Latest articles (100)

bankelele

  • Regional diversification

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 10:19 pm by bankelele
    Taking regional investments a step further - how are various local listed companies doing on the regional front? January 2008 showed that having a focus on Kenya alone could be an Achilles heel despite it being considered one of the strongest economies in the region. Various listed companies are making pushes in East and Central Africa – however many of these countries are all dependent on Kenyan

KA-INVESTOR

  • Safaricom IPO Oversubscription: Investors Options

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 10:02 pm by ka-investor
    Finally, Safaricom IPO has been oversubscribed and we are set for the minute allocations we are used to. Despite the instability witnessed in the country at the beginning of the year, the IPO was surprisingly oversubscribed by 382% - raising Ksh.119 billion. To some extend I feel duped. I was basing my investment decision on the fact that many people will not buy into it because of the post election chaos. So what could have happened if these IPO had come last year when everybody was itching for it? What about if BoT had allowed Tanzanians to participate in the IPO? Probably we would have seen a 500% oversubscription.
    With Ksh.50 billion safely in the net, the IPO has surpassed its goals; namely: maximizing revenues for the Treasury, increasing international investor interest in the NSE and deepening the market. Safaricom IPO is now the Largest Sub-Saharan IPO ever completed (previously SANLAM and Telkom S. A from South Africa were the largest). In Africa as a whole it’s now the third largest IPO after those of Maroc Telecom and Telecom Egypt.

    Safaricom will most probably announce their ever impressive year end results this May. The company had Ksh.16 billion profits before tax for the 9 month ended December 2007 (almost equal to ksh.17 billion full years profit in 2007), up from Ksh.12 billion last year – 2008 full year pre-tax profit may hit ksh.22 billion. So will the dividend only accrue to the old shareholders (GoK, Vodafone & Mobitelea) or will the new shareholders also be included? I would advocate for the latter to sooth the bitter retail investors – like me - that feel they have been taken for a ride.

    What options do retail investors have now? Looking at the small number of shares we will be allocated we don’t have many options:

    Option 1
    Stay put – the bog boys and the QII will – and then when short term speculators will be selling @Ksh.10, top up your account with as many shares as you can using your refund. Then enjoy the ride to supernormal gains.

    Option 2
    Swallow your anger (asira za chura na ng’ombe) and reinvest your refund in the shares once they start trading on June 9th and wait for an opportune time (probably before Telkom K and Celtel K catch up) and price to cash out.

    Option 3
    Wait for your CDS account to be credited and sell the shares as soon as they hit Ksh.10. then chase around for your refund and invest in the next big thing (Coop bank IPO, KCB & HFCK right issues, NMG share split or Equity bank, which is definitely headed for a split).

  • Pangea Day Event

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 9:45 pm by ka-investor


    Starting at 18:00 GMT on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.


    The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person's eyes. Details on the Pangea Day films can be viewed here.

    The program will also include a number of exceptional speakers and musical performers. Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof, and Iranian rock phenom Hypernova are among those taking part.

    About Pangea Day:

    Inspired by the 2006 TED Prize wish of documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, Pangea Day endeavors to bring the world together and promote understanding and tolerance through film. Pangea Day is a celebration of what unites us, rather than what divides us. Movies can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. After May 10, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with organizations doing groundbreaking work. For more information, please visit

    For more information see; http://www.pangeaday.org/

Concept Advisory Services

  • How To Fund Your Child’s Education

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 7:55 pm by admin

    (As published in the standard Newspaper dated 5th May , 2008)

     My name is Douglas Mutiso and i am 38 years old with a family of three children. I work with a local manufacturing company in a managerial position where i take home a net salary of Ksh 90,000. I also earn Ksh 20,000 from two servant quarters i took a loan to construct. I do not pay for rent since I live in my own house, but am repaying the loan at Ksh 35,000 a month. I also pay Ksh 10,000 a month to my personal pension scheme. My employer doesnt provide this. My eight year daughter was recently detected with asthma, and i spend approximatley Ksh 7,000 for her medication a month. I also pay school fees amounting to Ksh 25,000 a month for my children in classes one, three and five. My wife takes care of the other home expenses from her salary as a secretary, but i chip in about Ksh 10,000 a month.

    I would like to take up an educational fund for my children too and secure my family’s future. How do i achieve that and still be comfortable with my other responsibilities.”

     Mr. Mutiso, the key to funding your child education is to start planning and saving now, no matter what your child’s age. It is a good thing that you have already identified this major financial goal and you are willing to develop a plan to achieve it.

     There are various ways that you can meet this goal. A good place to start would be for you to come up with a spending plan that will help you identify areas that you can cut on spending or seek alternative means that will save you money. For example, instead of paying k’sh 84,000 towards your daughter’s medical bill from the pocket, I would recommend taking a medical cover for the same amount in premiums but with a limit more than 10 times the amount. This will afford you cover for all the members of your family and would come in handy if an emergency arose.

    Mr. Mutiso, in your break down of expenses you have not mentioned whether you have an emergency fund. An emergency fund cushions you against a financial calamity. This may include loss of job, illness, or making a major purchase. With an emergency fund, you can access your money in a short notice. Generally, it is recommended for an individual to put 15% of one’s income after tax in such a fund. The best place to have an emergency fund is a high yielding savings account without many restrictions on withdrawal. Your personal pension fund may not meet your emergency obligations due to the restrictive laws governing such schemes. When the funds grows to a certain amount, say a year’s saving, you can invest this money directly in the stock market or engage the services of fund mangers who operate unit trust schemes.

     Having put k’sh 16,500 (15% of k’sh 110,000) in an emergency fund you’re left with k’sh 6,500. This is the amount you need to work with in setting an education fund.

    Various options exist in setting an education fund. You can open a children savings account with any of the banks. Normally, the account is in the child’s name but the parent operates the account. The interest is usually higher than your average savings account. Greatest advantage is you can pull out anytime and there are no penalties. The only charge is for closing the account.

     But with such an account, you may not fully realize a good return on your money. Savings accounts provide minimal return and will not protect you from inflation. Ultimately by the time your child is of school going age and you want to liquidate your savings, the savings may not cover the cost fully. Again, a savings account may not require your disciplined effort to save. It’s possible then to lack motivation and hence find yourself no longer being motivated to carry on this noble goal.

    My advice would be for you to consider taking a unit linked education policy with any of the insurance companies. With a unit linked policy, a larger part of your savings is invested, say in the stock market and the remaining option affords you an insurance cover. Thus, as an investor you are guaranteed better than average returns in the long term. The returns in the long term can be higher than the rate of inflation in a similar period hence preserving the value of your money. And with the mandatory life cover, you can sleep well knowing that even if you are not there the family will be provided for.

    A unit-linked policy affords you monthly contributions, with a low of k’sh 3,000 and an option to vary your contributions upwards or downwards depending on current circumstances. Upon inception, the requirement is to put a direct debit in force. With this arrangement, the amount of premium is debited from your account and remitted to the insurance company on the time you have specified. It’s advisable to put the direct debit falling close to the date you receive your salary. This would remove the temptation to withdrawal the funds before paying the premium as the bank will already have remitted the cash. A unit-linked policy is a long term savings machinery with a minimum period of ten years. This would require a disciplined effort on your part. It will also call for a sacrifice on your current consumption where you will do away with non-essential purchases.

     

Ambition of Wannabe Millionaires

Kenya Imagine

  • Let's call it the Orengo/Obonyo Argument

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 5:28 pm
    I go dumpster-diving so you don't have to. The second wave of ODM responses to IDP resettlement has ranged from James Orengo's relatively erudite call for permanent resettlement of Gikuyu IDPs outside the Rift Valley - segregation in other words - to naked incitement of ethnic hatred from Taabu at Kumekucha . In between, we have Job Obonyo at Jukwaa. Lest I convey the wrong impression, let's note that sensible noises have been heard in the RVP recently.

    Read more from Daniel Waweru here.

Girl in the Meadow

archer

  • We’re going to MOSCOW!!!

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 3:54 pm by archer
    (This post is so overdue that it’s been overtaken by events) We may not have won the trophy five times in Istanbul, But we’re proud that we’ve got the chance to win it on May 21st in Moscow. We may not have made it to the final (how many?) times But we’re proud that we’ve made it just this [...]

Life and its General Nonsense

  • Fridays Musings

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 3:20 pm by Movie Buff
    • Ok, so Mariah is married to Nick Cannon. Im taking bets on how long it will last. And then they say that “Rings are old fashioned and that’s why they got tattoos”. Will people never learn???? You know Nick Cannon was probably wanking to Mariah’s posters when he was a teenager,…… Roho safi…
    • If a mama is always yapping about thongs being the next best thing since sliced bread, she either suffers from no-ass-at-all or flat-ass-completely or is a pathological liar.
    • If a man suspiciously buys you exorbitant gifts within two weeks of you meeting him, he is overcompensating for something: He is a serial killer, or has a small penis.
    • If fuel goes above Kshs 100 a liter, and traffic does not ease up, Kenyans have money, have taken loans or have screwed up priorities.
    • Why is it when you see an old jungu mama, with a young Kenyan dude, you assume the worst. Or even an old jungu dude with a young Kenyan dude? Why?
    • I strongly believe that fate is what happens to you when you do nothing with your life. Think about that one for a second…. Maybe even a minute
    • Mummy gave me some good advice, never get into a relationship with someone who you in any shape, way or form ever thought would make a nice big/small brother

Power to the People

  • The Death of Boubacar Bah in the Hands of ICE

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 3:03 pm by blackstone
    Originally Posted by Mike Ely of Kasama, when suggested by Kalash Prolet that he'd report it on his website. Power to the People reproduces this article here to spread awareness on the death and coverup of an African Immigrant in US custody.


    See the VIDEO on this horrific death of an African immigrant and shameful coverup that followed.

    Few Details on Immigrants Who Died in Custody By NINA BERNSTEIN NYT, May 5, 2008 Word spread quickly inside the windowless walls of the Elizabeth Detention Center, an immigration jail in New Jersey: A detainee had fallen, injured his head and become incoherent. Guards had put him in solitary confinement, and late that night, an ambulance had taken him away more dead than alive.

    But outside, for five days, no official notified the family of the detainee, Boubacar Bah, a 52-year-old tailor from Guinea who had overstayed a tourist visa. When frantic relatives located him at University Hospital in Newark on Feb. 5, 2007, he was in a coma after emergency surgery for a skull fracture and multiple brain hemorrhages. He died there four months later without ever waking up, leaving family members on two continents trying to find out why.

    Mr. Bah’s name is one of 66 on a government list of deaths that occurred in immigration custody from January 2004 to November 2007, when nearly a million people passed through.

    The list, compiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Congress demanded the information, and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, is the fullest accounting to date of deaths in immigration detention, a patchwork of federal centers, county jails and privately run prisons that has become the nation’s fastest-growing form of incarceration.

    The list has few details, and they are often unreliable, but it serves as a rough road map to previously unreported cases like Mr. Bah’s. And it reflects a reality that haunts grieving families like his: the difficulty of getting information about the fate of people taken into immigration custody, even when they die.

    Mr. Bah’s relatives never saw the internal records labeled “proprietary information — not for distribution” by the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the New Jersey detention center for the federal government. The documents detail how he was treated by guards and government employees: shackled and pinned to the floor of the medical unit as he moaned and vomited, then left in a disciplinary cell for more than 13 hours, despite repeated notations that he was unresponsive and intermittently foaming at the mouth.

    Mr. Bah had lived in New York for a decade, surrounded by a large circle of friends and relatives. The extravagant gowns he sewed to support his wife and children in West Africa were on display in a Manhattan boutique.

    But he died in a sequestered system where questions about what had happened to him, or even his whereabouts, were met with silence.

    As the country debates stricter enforcement of immigration laws, thousands of people who are not American citizens are being locked up for days, months or years while the government decides whether to deport them. Some have no valid visa; some are legal residents, but have past criminal convictions; others are seeking asylum from persecution.

    Death is a reality in any jail, and the medical neglect of inmates is a perennial issue. But far more than in the criminal justice system, immigration detainees and their families lack basic ways to get answers when things go wrong.

    No government body is required to keep track of deaths and publicly report them. No independent inquiry is mandated. And often relatives who try to investigate the treatment of those who died say they are stymied by fear of immigration authorities, lack of access to lawyers, or sheer distance.

    Federal officials say deaths are reviewed internally by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which reports them to its inspector general and decides which ones warrant investigation. Officials say they notify the detainee’s next of kin or consulate, and report the deaths to local medical authorities, who may conduct autopsies. In Mr. Bah’s case, a review before his death found no evidence of foul play, an immigration spokesman said, though after later inquiries from The Times, he said a full review of the death was under way.

    But critics, including many in Congress, say this piecemeal process leaves too much to the agency’s discretion, allowing some deaths to be swept under the rug while potential witnesses are transferred or deported. They say it also obscures underlying complaints about medical care, abusive conditions or inadequate suicide prevention.

    In January, the House passed a bill that would require states that receive certain federal money to report deaths in custody to their attorneys general. But the bill is stalled in the Senate, and it does not cover federal facilities.

    The only tangible result of Congressional concern has been the list of 66 deaths, which names Mr. Bah and many other detainees for the first time, but raises as many questions as it answers.

    For Mr. Bah’s survivors, the mystery of his death is hard to bear. In Guinea, his first wife, Dalanda, wept as she spoke about the contradictory accounts that had reached her and her two teenage sons through other detainees, including some who speculated that Mr. Bah had been beaten.

    In New York, a cousin who is an American citizen, Khadidiatou Bah, 38, said she was unable to bring a lawsuit, in part because other relatives were afraid of antagonizing the authorities.

    “They don’t want to push the case, or maybe they will be sent home,” she said. “This guy was killed, and we don’t know what happened.”

    Lingering Questions

    The list of deaths where Mr. Bah’s name surfaced is often cryptic. Along with 13 deaths cited as suicides and 14 as the result of cardiac ailments, it offers such causes as “undetermined” and “unwitnessed arrest, epilepsy.” No one’s nationality is given, some places of detention are omitted, and some names and birth dates seem garbled. As a result, many families could not be tracked down for this article.

    But when they could be, they posed more disturbing questions.

    In California, relatives of Walter Rodriguez-Castro, 28, said they were rebuffed when they tried to find out why his calls had stopped coming from the Kern County Jail in Bakersfield in April 2006. Then in June, his wife went to his scheduled hearing in San Francisco’s immigration court and learned that he had been dead for many weeks, his body unclaimed in the county morgue.

    The coroner found that Mr. Rodriguez-Castro, a mover from El Salvador in the country illegally, had died of undiagnosed meningitis and H.I.V., after days complaining of fever, stiff neck and vomiting. The cause of death on the government’s list: “unresponsive.”

    Immigration authorities said on Friday that the case was now under review, but would not answer questions about it or other deaths on the list. Sgt. Ed Komin, a spokesman for the jail, said the death had been promptly reported to immigration officials, who were responsible for notifying families.

    Four sons in another family, in Sacramento, described trying for days to get medical care for their father, Maya Nand, a 56-year-old legal immigrant from Fiji, at a detention center run by the Corrections Corporation in Eloy, Ariz. Mr. Nand, an architectural draftsman, had been ailing when he was taken into custody on Jan. 13, 2005, apparently because his application for citizenship had been rejected, based on an earlier conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence. In collect calls, the sons said, he told them that despite his chest pains and breathing problems, doctors at the detention center did not take his condition seriously.

    The Corrections Corporation said he had been seen and treated “multiple times.” But a letter to the family from an immigration official said his treatment was for a respiratory infection. The letter said that Mr. Nand was taken to an emergency room on Jan. 25, where congestive heart failure was diagnosed, and that he “suffered an apparent heart attack while at the hospital.” He died on Feb. 2, 2005, shackled to a hospital bed in Tucson.

    Boubacar Bah had more going for him than many detainees. He had a lawyer and many friends and relatives in the United States, and his detention center in New Jersey was one of the few frequented by immigrant advocates.

    But three days after he suffered a head injury in detention last year, no one in his New York circle knew that he was lying comatose in a Newark hospital, where he had already been identified as a possible organ donor.

    “Thank you for the referral,” an organ-sharing network wrote on Feb. 3, 2007, according to hospital records. “This patient is a potential candidate for organ donation once brain death criteria is met.”

    Four days after the fall, tipped off by a detainee who called Mr. Bah’s roommate in Brooklyn, relatives rushed to the detention center to ask Corrections Corporation employees where he was.

    “They wouldn’t give us any information,” said Lamine Dieng, an American citizen who teaches physics at Bronx Community College and is married to Mr. Bah’s cousin Khadidiatou.

    On the fifth day, they said, a detention official called them with the name of the hospital. There they found Mr. Bah on life support, still in custody, with a detention guard around the clock.

    “There was one guard who knew Boubacar,” Ms. Bah said. “He told me on the down-low: ‘This guy, you have to fight for him. This guy was neglected.’ ”

    Within the week, word of the case reached a reporter at The Times, through an immigration lawyer who had received separate calls from two detainees; they were upset about a badly injured man — named “something like Aboubakar” — left in an isolation cell and later found near death.

    But advocacy groups said they were unaware of the case. And Michael Gilhooly, the spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that without the man’s full name and eight-digit alien registration number, he could not check the information.

    For those who knew Mr. Bah, it was hard to understand how such a man could lie dying without explanations.

    “Everybody liked Boubacar,” said Sadio Diallo, 48, who has a tailor shop in Flatbush, Brooklyn, where he and Mr. Bah had shared an apartment with fellow immigrants since arriving in 1998. “He’s a very, very, very good man.”

    For six years, Mr. Bah had worked for L’Impasse, a clothing store in the West Village, sewing dresses that sold for up to $2,000 with what a former manager, Abdul Sall, called his “magic hands.” Mr. Bah often spent Sundays at the Bronx townhouse his cousins had inherited from the family’s first American citizen, a seaman who arrived in 1943.

    In Africa, Mr. Bah’s earnings not only supported his first wife, sons and ailing mother, but in Guinean tradition, allowed him to wed a second wife, long distance. It was his longing to see them all again after eight years that landed him in detention. When he returned from a three-month visit to Guinea in May 2006, immigration authorities at Kennedy Airport told him that his green card application had been denied while he was away, automatically revoking his permission to re-enter the United States. An immigration lawyer hired by his friends was unable to reopen the application while Mr. Bah waited for nine months in detention, records showed.

    Mr. Bah died on May 30, 2007, after four months in a coma. His lawyer, Theodore Vialet, requested detention reports and hospital records under the Freedom of Information Act. But by the time the records arrived last autumn, the idea of a lawsuit had been dropped.

    So Mr. Vialet just filed the records away — until a reporter’s call about a name on the list of dead detainees prompted him to dig them out.

    After the Fall

    There are 57 pages of documents, some neatly typed by medics, some scrawled by guards. Some quote detainees who said Mr. Bah was ailing for two days before his fall on Feb. 1, and asked in vain to see a doctor.

    The records leave unclear exactly when or how Mr. Bah was injured in detention. But they leave no doubt that guards, supervisors, government medical employees and federal immigration officers played a role in leaving him untreated, hour after hour, as he lapsed into a stupor.

    It began about 8 a.m., according to the earliest report. Guards called a medical emergency after a detainee saw Mr. Bah collapse near a toilet, hitting the back of his head on the floor.

    When he regained consciousness, Mr. Bah was taken to the medical unit, which is run by the federal Public Health Service. He became incoherent and agitated, reports said, pulling away from the doctor and grabbing at the unit staff. Physicians consulted later by The Times called this a textbook symptom of intracranial bleeding, but apparently no one recognized that at the time.

    He was handcuffed and placed in leg restraints on the floor with medical approval, “to prevent injury,” a guard reported. “While on the floor the detainee began to yell in a foreign language and turn from side to side,” the guard wrote, and the medical staff deemed that “the screaming and resisting is behavior problems.”

    Mr. Bah was ordered to calm down. Instead, he kept crying out, then “began to regurgitate on the floor of medical,” the report said. So Mr. Bah was written up for disobeying orders. And with the approval of a physician assistant, Michael Chuley, who wrote that Mr. Bah’s fall was unwitnessed and “questionable,” the tailor was taken in shackles to a solitary confinement cell with instructions that he be monitored.

    Under detention protocols, an officer videotaped Mr. Bah as he lay vomiting in the medical unit, but the camera’s battery failed, guards wrote, when they tried to tape his trip to cell No. 7.

    Inside the cell, a supervisor removed Mr. Bah’s restraints. He was unresponsive to questions asked by the Public Health Service officer on duty, a report said, adding: “The detainee set up in his bed and moan and he fell to his left side and hit his head on the bed rail.”

    About 9 a.m., with the approval of the health officer and a federal immigration agent, the cell was locked.

    The watching began. As guards checked hourly, Mr. Bah appeared to be asleep on the concrete floor, snoring. But he could not be roused to eat lunch or dinner, and at 7:10 p.m., “he began to breathe heavily and started foaming slightly at the mouth,” a guard wrote. “I notified medical at this time.”

    However, the nurse on duty rejected the guard’s request to come check, according to reports. And at 8 p.m., when the warden went to the medical unit to describe Mr. Bah’s condition, the nurse, Raymund Dela Pena, was not alarmed. “Detainee is likely exhibiting the same behavior as earlier in the day,” he wrote, adding that Mr. Bah would get a mental health exam in the morning.

    About 10:30 p.m., more than 14 hours after Mr. Bah’s fall, the same nurse, on rounds, recognized the gravity of his condition: “unresponsive on the floor incontinent with foamy brown vomitus noted around mouth.” Smelling salts were tried. Mr. Bah was carried back to the medical unit on a stretcher.

    Just before 11, someone at the jail called 911.

    When an ambulance left Mr. Bah at the hospital, brain scans showed he had a fractured skull and hemorrhages at all sides of his swelling brain. He was rushed to surgery, and the detention center was informed of the findings.

    But in a report to their supervisors the next day, immigration officials at the center described Mr. Bah’s ailment as “brain aneurysms” — a diagnosis they corrected a week later to “hemorrhages,” without mentioning the skull fracture. After Mr. Bah’s death, they wrote that his hospitalization was “subsequent to a fall in the shower.”

    The nurse, Mr. Dela Pena, and the physician assistant, Mr. Chuley, said that only their superiors could discuss the case. The Public Health Service did not respond to questions, and the Corrections Corporation said medical decisions were the responsibility of the Public Health Service.

    Mr. Bah’s cousins demanded an autopsy, but the Union County medical examiner’s confidential report was not completed until Dec. 6. It was sent to the county prosecutor’s office only as a matter of routine, because the matter had been classified as an “unattended accident resulting in death.”

    Prosecutors said they did not investigate. “According to the report, Bah suffered a fall in the shower,” Eileen Walsh, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors, said in an e-mail message. “We are not privy to any other bits of information.”

    In the home movies Mr. Bah made of his last journey home, he is only a fleeting presence: a slim man with a shy smile. But without his support, relatives in Africa say they have little money for food and none for his sons’ schooling.

    His body went back to Guinea in a sealed coffin.

    “I stayed here seven years, waiting for him,” his second wife, Mariama, said in French, recalling their long separation and the brief reunion that led to the birth of their son, now a toddler, while Mr. Bah was in detention.

    “I wanted them to open the casket,” she added, “to know if it was him inside. Until today, I cry for him.”

    Margot Williams contributed reporting.

Kenyanpoet

  • Dobet Gnahoré; Diva from Côte d'Ivoire in Concert @ Alliance Française, Friday 9th May 2008

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 1:03 pm by N.W
    Dobet Gnahoré in Nairobi, Kenya "It’s because Dobet is so passionate, possesses such powerful, vital and bubbling energy, is so impatient but also has such appeal and introspection. And the question rapidly arises as to how to resist the force and diversity of her intonation, which is sometimes solemn and intense but at other times piercing and strident..." - World Dobet Gnahoré, a singer,

  • CELTEL SAWA SAWA FESTIVAL 2008: Youssou N'Dou & Black Uhuru among others.

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 12:25 pm by N.W
    Last year's Sawa Sawa Festival 2007 surpassed all expectations by revelers and organizers alike since Sawa Sawa 2007 brought together a grand collection of artistes from all over the world like Burning Spear, Hugh Masekela, Dutch Reggae Luie Hond alongside pianist Mike Del Ferro and Kenya's very own Eric Wainaina, Harry Kimani, Ayub Ogada, Cheche, Bad Man Kollege and of course the Sarakasi

Seasons and Reasons

  • Super 14 Predictions: Semi finals heat is on

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 11:33 am by Seasons
    All matches this weekend save for one (Bulls vs Brumbies) have a bearing on which teams are likely to be in the Semis in two weeks time. Locally with Impala playing Kenya Harlequins means that my weekend is sorted! My phone will be off and am likely to be incoherent if you try and [...]

Kwani Trust

  • Call for articles about reading - Storymoja

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 10:29 am by Kwani

    Dear Writers,

    We at Storymoja, in our campaign to revitalize the reading culture in Kenya,
    are planning to blast the media with reasons why we should all read.
    I am collecting those reasons (read articles) and would really appreciate
    your input. The issues that are of most interest to us are listed below.

    -The importance of storytelling in revitalizing the reading culture in Kenya

    -Improving the reading culture among children through Spelling Bees

    -Reading to develop leadership

    -The realization of strengths in our tribal diversity comes as a result of
    reading

    Please contact: carol@storymojaafrica.co.ke

    Kindly note that we will definately acknowledge the authors of all the
    articles we receive when sending them out to the media.

    I will be pleased to answer any queries.

    Warmest Regards,
    Carol

shirel

  • I must tell Him…

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 10:25 am by Pea

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The Night Book

  • Ode To Irony

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 6:43 am by Levari
    our shield,
    our laughter,
    our camouflage,

    our public success,
    our hidden tears,

    our shining mask,
    our deepest fears,

    our passionate fatalism,
    our sophisticated cynicism,

    our war without peace,
    our acceptance no grief,

    our buy
    and
    our sell,

    (write it!)
    our lie.

    -4/07

For Love and Money

SIMON KITURURU- MAWAZONI

  • KATIKA mwendo WA MARINGO, kuna WATIKISAO matako!

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 5:41 am by SIMON KITURURU
    Anayeringa MJANJA!

    ANAYERINGA , amekuzidi kwa kufanikiwa KUJIDANGANYA kuwa, kuna kitu amekuzidi.

    Ukitaka kujua kuwa anayeringa ni mtundu, fikiria yote uyajuayo tokea uzaliwe kuhusu binadamu, yakuhakikishiavyo kuwa, hakuna binadamu asiye na kasoro, na jinsi gani akufungaye katika mchezo wa karata, uwezavyo kumshinda katika mchezo wa kuruka kamba au kumshinda kwa ulafi.


    DUH!
    Sitanii!

    Binadamu katika ujazo , wote ni sawasawa, kutokana na mapungufu yao na waliyobarikiwa ambayo hutofautiana kutoka mtu mmoja mpaka binadamu mwingine.
    Swali:
    • Ushawahi kufananisha vitendo vya anayeringa na yule binadamu watu wamuitaye TAAHIRA?
    • Unauhakika na vigezo vyako vikuhakikishiavyo kuwa binadamu huyuhuyu aendaye msalani kama wewe , anakuringia?

    Lakini....
    ... anayetembea kwa maringo , hukimbia kama mimi na wewe tu , kipepe kasingiziwa, ukimsakizia MBWA.

    Lakini....
    ......Unauhakika huringi?

    Nisikufiche!
    Sidharau waringao ingawa siwaelewi.
    Nahisi kuna kitu wanapata ndio maana wanaringa.

    AU?

    Lakini...
    ..Mringaji ndio atumiaye nguvu na achoshaye ubongo katika kujiandaa na kufanikisha kukuringia.

    Anayeringiwa ana bahati!
    Anaweza akaamua kutomwangalia anayeringa na kupumzisha macho na kidubwana wengine wakiitacho ROHO.

    Swali:
    • Kama unanyanyasika kwa kuringiwa , unafikiri AKUringiaye alitarajia nini?

    DUH!
    NAACHA!
    WIKIENDI NJEMA!

    Twende GABON utulie na OLIVER Ng'oma akija na Muetse

    Au mpate tu Yasmine JET akija na Detachement

  • SAMAHANI, nakojoa!Si ni KITENDO tu cha Kibinadamu?

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 4:42 am by SIMON KITURURU
    Si siri!

    Binadamu huridhika kufanya kitendo kwa muda fulani mfupi tu.
    Ukimzidishia muda katika kitendo, anaweza kukiita kitendo ADHABU.

    Swali:
    • Unakumbuka kitendo binadamu ajinomacho, kama kula maparachichi, mafenesi, migagi au kukuna kipele, ukikiongezea urefu wa muda, BINADAMU anaweza kusema; utamu wake umeyeyuka au kugeuka na akaugawia jina ;UCHUNGU?
    • Unafikiri ni muda gani kitendo chako cha kujua na kufaulu mtihani kinadumu KABLA HUJAHITAJI tena kufanya kitendo cha kujisomea na KIJIFUNZA upya, iliubakie na sifa ya kuwa;WEWE UNAJUA?


    Vitendo vya kibinadamu NISHAI!

    Hata kama huvipendi , unawezalazimika kuvirudiarudia tu ili uishi au uendelee kuwa MJUAJI:-(

    Hata kama umekula sasa hivi, lazima tu itabidi ule tena baadaye au kesho, kwa sababu ya njaa ikupendavyo na kutokukuachia uingie uvivu wa matumizi ya baadhi ya MATUNDu ya mwili yakufanikishiayo hata KUCHIMBA mzizi.

    SIna uhakika!

    Lakini...,
    ...... nahisi nataka kujaribu kuongelea vitendo binadamu afanyavyo duniani hapa, kwa kutumia mfano wa kitendo binadamu afanyiacho mazoezi kila siku, ingawa bado siku mojamoja anaweza bado kujisaidia pembeni kidogo ya tundu la kidaka haja , KWA BAHATI mbaya.

    Sasaaa....
    ......Kukojoa ni moja ya vitendo mamilioni , VIFUPI, binadamu afanyavyo na awezavyo kudai amemaliza au kabla hajamaliza akakujibu kutoka chumba cha kujisitiri kuwa ;ANAKUJA sasa HIVI!

    NArudiA....
    ....Tatizo la vitendo afanyavyo binadamu, ni ulazimikaji wake wa kuvirudiarudia kabla hajafika kwenye ZE KABURI.

    Lakini......
    ......Tatizo au uzuri wa binadamu, .....

    .....ni jinsi anavyoweza kushindwa kustukia kuwa kitendo hicho hicho cha KULA UGALI , anakifanya tofauti kila akirudiapo na kuwa, utamu wa ugali huohuo aulao ,unatofautiana ladha katika tamutamu ya TONGE la kwanza na TONGE alibwialo akishashiba.

    Tatizo mojawapo la ubinadamu , .....
    ......ni ugumu wake kwetu sisi bin-ADAMU, kukubaliana naye MTU, kuwa amemaliza kitendo na HAWEZI kufanya ZAIDI, hasa tukikumbuka kuwa INGAWa KITENDO kimefaNYIKA, baada ya muda fulani mfupi ; nyumba itabidi kupakwa tena rangi, na labda itabidi MTU arudi tu tena jikoni, ilikujihakikishia uwezekano wa kurudi msalani.

    DUH!

    Lakini haishangazi,.....
    .... mjanja anaweza kutamba kuwa ashafanya yote na kumaliza, kama atafumbia macho ufupi wa maisha ya kitendo kilichofanyika.

    Na...
    ....Labda ni kweli vitendo hufanya zaidi ya maneno.
    SI ndio maana kunawapatao UKIMWI au mimba kutokana na kitendo?

    Swali:
    • Unamjua binadamu yoyote aliyemaliza kutenda ?
    • Hudhani kuwa kitendo binaadamu akifanyacho na kukimalizia vizuri ni kitendo cha kufa kwake mwenyewe?
    Kabla sijaendelea kukunong'oneza.......

    Samahani kwa kutamka neno KUKOJOA hadharani , hasa kama neno kukojoa linakukumbusha aina maradufu za KUKOJOA!

    DUH!

    Nakukubalia kuwa kuna vitendo ambavyo si lazima uvitamke au umwambie mtu kuwa unafanya au ulifanya KWA sauti.

    Lakini.......
    ... uzuri au ubaya wa kitendo chochote afanyacho binadamu, ni ufupi wake katika kipimo cha muda ambacho binadamu anaweza kukiri ladha ya utamu wake.
    Unaweza kubisha...
    .......lakini binadamu hachukui muda mrefu kukinaishwa na kitu , kufa au kufanya kitendo kiwezacho kumjaza mimba asiyeficha maeneo.(Samahani kwa lugha chafu, namaanisha , asiyeficha sehemu nyeti au za siri)


    Katika swala la vitendo sisi binadamu tufanyavyo....
    ...ingefurahisha kama ingewezekana kuwa ; kama umetubu leo au umeomba masamaha jana, maana yake hutamkosea tena yule kidume, kidosho, MWENYEZI Mungu, au yule binadamu,katika vitendo au mnong'ono, kesho.

    ....ingefurahisha; kama ingewezekana binadamu kumaliza ulichoanza kabla ya kulala , hasa kutokana na kutokuwa na uhakika na uwezo wa binadamu wa kufanya kitendo cha kuamka, baada ya kulala.

    Swali:
    • Unafikiri YESU , Mtume Mohamedi, au Muheshimiwa DItopile walimaliza?
    • Kwa nini ukianza kitendo unafikiri ni lazima umalizie?
    Samahani kama nakukwaza au unafikiri nakufuru!

    Lakini...
    ...Labda kuna kitendo umeanza au ulianza , ambacho inabidi umalizie kibinadamu au inabidi ufanye tu!

    Fanya tu basi hicho kitendo!
    Inawezekana MARA hii kitendo chako kikalipa OOHOO!
    Nakutakia kila la kheri!

    Naacha HII topiki nisije nikamalizia kitendo bure halafu ukadharau ubinadamu wangu!

    Kabla sijakuacha, hebu tuangalie kitendo cha binadamu ambacho wengi wangependa kukifanya KWA SIRI.Namaanisha kitendo cha KUJAMBA, ambacho unaweza kushangaa kushuhudia kuwa kinawachekesha binadamu kadhaa kiduchu, kama sio mimi na wewe!

    Unajua, labda umeangalia kitendo cha kiJINGA?

    Tumuachie tu BOB Marley atukumbushe hali halisi katika wimbo CONCRETE JUNGLE

The Diary of one black man

  • Omondi’s Crib

    Posted: May 9, 2008, 3:04 am by kip
    Jaluo yawa  !Omondi is a funny guy. ! He looks very entertaining. The kind of guy who is always up for a laugh and a joke. I like  the view from his window, of the cows in the green pastures problem is I did not see Gret wall television Originality in its absolute form. NIMESEMA! [...]

Seinlife

  • Clean Eating

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 11:48 pm by Seinlife

    On May 9th i will begin a 30-day trial of clean eating. What is clean eating? No, not the opposite of the mess i sometimes make on my blouse collar when the spoon misses my gob! Clean eating is ..consuming food in its most natural state — or as close as possible to it. Eating clean means eating lean meat, whole grains and good fats and most importantly eliminating empty calories from processed foods and refined sugars. So no to late night potato chips snacks, no to mid-afternoon starbucks chai rans, no to hot saturday afternoon ice-cream rans, you get the gist!

     

    I will record what i eat at every meal and indicate how i feel if anything. I will eat as much as i feel i need without under or over eating during these meals. I will continue with my usual exercise regiment and will not add any supplements to my diet.

     

    ShareThis

Kenya Christian

The Displaced African

  • Stuff African People Like: Big Words

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 8:32 pm by Mwangi

    I could lie and say that this post came to me in a dream or an epiphany but I won’t lie. After reading Stuff White People Like and Stuff Educated Black People Like, I thought to myself, “That looks fun. I should do that.” So here we are. We begin with one of my favorites……….

    Why say large when you can say monumental?

    Why say water when you can say H20?

    Why call it sleeping sickness when you can call it trypanosomiasis?

    The African will take every opportunity they can, whether asked to or not, to prove that they are better educated and more eloquent than you. Ensure that you keep your dictionary handy because a conversation with an African is not complete unless he can stretch out a two syllable word into an eight syllable extravaganza.

    Here you must be tactful. You must feign amazement (you see it happens to me too ) even though you think he is basically blowing grandiloquent smoke (there I go again) out of his melanin filled rear.

    Don’t pretend to be too blown away though! This may come off as patronizing. Always remember that the African is trying to be condescending to you. Once the African is confident that he/she has proven his/her superiority to you, he will be comfortable around you and may even buy you food and drinks.

    Sure, they may constantly remind you of how much better they are than you, but it’s free food AND a free vocabulary lesson. Do you really want to pass that up?

    Want to know more stuff  that Africans like? Get the information delivered fresh to your inbox or feed reader as soon as it’s published.

Chez Moi

Kenya Christian

  • Webi album sample

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 8:28 pm by Frank
    Sample Webi's album, "Outside My Window" below...






    What do you think? Previously his video The Place

  • Hip Hope I.D - Eastlands Edition

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 8:17 pm by Frank


    The last event was not well attended, so make sure you go out and support Hip Hope I.D. Eastlands Edition so we can give some encouragement to our young, talented artists.
    Live Band Hip Hop/ R&B featuring Astar, Michelle, Juliani, Dee, Ciiru, Bupe, Dj Sparrxx, Kanjii & Brian King.

    Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008
    Time: 2:00pm - 6:00pm
    Charges: Ksh100
    Location: KAG Bahati (Buruburu - Eastlands)
    City/Town: Nairobi, Kenya
    Phone: 254-728595022

    Email:Hiphopefamily@yahoo.com

Project Sunshine

  • May Highlights!

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 8:05 pm by sunnykay9
    My corner of the world is 2 hours drive from NYC and 4 hours from Washington DC. The weather is 75F (23.8C) and cloudy. There is a slight breeze and the trees are in bloom, flowers have reappeared. Its delicious weather to be outside and ready for a jog, or a walk, or like my [...]

Kenya Christian

bankelele

  • Access Kenya AGM

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 7:58 pm by bankelele
    Access Kenya (AK) held its first AGM since listing on the Nairobi stock exchange (NSE). Here in alphabetical order is a brief recap. Most of the questions were answered by Chairman Michael Somen and Executive director David Somen Accounts: there were two balance sheets and P&L’s in the accounts which caused some confusion, but it was explained that one set was audited while the other was

Kenya Christian

Open Mic

  • Writer's Block season

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 7:12 pm by willpress
    Yeah it been more than a minute since my last post...there always comes this period where the author/blogger is overcome by a total disillusionment with his own work and takes the objective stance of a critic and you go something like..."Am I the one who wrote all that ish?" and you beging to feel the symptoms of a very interesting strain of multi-personality disorder....

    In short thats what has been happening to yours truly yeah so we can say that am successfully out of rehab and ready to scribe about nothing in general and everything in particular....

Kenya Christian

Kikuyumoja's realm

  • serikali ya Ujerumani + CO2 emissions

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 6:31 pm by jke

    The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel today published an interesting list (compiled by Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.) of cars driven on behalf of German Federal Ministers - indicating the consumption [in l / 100km] and the carbon dioxide emissions (original PDF, 0,2 MB).
    The list isn’t complete as some Ministries refused to provide information on this (due to “security” reasons), but nevertheless - it shows that there’s still a lot of change needed to shift the issue of saving the environment from a pure discussion level to an action level.

    On the other hand though, the best solution would be a no-emission-car or one whose emissions aren’t harmful to the environment (~ in a McDonough/Braungart/C2C-way). Well, dream on…

    (+ compare this with the cars driven by GoK officials….*sigh*)

You Missed This

  • IDPs Doing Commerce With Their Misery

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 4:54 pm by Taabu

    It came as no surprise to see IDPs camping in Nakuru showground demanding compensation as a prerequisite to returning their homes. And why not? This lot are well aware they are in safe company. They are merely joining in the grand rape of Kenyans secure in the knowledge that IMPUNITY and DECEPTION are two vices that define the present regime as personified by the THIEF-IN-CHIEF. At least the IDPs are honest by not pulling wool over our faces in their being readiness to sell their soul to the highest bidder.
    -----------------------------------------
    See also; Shocking link between quick Grand Regency sale to Libyans and elections 2007
    -----------------------------------------

    Deception disguised as commerce is a sure recipe to communal friction and even war. Morality is an alien virtue to a people singularly and uniquely defined by their shamelessness to auction their hearts for the right pieces of silver. Just join the DECEPTIVE dots and you won’t fail to see why other Kenyans are in no mood to entertain a cohort hell bent on making hay at the rumours of sun’s rays.

    Truth has an uncanny tendency to taste stale to scoundrels and liars. They readily denigrate this time-tested virtue as sounding like a stuck record. Fortunately TRUTH NEVER MUTATE. Instead it dutifully turns bounces back to hit the faces of the few who have traces of element of shame. Pursuit of wealth at whatever cost while ridding roughshod on the backs of others makes THIEVES shamelessly brand their victims as lesser bread of entrepreneurs. The calculative lot will promptly brand any genuine complaints directed at them as noise from lazy and jealous masses. No wonder they had no qualms tagging a whole country not sharing their deceptive ways as practitioners of DOMO theatrics.

    By resorting to bandage solutions, Kibaki and PNU are simply caving in to immense pressure to settle their voting block. Meanwhile they remain oblivious of the fact that there are unwittingly postponing a problem instead of confronting it head on. The power of the gun may succeed in intimidating a people but it cannot cultivate peace needed to co-exist. The 30 or so police stations will soon be host to hungry policemen cutting a deplorable picture of starving hoard of cops. To this abrasive gang the sight of policemen guarding grass at Uhuru Park for weeks on end was not embarrassing enough. All the choreographed and forced resettlement is one poison that is assured to generate more hate, anger, resentment and bitterness.

    Killing spouse for insurance cover
    The unpleasant truth remains the fact that SETTLER and HOST communities is an idea that can only be wished away by fools. Hon James Orengo told it as it is without blinkers or sugar coating it. His call only amplified the general feeling in the wider Rift Valley. Predictably he was condemned by those who would wish to have the cancer mutate on its own as it slowly kills the patient by instalment without any diagnosis. The willing-buyer willing-seller banter is an old song bereft of any danceable lyrics.

    The IDPs stake on compensation is akin to a spouse readiness to kill his/her partner with the eye singularly trained on insurance cover. Kenyans have been serially taken to these murderous rides before. But not any more and selective application of the law won’t wash this time round. The cure lies in accepting the fact that Kenya belongs to all Kenyans and no single community can lord over others. The medication is EQUITABLE distribution of our resources.

    Those who derive pleasure in BANDAGE solutions will readily and predictably reduce this truism to ethnic bashing. But refusing to measure up and instead reducing a challenge to your lower level and consequently beat it by experience is the epitome of reverse logic. Indulge and bring it on.


    Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now

Mwariwadavid...a re-invention

  • I got that Job!

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 4:18 pm by mwari
    This will probably be my most incoherent post, my apologies in advance. Yes, I got the job, they gave it to me. A jig, a whistle. Create your own song and dance with me. another whistle, a twist, one leg raised, both hands up, shaking waist now. jumping up and down. Thank you Lord! And thank you all [...]

What An African Woman Thinks

  • So, About Hillary Clinton

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 3:50 pm by R
    I’ve been pro-Obama in the US presidential race. I will continue to be overwhelmingly pro-Obama. Not that it matters, of course, because I do not have the right to vote in the upcoming elections, being a Kenyan citizen, resident in Kenya. Still an opinion is an opinion and I have one.

    But I have to say that I’ve developed a healthy respect for Hillary Clinton. She is a very intelligent, very formidable woman. Such grit. It is not easy to be her right now but she’s doing it with courage and dignity. I cannot remain unmoved when I watch her stand wearing her best smile before a crowd on whose faces she can read a sense of resignation, of futility. Here, where the clichéd rubber meets the road, this woman has substance, is substance.

    Hillary Clinton is an incredibly gifted woman, and no one can take that away from her.

    Besides, I cannot 'do a moving hope speech to galvanise a generation in the tradition of Obama' to save my life, not to mention the lives of my (yet unborn) children. In the public space, I would come off, in many ways, a lot like Clinton. I see me in her. I cannot help but empathise. (I also see my challenges of identity in Obama’s struggles, but that is not here.)

    It’s been hard for me to distil the thought processes and feelings of African American women during this prolonged nomination process. Because they’re the point of intersection between Clinton and Obama. I think there’s been a lot of churning going on in the private place that hasn’t poured out into the public space. Or perhaps I just haven’t known where to look.

    It’s been interesting to see African American women who are “women’s women” like Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou throw their weight behind Barack Obama. What does this mean? Is anybody talking about why it is and what it means? You get the strong sense, (especially in Oprah’s dipped ratings), that there’s a sense of betrayal in some quarters. Is this being tackled squarely or is it being sheepishly swept under the carpet?

    I can't wait for this stretch to be over, and for women (especially African American women) to begin to narrate their stories retrospectively, as they slowly come to terms with what this historic race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has taught them about themselves.

    And I agree with the Clinton supporter who said the nomination race is "a marathon and she should be allowed to finish." Even if she isn't going to be the first to cross the finishing line. Let her finish. That's the kind of woman that she is, and I admire and respect that. Because that's the kind of woman I'd like to be.

    Space, people. Let the woman do this on her own terms.It's my window, but I don't own the view.

I'm going to steer clear and burn up in your atmosphere.

