Compared to March, the month of April was relatively quiet in Kenya-Stockholm as Kenyans watched keenly events back home following the signing of the “National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008” that eventually ended the post election violence. A key news item that found its way at KSB was the arrest of a Kenyan who was accused of several crimes and whom, after his arrest, was ear-marked for deportation to Kenya. The Kenyan had been to prison before and his arrest in April enhanced his profile as a repeated offender.
It is during April that a new Coalition Cabinet was also announced in Kenya and ODM-Scandinavia did not waste time to release a Statement calling on Kenyans to accept the Cabinet but to keep vigil as Coalition politics also began to take root in Kenya.
The ODM Statement was soon followed by another Statement following a developing trend by the government to execute Mungiki youths using security forces. The view of ODM-Scandinavia was that regardless of the crimes Mungiki youth had committed, they needed to be arrested and tried in a court of law and if found guilty, made to face justice instead of being executed. ODM-Scandinavia called for an investigation into the executions, stating that the government had to take responsibility for its actions especially in cases where human lives were being lost at the hands of police who had been allowed to kill Kenyans in the name of controlling the Mungiki menace.
In a humor piece that was published at KSB, DJ Jimmy caused a controversy when he accused Kenyan ladies of not dressing properly at Kenyan parties. DJ Jimmy “complained that many of them (the ladies) had not painted their finger nails with cutex, did not refresh their lip-sticks while they had cheap imitation jewels hanging on their ears as if they were living in poverty and deprivation”.
The accusation angered some Kenyan ladies who later confronted him at parties seeking for a clarification. As they confronted Jimmy, they made sure that they were openly “dressed to kill”, wrapping their beefs up in fashions that also exposed some of their most “precious assets” that could whet the appetite of any bachalero seeking an exploration or sampling of the goods that were on display.
As Kenyan ladies responded to the Jimmy critique, the DJ withdrew his comment and admitted that there had been a general improvement in the situation. By then, a Kenyan sweetie had already entangled Jimmy and fallen on his arms, prompting other ladies to put more pressure on the Sweetie to use “everything within her means” to ensure that Jimmy did not repeat comments that could be embarrassing to Kenyan ladies.
EXPLOITATION OF KENYAN LADIES
A news item had appeared on KSB to the effect that a Swedish man was sexually exploiting East African women especially Kenyan babes by taking advantage of their “paperless status” to subject them to untold psychological suffering. In April, a Kenyan lady who is believed to have been one of the victims, approached KSB with an apology to the guy for the story that had been supplied to the blog site, attacking the Swedish guy.
The agenda was that despite the attacks on the guy at KSB using ammunition supplied by sources that wanted to rescue the lady, the Swedish guy remained the only source of hope that could enable the lady fix her papers. The case was very strong because the lady had a baby with the guy and, from the point of view of KSB, the apology appeared to have been designed to sooth the guy so that he could soften up and cooperate with the Immigration authorities in a way that could lead to the Kenyan Sweetie fixing her papers.
Being a progressive blog, KSB decided to run the apology as long as it was not KSB apologizing since the story was based on fact. The guy had threatened to sue KSB in a moment of intimidation but cooled down after the blog site advised him that “we meet in court”.
According to sources, he contacted police to check possibilities of filing a case of defamation but was told that no charges could be pressed because KSB had followed the Swedish Press laws to the letter. A big point is that the guy was not even named at KSB and this made any charges virtually impossible. The view of KSB was that sexual exploitation of vulnerable girls should be exposed in the spirit of solidarity and justice. The guy kept the peace.
There are some Kenyans who are so underground that their existence in Kenya-Stockholm is unknown to majority of Kenyans. In April, an elderly Kenyan lady passed away and as mentioned, many Kenyans did not know her. She was buried in Sweden. Her relatives later sent signals which were picked up by KSB spies to the effect that the family was not happy that the death had been reported at KSB. She had passed away at an old people’s home, a fact that the family apparently did not want to be published.
KSB did not know about the censorship and we simply went out with info that had been wired by agents. Although the story was true, there is nothing KSB could have done because the family did not take direct contact with the blog site for a discussion on how the news could be reported. The very fact that the story was picked up by KSB was extremely shocking to the family. At KSB HQs, this was surprising because there was no scandal linked to the story. The family was taken aback because it could not understand how such a hidden event could have been picked by the blog.
If you are a “public figure” at Kenya-Stockholm, it is difficult to go out of circulation without members of the community trying to trace you through KSB. This is what happened to one of our top musicians in Stockholm, Moses Trubadur. After he went missing at several functions, alarm went out that he needed to surface because friends were getting worried about what may have happened to him. Mosse, as he is also known by close pals, is a very social person and it was understandable why Kenyans were concerned about his whereabouts. Soon after the alarm was sounded, Trubadur surfaced to say that he was well. It was good news.
BEREAVEMENTS
Serah Wamaidha is well known by Kenyans who are always in circulation. In April, she lost the father of her two children, Ema and Ciru. It was a sad moment for Kenya-Stockholmers who responded to a prayer meeting that was called at Vällingby. Just like other Kenyans, KSB condoled with the bereaved family.
Wamaitha is known to be a very religious person who worships with Pastor Muirani and Pastor Samson at Bagarmossen church. Some Kenyans have questioned the reference of Muirani and Samson as “Pastors” and I hope I won’t be crucified. It was sad that death had taken away the father of her children and all that could be done was to wish them courage to cope with this great loss. The month of April ended quietly with the burial of the elderly Kenyan lady whose death had been touched on above.
Okoth Osewe
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