Another Week Begins.....

Things have been way to serious in this joint with all the drama that has been going on in Kenya so I thought it was time for us to loosen up. The side eye the girl below gave George Bush made my day! I bet there are loads of people who feel the same way about this dude as she does, oh feel free to caption the pic!




I was reading this post, and it really summed up my opinion about the mungiki. The government officials who are arming them and helping them all with the misguided aim of avenging the wrongs against the Kikuyu seem not to know what fire they are playing with.

I also noticed lately that a favourite forum of Kenyans, Mashada is on hiatus. It seems it was getting waaaaaaaaaaay too taxing to moderate the hate speech that was going on on that site. Mashada was already a handful before this who election situation began, so I can only imagine the bile that was being written there. What I have noticed is that when people are behind a key board they feel that they are free to express any opinion, no matter how incendiary it is. There is a blogger who has been doing this with wreckless abandon and much as I do respect her freedom of speech, I do wonder if she would say any of those things in person because sooner rather than later she would be treated to a blanket party.

Anyway before we get to the grind here is another funny picture I wanted to share. It seems that Tara Reid's slimming program didn't have the effect she wanted it to have weighing from the expression on that man's face.



Anyway for those back home if you have anything stories of anything positive going on amongst the drama and negativity by all means please share. We shouldn't wallow in hate and depression, nothing good shall come of it at the end of the day. Have a nice Monday all......

5 More Years and Other Things

I was talking to a family member about the latest outbreak of chaos in Kenya. When she told me, " Those 2 men have bought us another 5 years here."

You see unlike popular belief many Kenyans abroad do plan to come home as soon as possible and some of them have even taken steps to making those plans reality. But with those hopes have taken a fatal blow with what is going on back home. In the past Kenyans in the diaspora have been called cowards for not wanting to go to a Kenya with any uncertainty, but if the odds of you not making it home from the airport due to road blocks where your ethnicity decides if you will live or die you can't blame them for postponing the return. What of the current state of the economy? Even if you have money to invest, where will you invest it with the economy being in the doldrums. I'm not being an apologist for escapism but we have to be realistic here with what has gone on with our country more people will be willing to leave and less will want to come back and rebuild. Pragmatism more often than not trumps idealism.

What's sad is that even our marathon runners who we first saw as Kenyans and then their respective tribes have not been spared from the hate campaign that is going on. Children are now being pulled out of schools that are in areas predominantly populated by tribes that don't like them to save their children from any possible harm. Then of course Mungiki is making a major come back complete with arms and police uniforms, I guess someone in the government decided to take things in their own hands. Anyway while all this drama is going on, why are we hearing more from opposition figures and the government spokesman then our "duly elected" President? Or is it back to the complete hands off style of leadership?

Anyway lest I get depressed let me move on, I found this interesting quiz about finding out what would be the best religion for you would be and I thought I would share it. Let me know what your best religion turns out to be.

After reading this article one has to give marks to white people for the mind games they played on the rest of the world making them think that white is right in terms of beauty. Call me idealistic but I think that we should get to a level where we should stop judging our beauty on eurocentric ideals which due to our natural make up we can never achieve without the use of artificial aids ie bleach etc.

Anyway let me be optimistic and wish you all a nice week!

Another Wednesday

I'm sure you have all seen the video above. Frankly words can hardly express what I think of Kenyan law enforcement. In this case instead of working towards containment of the demonstrators, the aim seemed to be to terminate them. I don't care what our Baghdad Bob aka Alfred Mutua says about video tampering, the video speaks for itself. Another thing that I have wondered why is it that the most lethal force is being used in Kisumu yet people have been demonstrating in Nairobi too and we aren't hearing of as many fatalities and incidences of brutality. Is it me or is a quiet but not so subtle point being made?

Someone told me a sad story the other day, we all know how the current situation in Kenya has taken an ethnic dimensions by virtue of the two prominent figures behind matters. Any Kenyan abroad knows that there are large numbers of Kenyans out here who have overstayed their visas and are here illegally. So what happened is that with all the bile and anger in the air, one large group from one tribe got together exchanged information and called the Immigration Authorities on a large number of people from their "nemesis" tribe they knew were in the country illegally. I hear that group has been arrested and is awaiting repatriation to Kenya.

I have never claimed to be the nicest person in the World but that is grade A malice. How messing up someone's life here in the States will help matters back home I have no idea.

I was talking to a friend on the phone today about how some unresolved issues like the Land Question contributed to the chaos we are experiencing today. She made this statement, " Those people sold their land 40 years ago and now they want to fight for it and chase people away, that isn't right."
I had my issues with her broad generalization of the matter, the issue is not that simple. It goes as far back as Kenya's Independence and the way land that was taken from the natives by the Europeans and then redistributed after Independence and the bumbling attempts at consequent governments to paper over the issue.
Another jewel I heard was, "There was nothing they were doing with that land, so it was given to us to farm and trade on; we shouldn't be persecuted for that.."
First things first, even if the people living in that area originally were doing nothing with their land, it still remains there land to gaze at with reckless abandon then to be taken under the pretext of eminent domain. But I'm not saying the government grabbed peoples' land nor am I supporting the forced evictions, but like I said it goes much further and much more detailed than that.

My point is that people have tried to break down the drama to its' simplest elements and in that way turned it into something else. This whole issues is more than just Luos and Kikuyus, ODM vs PNU, poor vs rich, hardworking vs lazy; it is all those things and alot more. So picking one those small elements and using it as a platform to spread half truths and bile in person, in the media or on your blog is just an indication of how some people despite their denials are part of the problem and not the solution. This writer has made an attempt to look out how these issues are being discussed online but they fall short in my opinion, the main reason being bias.

I read somewhere else online that 500,000 jobs have been lost after all the fracas that has gone down. Let's see 500,000 jobs created in Kibaki's first term, 500,000 lost at the beginning of his second term. I guess he has indeed started with a clean slate. I wonder if he can come up with a million jobs with his maf dream team behind

Wonder of wonders, our MPs are getting a full month's pay even though they have only convened once this month. Working to serve the people, you've got to love it! No wonder everyone wants to be an MP. I too want to be an MP, the work hours, benefits and the pay are great.

I for one also think that the Kenyan media has done a pathetic job of reporting during this whole drama. They dragged their feet after the election and woke up to give a half hearted effort when things had already gone down the drain. I took a look at this article, It is obvious that if you read in between the lines; the assailants came from one tribe and the victim another. Do you think that the Kenyan media should mention tribe when reporting some of these incidents or not? Just want to get people's opinions.

Anyway that's my $0.02 for today.......

What We've Lost.........

The ongoing situation in Kenya has turned from watching a car crash to watching a multi-car pile up. When you think that it is over and want to go and help another car comes barelling down the road and slams into the pile adding more to the carnage. Everytime you want to help there is another car coming to join the pile, it also doesn't help that instead of clearing the wreck the drivers who started it want to argue as more cars join the pile.

That is my analogy on the Kenyan situation right now. It is amazing how less than 2 weeks are going to set us back years in many ways. I've decided to take a broad look at the different ways we are going to be hurting.

1. The Economy - One of the daily papers in Kenya said that the chaos has cost Kenya 60 billion shilling so far. I'm not going to bandy around numbers but the results are self evident. We have looted businesses, destroyed infrastructure, tourist numbers are going to plummet and I'm even going to venture and say that investments both local and foreign won't be coming in any time soon. I see our neighbors Uganda and Tanzania benefiting from our misfortune. Of course in turn what is going to happen is that we are going to end up exporting even more skilled labour than usual and given the xenophobia Tanzanians and Ugandans have for Kenyans that isn't going to help relations much. I'll even venture to say that the rate of inflation is going to rise.
If one took a close look at the rioters and looters one would notice that they were young men. A writer said there is nothing as dangerous as an unemployed young man, Kibaki's failure to create the jobs he said he would or encourage the growth of small businesses is indicative of the large number of looters, rioters and militia. Rest assured if these young men had something to call their own, they would have been less willing to riot and enter battle. On many levels I feel that their rioting was more a way of expressing their frustration than expressing their tribal allegiances. Since the 90's the number of disenfranchised youth has been growing in Kenya at an exponential rate, a walk around the different neighbourhoods of Nairobi can attest to that fact. Until Kenyan's leaders starting from the head put in place economic policies that have a trickle down effect instead of a trickle up effect we are always going to have young men willing to loot throw stones and kill either for money or to prove a point.

