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• Of Misconstruction and the Weight of Words

  Posted: March 8, 2008, 5:27 am by ritch

  Why nobody wants to be in the opposition
  
  I first read the words that I have reproduced here below when I was a student at Starehe Boys' Centre – Nairobi. During my student years, these words gave me the drive to do my best even when failure looked me in the face.
  
  They got me into a grave problem once, when I started working, – I was fired! I lost a job that was my lifeline at the time. The day before I was fired, I had handwritten them and glued (so crude of me!) the sheet of paper on the Notice Board for my colleagues to read and get inspired.
  
  Little did I know that the Manager would consider the words an insult to the company and his person. He tore the paper and bounded menacingly to his office with the shreds in his hands. He sent someone to call me. Having witnessed the unfolding 'melodrama' I knew I would be in for it. How right my premonition was!
  
  I was summarily dismissed and only a vague explanation warranting the action was forthcoming. I later pieced the pieces of the jigsaw and came to know the why and wherefore of the unwarranted dismissal. He had thought my aim was to kindle the ire of the workers against him – what with poor pay, unconducive working environment and a lack of transparency. But my aim was far from that.
  Anyway, situations like these hone and shape us, don't they?
  Sample the piece…
  
  
  STRUGGLE IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
  
  You want the good things in life. You want more money, power and status in the office. You want to drive around town in a spanking new car. And you want to invite your many friends to your sprawling house to meet your beautiful wife and charming children. Also you want a healthy body, a quicker wit and a more sparkling personality.
  
  Well, you can have all these and many more if you are willing to pay the price. These things are expensive, very expensive. And for most people, too expensive. They demand more than wealth or talent. They demand courage. The courage to work hard even when you feel underpaid and unrecognized. The guts to keep working hard.
  
  Essentially life demands struggle. Everyday has to be a day of struggle. Once one can accept this stark truth as something positive, one can start to get ahead. Struggle allows us to refine our talents. It is the intense heat that burns the dross. It is the alchemy that turns one into pure gold.
  
  There is no magic in the real world. In fantasy, wonderful things happen of their own accord. But this is not the way the real world works. The universal law is simple: YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
  
  If you are tired, it is not due to struggle. Struggle does not tire: it uplifts and rejuvenates: it brings about the best in the human spirit.
  If you feel that life is hard, you have not faced your toughest adversity: Your own negative thinking. Struggle means pushing ahead no matter what. It means investing your hopes and energies even in a cause that seems hopeless. Struggle is a mark of heroism, and the difference between winners and losers.
  
  Life is for the living. It is a struggle, challenge, change, disaster and triumph. Forget your multiple fortunes. If you can forge a win of iron by fighting through the thick of misfortune then the world is your oyster. There is no easy way to reap what you think you deserve. You have to fight for it all the way.
  
  At this moment you are where you deserve to be. If you are surrounded by abundance, it is because you have the heart of a lion. If you are surrounded by scarcity, it is because you've not dared to challenge yourself to rise against adversity. Struggle is the meaning of life.
  
  If you want more from your life, ask what you have done to deserve more. Don't sit around lost in daydreams: ONLY ACTION WILL REDEEM YOU.
  
  From now on, think your way into a dynamic and confident state of mind and being. Strive to be that little bit better in everything you do in everyday struggle! Crawl up that mountain! Go for it!

• 10th Parliament: Why Nobody Wants To Be In The Opposition

  Posted: March 8, 2008, 2:49 am by chris

  Plus trouble brewing over ODM deputy premier appointment?
  
  
  One would have thought that the best strategy for any politician in the 10th parliament who does not get a cabinet position, would be to position themselves in the opposition in readiness for the next general elections which many people believe will be held in 2 years time.
  
  After all going by what has happened in the past, the government always manages to get unpopular sooner or later presenting a “through pass” to any carefully positioned opposition candidate to easily get re-elected into the august house.
  
  
  
  But alas, Kenyan politics always has its’ bizarre twists. It is now becoming clearly evident that hardly anybody in the 10th parliament wants to be in the opposition. Virtually all PNU affiliate parties are saying that they are included in the grand coalition and are therefore in government. The same with ODM affiliate parties. And what complicates matters further is that both PNU and ODM are working very hard behind scenes to ensure that they have a parliamentary majority in the house (just in case).
  
  What that means is that contrary to what we are being told, there will hardly be any opposition in the 10th parliament unless something changes drastically. The “opposition” task it seems will be left to the press and the rising power of blogs like Kumekucha but that is hardly the same thing as having a strong opposition in the house.
  
  Forget about the back bench because when all the numbers are in government a back bencher in say ODM or even PNU is of no consequence.
  
  Those who understand Kenyan politics well are fully aware of the reason why there is this mad scramble for government as if there were no political tomorrow.
  
  Read more

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes