Kenya Imagine

• Kenya, Kenyatta, the Flag is Flying

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 10:12 pm

  "Hamjambo wananchi wote pamoja na wageni wetu. Mimi ni Kisoi Munyao ninaozungumza nanyi kutoka kileleni cha Mlima Kenya. Kenya, Kenyatta, bendera imepepea. Kenya popote mwangaza umeenea." (Hello to all citizens and our visitors. I am Kisoi Munyao, speaking to you from the peak of Mt Kenya. Kenyatta, the flag is flying. All over Kenya, the light is shining).
  
  On that day, in December 1963, Kisoi Munyao stood at the highest point of the new nation. He hoisted a brand new flag, at the dawn of independence; the birth of a nation called Kenya. A flag with red, for the blood that was shed that Kenya could be forever free; green for the land, that would forever be bountiful; black for the people, an African race that had finally won self-determination and dominion over their motherland; white for the peace that, after the war of liberation's proud yet painful legacy, would prevail within Kenya's borders. A flag that would forever symbolise national unity in this independent and sovereign state.
  
  Read more from Njoroge Matathia here.

• Why Mugabe continues to rule Zimbabwe

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 10:10 pm

  Zimbabweans as a people need a change of governance for the sake of their very lives. The world is settled on that fact but has failed to agree on the informing motive. It is clear now, that besides an economic turn-around for the country, other, less altrustic motives have emerged.
  Why is it that everyone feels in themselves activists for humanity while pouring criticism on President Robert Mugabe, but falls just short of committing to any action?
  
  Read more from Thuo Kiragu here.

• How many blind mice?

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 10:08 pm

  It is clear now, that a full month after the much heralded coalition agreement was signed, the signatories are not close to presenting the Kenyan people with a cabinet of ministers. Competing interests include a need by the principals to reward and keep close their main lieutenants, and to balance the cabinet so that those appointed are reflective of the regional and ethnic make-up of the country. The parties are also seen to be haggling about who should take what ministerial portfolio, with the ODM seen to be particularly keen on the Ministry of Finance, and the PNU particularly averse to relinquishing that office.
  
  Discuss here.

• Transporting Nairobi; can Uhuru drive this car?

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 10:04 pm

  It is far from the most graceful move, but Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to restrict access into the city centre for matatus is a bold decision (whatever its motivations) and one that bears much potential. The minister cannot, of course, be absolved for his failure to give adequate notice to the matatu owners, or to explain the exemption from his decree of the major bus companies. He cannot either be forgiven the negligent manner in which so far-reaching and disruptive an innovation was implemented, nor for lacking the foresight to adequately manage the consequences of these measures. Still, the policy may yet be redeemed and the city that was once green and in the sun, may live to celebrate a decision that should serve to reduce its overwhelming ambient air pollution and clear its streets of noisy and costly traffic jams.
  
  Read more from Angela Wairimu here.

• My Zimbabwe Diary II

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 10:01 pm

  An electoral candidate's bulletin of events and happenings pertaining to Ward 7, Harare, where he is running for office as a councillor. contd.... .

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes