What The Boss is seeing since June 3rd are ordinary Kenyans going about their daily lives ( and they are not weird ). I have been seeing them all my life and they haven't been of any particular threat to me. What he is afraid of is his own models of phantoms or the guilt of sins past committed, and his only refuge is to come out clean and face his accusers in broad daylight. Only the truth will set him free.
........
As Marley sang,
Life is one big road with lots of signs...
As we move along the ruts,.....not to complicate our minds
....to be free from hate, deceit and jelousy...
........
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A luta continua.....
The battle lines for Africa's ultimate liberation seems to be getting clearer as we progress.
It is now clear that corruption, impunity and irresponsible, unaccountable regimes headed by lame-duck leaders are our common enemy. Our politics have been dominated by criminals and compounded by greed and blind power struggles.
Most of African populations are held up at bottle-necks created by politicians seeking to entrench and enrich themselves with total disregard of the woes facing the masses. The only time the masses' needs are in the politicians' agenda is when the elections are near, and even then, the needs met are meagre, short term and only fulfilling immediate desires; beer for the men-folk, one kilogram packages of sugar for the women-folk and or a large denomination currency note. The more real problems are listed as development plans to be implemented if the politicians get the votes. These will be as vague as possible to make sure no one is able to question the implementation progress or lack thereof. They will shout about how they will " bring electricity and water to the villages…, the schools will be improved…, the roads will be upgraded,…"
Finally to get the voters out in their droves, the politicians will pull the age-old trick of accusing past regimes headed by 'other' tribes of all the underdevelopment in their region. They will however forget to mention that they were in Parliament when these regimes were in power and that they have nothing in record to indicate that their efforts to represent their voters were frustrated-of course because the Hansard is not accessible by the ordinary mwananchi.(Parliamentarians are known to go through their terms without ever contributing anything in The house except the conversion of oxygen into carbon dioxide.) They will call on their supporters to vote 'as a block' and these is normally translated as a green light to frustrate opposition as necessary-unfortunately including violence.
To the issue at hand, fight against corruption and impunity.
Why is it that someone who is associated with prosecutorial debacles related to serving parliamentarians is nominated and approved for the post of chief prosecutor by the said parliament-is this a sign of things to come, that none of the sitting parliamentarians suspected of crimes both local and international-and we have many!-will prosecuted?Aren't we, by this actions, entrenching impunity into our new constitution?
Why don't our parliamentarians see the urgency to clear the DPP nominee of all accusations facing him before approving his nomination?
Because of political expediency and feelings of need for leniency/protection, parliamentarians are now aligned along those in need of a blind eyed prosecutor supporting Ole Tobiko and those with no fears of prosecution opposing his nomination. The president and prime minister either by design or by accident are held at ransom. And our new dawn will be muddied by this act. So again, this is a false start.The struggle for our liberation continues. Let there be no more blood spilling-innocent blood.
It is now clear that corruption, impunity and irresponsible, unaccountable regimes headed by lame-duck leaders are our common enemy. Our politics have been dominated by criminals and compounded by greed and blind power struggles.
Most of African populations are held up at bottle-necks created by politicians seeking to entrench and enrich themselves with total disregard of the woes facing the masses. The only time the masses' needs are in the politicians' agenda is when the elections are near, and even then, the needs met are meagre, short term and only fulfilling immediate desires; beer for the men-folk, one kilogram packages of sugar for the women-folk and or a large denomination currency note. The more real problems are listed as development plans to be implemented if the politicians get the votes. These will be as vague as possible to make sure no one is able to question the implementation progress or lack thereof. They will shout about how they will " bring electricity and water to the villages…, the schools will be improved…, the roads will be upgraded,…"
Finally to get the voters out in their droves, the politicians will pull the age-old trick of accusing past regimes headed by 'other' tribes of all the underdevelopment in their region. They will however forget to mention that they were in Parliament when these regimes were in power and that they have nothing in record to indicate that their efforts to represent their voters were frustrated-of course because the Hansard is not accessible by the ordinary mwananchi.(Parliamentarians are known to go through their terms without ever contributing anything in The house except the conversion of oxygen into carbon dioxide.) They will call on their supporters to vote 'as a block' and these is normally translated as a green light to frustrate opposition as necessary-unfortunately including violence.
