more than fifteen years. It was like he had been here for a very short period of time and was already driving a Taxi and blah blah blah but other Kenyans were just sleeping.
This image was re-enforced by the fact that whenever he came to any Kenyan function, he would make sure he arrived in “Taxi uniform” in some kinda exhibition and some Wakenya did not like this so when he later tried to sell them Matoke, they kinda gave him a cold shoulder.
If you want to build enmity with Wakenya in Stockholm, start talking negatively about cleaning wazee, washing dishes and other kinda junk jobs. The view is that whatever a person is doing for a living is his or her own business and once you begin to undermine Wakenya here using what they were doing to win bread, you are sure to be in trouble especially if you are looking for some kinda support from the community. I was not responsible for the collapse of the Matoke business and I did not deserve the two thwacks because I was a loyal customer who paid cash on delivery. In fact, I did everything possible to help the business and he could have given me a better Christmas present.
DRAMMATIC CHANGES AFTER THE NONINI SHOW
After the Matoke business somehow went dry, the businessman changed tact. He began to view himself as a “Promoter” of Kenyan Artists. He set up a new company or organization called “Leta Mleto Entertainment”. The name was coined by Mr, Martin Ngatia and it was picked up at KSB. The first assignment of the new group was to bring Nonini in Stockholm.
Once again, the businessman got in touch with me and requested that I send an SMS to Wakenya announcing that Nonini would be in town on 27th October 2007 and that entrance would be 200 kr. From my perspective, this was very positive and at a personal level, I thought that the businessman had now grown up because honestly speaking, you cannot get anywhere selling Matoke to Wakenya in turbulent Stockholm unless you are doing it on a large scale with a huge customer base.
The new move was good because the Entertainment Industry is what is booming. I did send an SMS. To promote the Nioni show even further, I did a short story about the coming show at KSB because I strongly believed that it was a good idea bringing the Artist here so that Wakenya could experience him. From Matoke to Nonini, my actions were not those of a person who was trying to destroy but that of a countryman who was trying to help a brother build a better economic base using facilities that were available. This is why the two thwacks surprised me.
According to info the businessman gave, Nonini was to play at a pub in Sätra but later, the venue changed and it was moved to Vällingby. Another SMS was needed and, as usual, phones of Kenyans were like kripp kripp with another Makozewe message. Things were cosy in them days and it was like I had become part of the whole “Business Empire” although I never attended Board meetings.
After the Nonini show, things began to change. Nonini played for just 30 minutes at 200 kr while the show started past 2.30 when it was supposed to start at 22.00 hrs. Kenyans like Milton Obote and Lillian Mbova approached me saying that they thought it was all “robbery without violence”. Kenyan wanted the scandal exposed and KSB was there so?
Before even Nonini arrived, the businessman came and gave me a very strong warning not to take any pictures or videos while he also said that there should be nothing at KSB about the show. I just looked at him and said “Heavenly smoke!”
He was feeling very big for having brought Nonini in Stockholm but what I could not understand is how he thought that he would be able to muzzle KSB when he did not control the Internet and when I had paid up whooping 200 kr like any other Kenyan. Don’t worry that I did much of the mobilization through my Networks because I believed that he was making progress and he needed support.
After the show, I went to the blog. I not only questioned the 30 minute show at 200 kr but also rendered an analysis to expose the circumstances under which Kenyans had been conned of their money.
I have been involved in questioning (for a long time) the Moi and Kibaki governments on many issues that did not make sense. If Kenyans were now being conned in Stockholm, it could have been hypocritical not to question the conman. I believe that while it is good for Wakenya to do business, they also need to be honest.
I think things went really wrong after the KSB Report on Nonini and, in retrospect, I now believe that the businessman might have been out “to teach me a lesson” on Sato because the attack was unprovoked.
The question now is whether attacking me has solved the problem because my friends and contacts are very upset with the businessman. The matter is now under police investigation and I cannot comment further than this.
I take this opportunity to send my gratitude to all Wakenya, friends and sympathizers who have been sending me nice messages to console me after I was “Lucied” by the Matoke businessman at Norsborg.
I believe that Kenyans should not allow violence as a way of sorting out inter-personal differences because this option is for the less conscious. I hope that the businessman will now enter into a period of reflection and ponder on what he did.
If wishes were horses, I would wish that this doesn’t happen again to another Kenyan because we need to live in peace and harmony regardless of our personal or political differences.
Okoth Osewe
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