  • Blinded

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 3:03 pm by City Love
    God, I'm tired.
    It's more than just exhaustion, just tired, just done. Just, needing a break, but not a physical one, just needing to think but not wanting to, I don't know, just done.
    I've been pretty reckless lately, knowing that what I'm doing is not good, not right, but doing it anyway. Not that I'm hurting anyone, just myself, just kind of spoiling my own senses. I don't know. It tends to spill over sometimes. Into other parts of my life, when I do that. When I'm reckless with one part, I tend to influence or damage the other parts.
    But generally, I'm happy. And I think that's the long and short of it. I'm happy. I'm alive, and I'm happy. Happiness is a state of mind, but one certainly chooses it, and I haven't got time to choose to brood. So much is going well right now.
    -R

COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE MAN

  • MASH MUSINGS: THE RETURN

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 2:59 pm by mashinc

    As Israel celebrates its 60th independence anniversary, i have opted to look at my perceived affection for the Holy land. I cant quite trace why i love Israel so much, but i know i do. When i find that i am willing to exercise bigotry knowing very well its against what i stand for-i can only attribute such moments of utter folly to that which makes me ashamed…BIGOTRY.Its defined as “stubborn and incomplete intolerance of any creed,opinion or belief that differs from one’s own”.

    When it comes to Israel,i am a bigot.

    How else would i explain the fact that the death of an Israeli soldier would irk me to a greater degree than that of 1000 Palestine men. I know that i have my reasons for backing Israel but that shouldn’t excuse my bigotry….The Indian poet and essayist Rabindranath Togore refers to bigotry as that which “tries to keep truth in its hand with a grip that kills it”, and i totally agree.

    The israelis are truly a resilient people, i’m reminded of a tale in a book titled ” O’Jerusalem” that details what lengths the Israeli movement called Haganah went to so as to gain independence…while smuggling in small arms at the harbour, they decided to hide the arms in a container full of onions!!…not even the most hawk eyed British custom official could keep tears away in the wake of all the Onion aroma hitting the eyes..

    To be continued….

What An African Woman Thinks

  • Of Old Roads, New Paths and the People Who Take Them

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 2:07 pm by R
    I found this article in the New York Times very eye-opening.

    Especially this:


    "...don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the hippocampus, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads..."
    That definitely catalysed an Oprah Aha! moment for me. It made me realise that I'd been focusing precious change energy in the wrong direction.

    Instead of trying (with limited success), to block off "the old roads", I ought rather to be concentrating on building "new parallel pathways". Instead of concentrating my efforts on not doing things the old way, I should in fact be expending my energy imagining, inventing and learning new ways of doing things.

    And then there's also the bit about the three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress:


    "...Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs ... Getting into the stretch zone is good for you ... it helps keep your brain healthy. It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy..."

    We live, We learn.

    (I so love that we get to do that.)It's my window, but I don't own the view.

Rugby in Kenya

  • Safari Sevens Gets Bigger

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 1:46 pm by DataMiner
    With the yesterday's announcements of the increased sponsorship from Tusker of Ksh. 24M and the confirmation that Fiji will grace this years event, the 2008 Tusker Safari Sevens will surely be the biggest ever. That Tusker have declared that they will pay Ksh. 18M of this directly to the KRFU should be music to KRFU's ears. In an earlier post, I had queried the role of sponsors in African Sports

Kenya Christian

KCB Rugby Football Club

  • 9 MAY 2008:KCB name squad to ...

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 1:17 pm by KCBRFC
    9 MAY 2008:KCB name squad to face Nakuru:Click here to view

    8 MAY 2008 :KCB v Nakuru : MATCH PREVIEW



    RICHIE McCAW IS HERE!!

    *When Richie McCaw goes swimming he doesn't get wet, the water gets Richie McCawed .
    * When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Richie McCaw.
    * Richie McCaw sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparallelled rugby ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Richie spear-tackled the devil and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

    * Richie McCaw counted to infinity - twice.
    * Richie McCaw invented every colour. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.
    * When Richie McCaw does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.
    * Richie McCaw hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.
    * Richie McCaw gave Mona Lisa that smile.
    * Richie McCaw can slam a revolving door.
    * Some kids piss their name in the snow. Richie McCaw can piss his name into concrete.
    * Richie McCaw once visited the Virgin Islands. They are now The Islands.
    * Richie McCaw's calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd; no one fools Richie McCaw.
    * Richie McCaw can speak Braille.
    * Richie McCaw's tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.
    * Superman owns a pair of Richie McCaw pyjamas.
    * Richie McCaw owns the greatest Poker Face of all-time. It helped him win the 1993 World Series of Poker despite him holding just a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.

    * Richie McCaw sleeps with a night light. Not because Richie McCaw is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Richie McCaw.

    * Richie McCaw doesn't pop his collar, his shirts just get erections when they touch his body.
    * Once a cobra bit Richie McCaw's leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
    * Richie McCaw divides by zero.
    * When Richie McCaw exercises, the machine gets stronger.
    * Richie McCaw can kill two stones with one bird.
    * Richie McCaw once devoured a whole wheel-barrow full of clay to prove to a friend that the expression "Sh***ing bricks" wasn't just a figure of speech.



    OTHER STORIES:

    Arnold Odera in action
    7 MAY 2008: Arnold Odera scores hat-trick for KC Blues RFC

    7 MAY 2008:"Pau" to miss Nakuru clash

    6 MAY 2008 :Tip of the week

    5 MAY 2008 :Semi final heart break for the Lions

... jamaapoa ...

  • The Citizen Butterfly Metamorphosis

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 11:13 am by jp
    Citizen Television owned by Royal Media used to be like that “makamasi”boy in primary school. That boy who was always unkempt and ignored. The boy whose books were torn by the second day of opening school, whose pen always “boiled” on the shirt pocket or in his school bag messing up his books. The boy who looked like he will not make it through school but still made it anyway.

    Citizen Television has really changed. It is evident that Catherine Kasavuli and the team that was poached from KTN have made some impact. The new blood has managed to polish up the content and the look and feel of Citizen. They have done away with uncensored content and improved on the background and the dull colours. The Power Breakfast Show by Jimmy Gathu and Mutegi news analysis during the show is incisive to watch and listen to.

    Then there is the entertaining local programming, the best being Tahidi High and Papa Shirandula. I have been wondering whether one can get a DVD of the series, quite entertaining.Tusker Project Fame II has capped it for Citizen viewership figures, being the only TV station airing the daily briefs and live shows in Kenya. Inspector Mwala is a non-starter.

    By the way, on Tusker Project Fame II, I think this time it will be won by one of the Ugandans. Putting my vote on Esther or Stephen. No way, a Kenya will win it. For one, it is more of a marketing campaign by East Africa Breweries than a music contest. EABL would like the company to be seen to be fair to Uganda and Tanzania markets. With the unexpected withdrawal of Aisha, a Tanzanian and one of the four ladies on probation this week, another Kenyan will most likely go home this weekend. Unless, Wendi is voted by the public, Linah is saved by the teachers and Alice by fellow contestants, then there will be no evictee.

    Citizen has a long way to go but I think it is just a matter of time and Citizen will be second to NTV in viewership nationally.

    What happened to The Leader weekly newspaper by Royal Media? This is a media section that Royal Media should not give a cold shoulder to. There is quite a market if Nairobi Star, Business Daily and Daily Metro are anything to go by.


Odegle Nyang

  • How often

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 10:49 am by odegle
    About a month ago when the safaricom IPO was in the heat of it, a smiling and seemingly shy girl walked to my desk and introduced herself purposefully. From her uniform, i could tell she was one of the hospitality staff. in fact the ones in the tea section. after what appeared to be a dutiful smile she went straight to her mission. she wanted to take a loan from me. she said she had approached banks already but they could not lend her the money. the young girl barely in her 20s wanted a loan badly and was willing to repay it over 4 months with almost 45% interest when i made my calculations. i still have no idea why she saw me as a potential lender but here she was smiling and expectant. but why did she need a loan so urgently? To buy Safaricom shares. according to her proposal, she would pay me in installments until she cleared the sum loaned with the interest on top. to say the least i was very impressed at her grasp of the issues at hand.

    I reclined on the seat and got my breath to ask how much she wanted. i knew that would give me a good excuse. 10K to buy the minimum. she offered as her security the shares themselves and even said if they went up the first day she would sell and pay me back. i told her to give me time to think about it. i wanted at least 2 hours break to just think about the 'ambush' .

    2 hours later she was back and with even more stories to back her request. i sought to know why she found safaricom so attractive. she said she wanted to take up a course in front office. the course would cost her 40K she estimated that safaricom shares would go up 4 times in the first month. she would sell and register for her course and that way get her dream!

    I was so impressed i wanted to give her the money for free but thought it would destroy her spirit, she would feel indebted to me and in any case she was not seeking favors she wanted a loan. so i gave her the money and she walked away after showering me with the greatest number of 'thank yous' i have had this year.
    I never saw her again after that and told myself i could as well have been conned.

    Last Monday the girl walked to my workstation again with her smile and bright eyes. she had her first installment. she handed it to me proudly and also told me she was surprised i trusted her yet i had never met her before. baffled i listened as she went on to describe how her career path would be. after the front office she would get a better job and pay for a course in mass communication and that would break all barriers to her. this time she was even more confident about the prospects of safaricom and promised to clear my debt when the trade begun. she walked away proud and smiling.

    the only thought she left me with was : How often does that happen? isn't this what separates people; the extreme success and the hopeless pariahs.

>d®

  • BUSTED?

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 10:48 am by >d®
    The CRS [Can't Remember Sh*t] is getting worse, it seems. For whatever reason I clean forgot that I have another blog exclusively for car & techie stuff, so I won't put up another yawn-inducing post about cars and stuff here, like I'd originally intended.

    My boy Steve-O is a straight clown. He stumbled across pics of, and I quote, Hyena Men. So he sent me the doctored photo below, along with the message:
    "Hey - I found this picture on Kenya'sMostWanted.com"

    It was unreal looking at myself with a hyena in tow. My workmates cracked up over it, as did I.



    Have a good weekend, you dig?

SportsKenya

You Missed This

  • Kibaki’s Re-election Campaign Bribe Behind the Hurried Secret Sale of Grand Regency to Libya

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 10:28 am by chris
    KUMEKUCHA RED HOT EXCLUSIVE

    Fresh details which emerged today regarding the secret and hurried plans by President Kibaki to sell off the landmark Grand Regency Hotel to a Libyan company revealed the grand corruption that riddled PNU campaigns in the December 27 General Election.

    It emerged that the sale revolves around a secret Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) President Kibaki signed with Libya’s President Muammar Gaddafi during a three-day visit to Libya last June as part of his global plans the raise funds to run his re-election.

    Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi with President Mwai Kibaki when he bade him farewell after his three day visit in Sirte, Libya.

    President Kibaki had lost favour in the traditional Western friends of Kenya and his following at home had taken a nose-dive due to his poor leadership and his involvement in the Anglo Leasing Scandal and he was desperately looking for alternative sources of raising campaign funds.

    Libya came in handy – but with a heavy price. President Gaddafi required a substantial control of Kenya’s wealth in order to bail out President Kibaki who was facing the biggest test of his political career in the December 27 polls.

    During the begging mission, the two presidents “negotiated” and agreed on an MoU that has a direct bearing in the sorry state of affairs regarding the Grand Regency Hotel. Titled "Agreement on Promotion Guarantee and Protection On Investment," the MoU was signed by Kenya's then Minister for Trade, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, and Dr Ali Elisaue, Secretary General of Libya's General People's Committee for the Economy and Investment.

    According to Kibaki’s close aides privy to the MoU deal and the subsequent take over of the hotel by the Government, the purchase of the hotel – a symbol of greed, theft and grand corruption which was the hallmark of President Moi regime - was among six projects that the Libyans had expressed interest in when the President visited the oil-rich North African country between June 4 and 6 2007.

    In exchange of signing the lucrative MoU with Libyans, President Kibaki received an unspecified amount of money to fund his presidential re-election campaigns.

    Interestingly, Kibaki was committing himself to sell the hotel to a group comprising Libyan investors trading as Libyan Arab African Investment Company even before the Government wrestled the ownership of the prestigious Nairobi landmark from the architect of the infamous Goldenberg scandal, Mr Kamlesh Pattni.

    The MoU was part of President Kibaki’s strategy to raise funds for his re-election campaign. Other major presidential candidates Mr Raila Odinga and Mr Kalonzo Musyoka did similar missions abroad to raise funds for their campaigns. It’s not known how much funds each of the three candidates raised.

    Reports indicate Mr Odinga also signed secret MoUs with foreign firms and individuals which he promised to honour if he trounced President Kibaki and formed the Government. Locally, Mr Odinga signed other controversial MoUs like the one he did with a section of Muslims. But the most shocking MoU relate to the unfolding saga of how President Kibaki shamelessly traded with public resources to win funds to run his PNU campaigns.

    According to Kibaki’s aides, President Kibaki and his delegation promised to sell the hotel to the Libyan investors at Sh2.5 billion, yet this was the price set by the Central Bank Kenya 15 years ago. Financial market analysts say the hotel is today valued at Sh7 billion.

    Last month’s stage-managed handover of the hotel to the Government by Mr Pattni left many questions unanswered.

    Receiving the hotel on behalf of the Government was Mr Justice Aaron Ringera, the head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, and Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, showered Mr Pattni with platitudes “for his selfless gesture”. A beaming Mr Ringera described it a first in the war of asset recovery.

    On his part, Mr Pattni talked of surrendering the hotel in exchange of amnesty from further prosecution regarding the plunder of CBK’s coffers under the close watch of retired President Moi. The plunder of CBK and other state coffers under the watchful eye of Mr Moi almost drove Kenya into the knees and rendered more Kenyans poorer.

    In a strange twist of events, Attorney-general Amos Wako said he was not consulted in the surrender deal raising questions on why the chief legal adviser to the Government was kept in the dark.

    When reports emerged that the five-star, which has been at the centre of furious legal battles between CBK and Mr Pattni for 15 years, had secretly been sold to Libyan investors, Prof Ndung’u, Mr Ringera and Finance minister Amos Kimunya swiftly issued denials. Mr Kimunya claimed the hotel will be sold within a month through auction.

    Mr Kimunya has perfected the art of making cheap lies on camera ever since he became President Kibaki’s top confidant. He kept on giving disjointed and incoherent answers when journalists cornered him in regard to the secret Grand Regency deal.

    The question that has bogged the minds of many Kenyans in the last one month is: Why was are the content of the deal entered between Mr Pattni and the Government being kept a secret and why was the Government in such a hurry to sell the hotel before advertising it in public?

    It emerged today that the secret negotiations with Mr Pattni and the subsequent hurried plans by President Kibaki’s cronies to dispose off the hotel emanated from the intense pressure President Kibaki has been getting from his Libyan counterpart to honour the June MoU (Kibaki has a bad reputation of honouring MoUs bearing in mind he shamelessly trashed a power-sharing MoU he signed with Mr Raila Odinga before he propelled him to State House in 2002 General Election).

    The only fruits the Libyans have reaped from the MoU deal is the acquisition of all Mobil petrol stations in Kenya by Oilibya. President Kibaki is yet to honour the other lucrative part of the deal which earned him handsome funds for his PNU campaigns.

    According to reliable information from Kibaki’s aides, President Gaddafi started becoming uneasy with the slow pace his Kenyan counterpart was moving at in implementing the deal in February and that’s why he dispatched a top Libyan Government official to Kenya purportedly to “talk” to President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to strike a political deal to end the political and security crisis that was sparked off by President Kibaki’s stealing of an election victory from Mr Odinga.

    It was during the meeting with the Libyan official at State House Nairobi that President Kibaki agreed to meet President Gaddafi when he visited Kampala in March.

    The meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and the Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi took place on the evening of May 19. According to a PPS dispatch to newsrooms, the two leaders held bilateral consultation “to review the status and progress of the implementation of the agreed framework of co-operation between the two countries which was signed in Sirte during President Kibaki's visit to Libya mid last year.”

    It did not occur to Kenyans at the time what the diplomatic PPS dispatch meant. Kumekucha can today authoritatively reveal that President Kibaki travelled to Kampala because the Libyan president was exerting pressure on him to honour the MoU which they signed in exchange for funds for his PNU campaigns.

    It is worthy noting that President Kibaki flew to Kampala in the thick of a political stalemate back at home to meet President Gaddafi who was in Kampala to commission a new mosque. President Gaddafi was on official visit to Kampala on the invitation of President Museveni. Who had invited Kibaki and what was his mission in Kampala?

    It has emerged that President Kibaki promised President Gaddafi he would do his best to honour the pact and this is what has triggered a furry of high-profile activities regarding the Grand Regency.

    It has emerged that the CBK chief and his KACC counterpart had to literally beg Mr Pattni to agree to surrender his hotel to the state and hence the praises the two showed on a man the Bosire Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg Scandal described as Kenya’s Number One Conman.

    Our sources disclosed that President Kibaki’s joy of making Mr Pattni surrender the hotel were cut short when an Indian company fronted by internationally-renowned wealthy tycoons, which had already moved into Kenya and placing itself in a strategic position to buy the hotel when it was put to the hammer, sent an unsolicited bid to Mr Kimunya with an offer exceeding Sh2.5billion by far.

    The Indian company, through Conman Pattni, had been following the secret negotiations and they swung the unsolicited bid when Mr Pattni sealed the deal with Mr Ringera and Prof Njuguna. According to plan, the secret deal between President Kibaki and President Gaddafi regarding the Grand Regency would have been sealed as soon as Mr Pattni gave in and handed over the hotel.

    But the unsolicited entry into the Grand Regency buying bid by the India firm and the sudden attention Kenyan media had shown on the Libyan sole bid, jolted Mr Kimunya and President Kibaki since they feared the exposure of the scandal of how they secretly sold off the hotel without any public bid while there was another bidder offering a higher amount.

    Matters were worsened when some Treasury officials, serving the interests of the Indian firm, leaked to the Kenyan media the secret plans to sell off Grand Regency to the Libyan firm without any public bid. The Press went to town with the story.

    This forced President Kibaki to order Mr Kimunya to urgently contact Dr Elisaue and Libyan Arab African Investment Company to explain to them the new developments and ask them to raise their bid slightly higher than the amount being offered by the Indian firm.

    We established that the Libyan firm had grudgingly accepted to raise their bid but the Indian firm, which boasts of the fifth richest man in the world, Mr Mukesh Ambani, who early last month partnered with an Arabian real estate firm, Arrow Webtex, to form Delta Resources Limited, is not willing to give up the hotel and has promised to fight on.

    As Kibaki was promising to sell off the Grand Regency to the Libyian firm, little did he know that the Indian firm had arrived in Nairobi and it had placed itself in a strategic position to bid for the hotel when it is put to hammer.

    The Indian firm had already bought a huge parking lot next to Grand Regency at a cost of Sh1.4 billion from the National Social Security Fund in anticipation for the expansion of the hotel if it managed to seize its ownership.


    The company has also reportedly bought another parking lot between Barclays Plaza and Nyati House, where it plans to build a number of top-end hotel and shopping malls, creating a “city within a city” around the hotel complete with modern shopping centres, casinos and other entertainment services.

    That’s how the stakes are so high for the Indian firm and it’s unlikely they will let go their quest to own the hotel, which was built by Mr Pattni using CBK loot, in order to please President Kibaki and his preferred Libyan firm.

    Interestingly, the Kibaki Tena website, a State House-backed lobby group spearheading President Kibaki’s re-election drive, mentions about the visit President Kibaki did to Libya last June. However, the story posted on the website only dwells on the trade packs President Kibaki and the Libyan leader signed but doesn’t mention the funds he received for his PNU campaigns.

    The Indian firm’s shocking entry into the Grand Regency purchase bid has given President Kibaki and his lieutenants sleepless nights and it remains to be seen how they will overcome the issue of the campaign funds justify they received from Libya if the hotel goes to other buyers.

    Dr Kituyi who signed the MoU on behalf of President Kibaki was a trusted lieutenant of the president but he was sent packing from Parliament by his Kimilili constituents and he is rotting in the political cold. His docket was taken by Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, a foe-turned loyalist of Kibaki. But the question is: Why has Uhuru vanished from the public limelight since the Grand Regency scandal started unfolding and the trade pact that promised to sell off the hotel to Libya lies squarely in his docket? Is he in Libya or India trying doing Kibaki’s errands to contain the Grand Regency scandal?

    Surprisingly, all the key figures handling the Grand Regency saga (President Kibaki, Uhuru, Kimunya, Prof Njuguna and Mr Ringera) have one thing in common: the Mt Kenya link. Libyans have firmly set their eyes on the oil and petroleum industry in Kenya and it’s no surprise that another Mt Kenya figure and key ally of President Kibaki, Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, was present in Libya during the MoU signing.

    Under the MoU, President Kibaki committed Kenya into granting an exclusive trade pact to Libya, making Tripoli "most favoured nation" status - making it possible for Libyan companies to start at an advantage over investors when competing for lucrative contracts.

    The irony is that Mr Ringera, who earns a whopping Sh2.5million from tax payers plus other lucrative perks to fight high-level graft, is the man at the centre of legalising the Kibaki-sponsored Grand Regency scandal. Instead of doing his job and catching all the thieves in the Grand Coalition Government (there are a good number corrupt political heavyweights in PNU, ODM, ODM-K, KANU and in other parties) and in the civil service, Mr Ringera has chosen to go after the small fish like traffic policemen and junior civil servants who take small bribes from Kenyans who are struggling to rise from the yokes of poverty.

    Why should Kenyan’s continue paying huge salaries to Mr Ringera and his staff and pumping billions into the KACC drain every year for no work done and to commit serious acts of legitimising Kibaki-made scandals like the Anglo Leasing and the Grand Regency Scandal?

    KACC under Mr Ringera has taken civil servants to court for single sourcing or awarding contracts to companies without offering public bids. Why is the Libyan deal an exception?

    We now know why Kibaki stole the election to remain in power for another five years.

    Other stories published in Kumekucha today;

    Party of the year: Raila's homecoming bash


    How long can the grand coalition "marriage" survive?


    Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now

Black Looks

  • Blood river train

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 9:59 am by Rethabile
    When time works against us and weighs at the heart somewhere in a foreign land, night turns to day, and the fashion in shop windows I pass on my way from work into djellabas, the smell of restaurants into kuskus on a market day, hands all out, stretched to acknowledge this gift, walking in the shadow of African women, men, with their fear of anchored boats on coastal fronts. [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blood river train", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/05/blood-river-train-rethabile.html" });

a search for sanity or..........

  • tete tete tererere tete terere

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 7:50 am by gal africana
    I was trying to hum the intro tune for Fraggle rock to a friend and she was looking at me with this wide eyed look that says "honey, are you okay?"
    So I tried even harder, tried to explain that it was the show with the talking heap of leaves, and her wide eyed look got even worse like she was saying "STOP! you are scaring me"
    It didn't help matters that I was mixing muppet show stuff into the picture...and was in the end scaring myself...by imitating Miss piggy's scream of frustration...
    But imagine my joy when I find clips of fraggle rock on Youtube! I love the internet!!!! And You tube!!!
    I'm sure there's someone out there who'll be smiling and enjoying this as well

You Missed This

  • Party of the Year: Raila’s Homecoming

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 6:38 am by Phil
    The Kibaki succession soap opera is expected to move a notch higher this weekend when ODM captain and the man many people widely believe defeated Kibaki at the presidential poll, Raila Odinga, heads to Nyanza and Western Provinces to host a series of significant events at his rural homes in Nyanza in celebrating his homecoming.

    According to sources privy to the arrangements, the ODM has laid down elaborate plans for Raila’s homecoming ceremony expected to run for the entire coming weekend from May 10 to 12, culminating with putting in an appearance at the home of the Minister for Fisheries Development, Mr. Paul Otuoma in Funyula, Western province. The guest list reads like who-is-who in Kenya’s political and business circles. The entire ODM pentagon, the party’s NEC, the yet to be disbanded presidential campaign team and a distinguished mix of local and overseas visitors are expected to grace the occasion including the flamboyant Ukambani politican John Harun Mwau. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Guest of Honour will be none other than President Mwai Kibaki. Although the V-P Kalonzo Musyoka has been officially invited, he is unlikely to attend and risk being fried alive (read: embarrassed) by Ngilu and Mwau who are his Ukambani political archrivals, not to mention prospects of facing the thousands Raila’s fanatical supporters drawn mainly from Kondele and Obunga slums who, unlike IDPs in Eldoret, have nothing to lose and will not hesitate to heckle the V-P who is deemed as a man who has been out to politically frustrate ODM.

    Not since the NDP/KANU merger rally in Kisumu a decade ago has the region witnessed such momentous organization. A committee that includes the Kisumu Mayor and the Nyanza OCPD has been meeting regularly to ensure everything goes according to plan. Hotels and commercial flights to Kisumu are fully booked for the weekend although a good number of guests are expected to land at Kisumu airport in personal and chartered aircraft.

    The region is currently bracing itself to give ‘their son’ a thunderous homecoming following his well planned and highly publicized but abortive presidential bid. To the people of Nyanza, the president will hardly visit the area unless he is coming for official state functions. Things were not made easier for the president that his relations with Raila were not the best ever since the collapse of the NARC coalition following the trashing of the MOU. The president himself, as candidate in 2007, did not campaign in the area and even his own lieutenants planned but completely failed to address a single campaign rally in the Luo Nyanza region.

    Political observers opine that these homecoming events are just but political rallies aimed at flexing political muscles. High on the agenda at Raila’s homecoming, will be the explosive issue of the still unresolved pecking order in the higher echelons of government.

    Interestingly Ababu Namwamba, the ODM MP for Budalangi, and a long time admirer/supporter of Raila Odinga, yesterday successfully sort and got permission to introduce a bill in parliament aimed at establishing an official opposition. Although Raila himself has on several occasions spoken against forming an official opposition in a grand coalition, Raila is not - by all means - a politician who was born yesterday and he very well may be the one behind the clever actions of one Ababu Namwamba. ODM’s unfinished business (read: taking over the reins of power in Kenya) is still well within grasp; and despite the diplomacy and smiles exhibited by its leaders some of whom are now in cabinet, the ultimate goal of the party is to ensure that it becomes the ruling party in Kenya – on or before December 2012. In prevailing circumstances, there is no other way in toppling this government except through parliament where incidentally, the party has significant control through both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker's posts.

    Many people doubt this, but anxiety in PNU has not gone unnoticed by keen political observers. The forthcoming by-elections in 5 constituencies are due in a month and they will be a litmus test for the stability and future of the grand coalition cabinet. President Kibaki’s PNU (which in reality does not have a single MP in the house) is a coalition that exists only by name and is nowhere near assembling its campaign machinery for the forthcoming mini-general elections. Looking at the agenda 1,2,3&4 on the Annan peace roadmap, it really reads like ODM’s 2007 manifesto. DPM and ODM Vice Captain Musalia Mudavadi led the ODM delegation to the Annan talks and the agenda was obviously because of their influence.

    It therefore should not surprise any Kenyan that the ODM is behind the moves to create an official opposition in parliament even though its leaders are serving in government as cabinet ministers. The reality is that the opposition will have much more liberty to propagate party policies, oppose legislation umwanted by ODM as well as expose government scandals because ODM cabinet ministers are tied by the draconian oath of collective responsibility in cabinet!

    Raila arrived back in the country earlier this week, after a spell in South Africa, where he met with the anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, his wife Graca as well as the leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai. Prior to that, he had been in Germany, where he had undergone laser eye surgery.


    Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now

  • How Long Can The Grand Coalition Government Survive?

    Posted: May 8, 2008, 6:16 am by chris
    Have you ever fallen in love? Aii. It is some feeling. It happened to me slightly over 20 years ago and no I didn’t end up getting married to her. But I know she reads Kumekucha sometimes and chances are high that she will read this post.

    And she will know that I am telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth when I say that the reason why it did not work out was NOT my fault. It took me a long time to get over it. Too long. But I survived. After going through all that, would you want to fall in love again?

    By the way, you’re not on the wrong site friend, I am talking in parables kidogo and I am focusing on our grand coalition government