Kenya Stockholm Blog

Joseph Sang, the ‎Ambassador of Kenya to the Nordic countries, has invited Kenyans to celebrate the 2016 Jamhuri Day on 12th December, ending a two-year hiatus of this very important celebration. In 2014 and 2015, Sang decided without informing Kenyans, to not invite them to celebrate Jamhuri Day, which is Independence Day in the English language.

I personally questioned through two articles here at KSB, Sang’s decision for not inviting Kenyans in 2014. In the history of Kenya as a country, and that of the Embassy of Kenya in Stockholm, there has never been a time when Jamhuri Day was not celebrated. If Sang had opted “to do a Magufuli” (cancelling Jamhuri Day for a good cause), then he should have announced in advance that the money would be channeled to other purposes. However, that was not done, though he supposedly invited some Europeans and a few Kenyan Jubilee sycophants to eat and drink at the ambassador’s official residence in Stockholm. Ambassador Sang, who is deemed a Twitter and Facebook addict, proudly posted photos of these people after serious binging sessions paid for by the poor Kenyan taxpayers’ money.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kenya has an annual budget of KES 13 billion that is around $13 million. Therefore, Ambassador Sang had no right to deny Kenyans Jamhuri Day celebrations for two years. Since the Jubilee government took over in 2013, so much of public money has been stolen and misused in 21 mega corruption scandals that are likely to get President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto ousted from power in 2017.

Sang will host this year’s Jamhuri Day celebration at a location on the island-suburb of Lidingö, east of Stockholm city next Monday, which is a work day for many Kenyans in the Nordic region. This is impractical for many, considering the distance of the venue that is outside the city center of Stockholm. Sang should have thought about such inconveniences by hosting the event on Saturday, 9th December, to provide more people beyond Sweden the opportunity to attend. Those arriving from outside Sweden have already been cut off from the event, given the logistics of returning to their countries to work by Tuesday morning. In the past, these occasions were hosted within the city center to allow children to attend with their parents. This will not be possible next Monday, because most families would not wish to bring their children to the outskirts of town, then spend time in the cold winter looking for all manner of public transport to get back home, particularly after imbibing.

During Sang’s first year at the Embassy, he hosted the unsuccessful “Kenya at 50” Jamhuri Day at a hall in Husby, on the outskirts of Stockholm https://kenyastockholm.com/2013/12/20/ambassador-sangs-kenya-at-50-celebration-at-husby-was-a-big-flop/. Sang is a reflection of the corrupt Jubilee government that has employed him. The main question that most Kenyans in Stockholm continue to ask is: what happened to the money that was meant for the two Jamhuri Day occasions in 2014/15? The budget for a single event is claimed to be SEK 400,000. Consequently, someone or some people at the Kenya-Stockholm Embassy must have allegedly pocketed SEK 800,000.

To conclude, there is really nothing to celebrate under the Jubilee government that has failed Kenyans through corruption scandals amounting to billions of Kenya Shillings, and a growing national debt burden that stands at KES 3.2 trillion. Some of us have said NO to Ambassador Sang’s cat and mouse games with the Kenya-Nordic residents when it comes to Jamhuri Day celebrations. A Luta Continua!

Jared Odero