2. Tribal Relations - I have a Kikuyu friend (yes it has become that bad when we have to claim to have friends from certain tribes) told me that when Kibaki announced his Cabinet, the Kamba messenger loudly and happily proclaimed, "sasa tuko na nyinyi!"
That is what we have been reduced to, us vs them. I can recall reading Kpundit's post about how she was really conflicted since she came from a multi ethnic family. I am sure her anguish is being felt by thousands all over the country. In some cases it didn't end at feelings as some individuals have had their families torn apart by in-laws who have come to claim them or other in-laws who have banished them from their adopted community irregardless of how long they have lived there.
We have now entered a whole new period of distrust among tribes, we are one nation in name only at this stage. Alot of this tension has been simmering for a very long time and no attempts have been made to disperse it after the explosion since the powers that be are willfully blind to the cause and even deny its' existance. I have been reading different Kenyan forums on-line and while many people are attempting to at least put out the fires in our country and help the affected, there are some blog postings I have read that are full of gloating and are just a step away from hate speech. What they are gloating about, I don't know because right now any victory is Pyhrric at best.
I remember a time when you could travel throughout Kenya and the only thing you had to worry about was your property but now we may be coming to a stage where the only way certain tribes can travel through certain areas is by air. That may be a stretch but with the tensions that have been inflamed in some areas I think we are going to have sunset towns (outsiders must be gone before sunset) if we are not careful.

3. The Land Issue - One underlying cause of the tribal tension in Kenya has been the land issue. Skewed land distribution after independence, poor land policies, land grabbing and no attempts to address the issue have been a cause of sporadic clashes in parts of Kenya and the only thing most leaders have done is use it for political mileage. Now with certain groups being banished from certain areas of the country, their land will be taken by the "natives" but what of the displaced? Even if the government attempts to give them their land back, most of them won't go back especially when your neighbor was the same person who drove you out and burnt down your house.
So while one group may have solved their land issue (the wrong way), a whole new group of disenfranchised people will have been created alongside a new set of tribal tension and hate.


Those are the three main points that came to mind but I am sure the fall out is far far wider. Who ever knew that a struggle for power between 2 men would hurt Kenya this badly. At this point in time it doesn't matter who won or who lost the election, the point is that as Kenyans we all lost. It doesn't matter if you live in the slum, in the village, in an estate or in a mansion we are all going to be feeling the after shocks of this for a long long time to come.
The only question is that as Kenyans are we going to path a positive way forward and seek reconciliation or are we going to get into our respective tribes and dig in for the long haul? Think about it.....

What Words Can't Express

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

I'll give the answer to that riddle at the end of the post. For the last almost one week I have been following the news from Kenya. I have been on a roller coaster of emotions that I can't even begin to describe. A friend of mine told me before these elections that Kenya will never be the same again, I scoffed at her but now I agree wholeheartedly. It has been hard for me to do this post, I have started it several times but the right words wouldn't come out.

Basically from what I gather the elections seemed to be going well with the usual hiccups. Then the count began to take longer than expected, and then it was stopped to investigate irregularities. Upon resumption the leader was now the follower; results were announced followed by a shot gun swearing in. One side wasn't taking it down and rose up to demonstrate and the government decided that they were going to put them down with an iron fist

At one point I wanted to accuse and point fingers. At another juncture say that certain people had brought this upon us and if anything happens to them they asked for it, but now the only thing I can ask for is peace.

One thing I am going to say is that alot of the sentiments that led to this state of affairs have been fomenting for a very long time. We have had elections before in Kenya and yes we did have scuffles but for things to get this bad must mean that something was building in the back of people's minds.

What's worse is that tribal relations in Kenya will not be the same again. It is now going to be them vs us mentality for many different tribes for a long time to come.

Anyway I'm not on the ground so there is a limit to what I can say since I am not experiencing things first hand. One thing I can say is that there is no winner in this election, in fact the greatest losers have been the Kenyan people.

All I am hoping for is that most bloggers and readers out there are fine, and that even if you lost property that at least you and your families are safe.

Oh and as for my riddle you might have guessed that the unstoppable force is Raila and the immovable object is Kibaki.

What happens when an unstoppable force meet and immovable object?

They must both yield or there shall be total chaos......

ps: I did see Gathara did post a similar version to this riddle but with a different answer somewhat, I guess great minds think alike.