To the issue at hand, fight against corruption and impunity.
Why is it that someone who is associated with prosecutorial debacles related to serving parliamentarians is nominated and approved for the post of chief prosecutor by the said parliament-is this a sign of things to come, that none of the sitting parliamentarians suspected of crimes both local and international-and we have many!-will prosecuted?Aren't we, by this actions, entrenching impunity into our new constitution?
Why don't our parliamentarians see the urgency to clear the DPP nominee of all accusations facing him before approving his nomination?
Because of political expediency and feelings of need for leniency/protection, parliamentarians are now aligned along those in need of a blind eyed prosecutor supporting Ole Tobiko and those with no fears of prosecution opposing his nomination. The president and prime minister either by design or by accident are held at ransom. And our new dawn will be muddied by this act. So again, this is a false start.The struggle for our liberation continues. Let there be no more blood spilling-innocent blood.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tusisahau kamwe...
When Kenyans are reminded that they have a short memory like one of the four-legged natives of the Kenyan game reserves-which is both good and bad, they feel hurt.
When they are misguided by their politicians to kill each other and destroy property, they somehow don't feel the hurt-that is until the international community goes..' Oh my God!! How could they?'
Since the time the white man schemed and executed his plan to perpetuate his dominion in Kenya by pitting one tribe against the other, we have never been able to shed this spell of animosity and mutual mistrust among ourselves. This has mostly been the effects of bad politics. We have never really shed the white man's politics. Our founding fathers saw the harm colonial politics could rain on a nation and came up with an alternative approach dubbed African socialism-but this remained a dream on paper. They had the good will to approach politics with the African attitude of brotherhood and community burden sharing, simply put, being mindful of ones neighbours' welfare.
Somewhere down the line, our leaders betrayed their own cause and and deviated their noble path and took up short cuts to enrich themselves and entrench their grip on power. The noble goals of eradication of poverty, disease and ignorance were thrown by the roadside and forgotten. The ignorant 'mwananchi wa kawaida' was left dazzled by the slogans, chanting and fanfare blaring from the political arena. His case was sealed. He was forgotten.
That is, until just the other day when a people driven attempt to change the way politics is played was promulgated. The mwananchi wa kawaida finally shook the dust off, cleaned himself up and got ready to march on towards the old goals of zero poverty, zero disease and zero ignorance-or so he believed, but then again the politicians might have set other goals! The under-currents in the public service and political scenes seem to indicate that it's the same old song only with a different tune. This is the reason that most of those interested in the new political seats of governors and senators are former or current politicians. The powerful seats in the judiciary have attracted old players in the tainted system. The nominee for the director of public prosecutions is a shining example of a system not willing to let go of the reins of power by hook or crook-even laden with an impeccable record of commissions and omissions, the gentleman is not self conscientious enough to withdraw and reflect on his own past record. One cannot be found wanting by so many scales and come out clean- Lazima iko kitu.
My call is to the mwananchi wa kawaida to not forget the past betrayals. To look at those calling for support with a sober mind and gauge each according to their past deeds and mis-deeds, both committed directly or by proxy. Listen and take note of what they are promising and hold them accountable-the current constitution allows for recalls if one fails midterm. The mwananchi wa kawaida needs to keep in mind that the power really rests on himself and not the politician. The time to be conned and treaded on by the politicians is gone. This is the new dawn of the Kenya we always wanted-and no one should be allowed to hijack it from us. Let us always remember.
When they are misguided by their politicians to kill each other and destroy property, they somehow don't feel the hurt-that is until the international community goes..' Oh my God!! How could they?'
Since the time the white man schemed and executed his plan to perpetuate his dominion in Kenya by pitting one tribe against the other, we have never been able to shed this spell of animosity and mutual mistrust among ourselves. This has mostly been the effects of bad politics. We have never really shed the white man's politics. Our founding fathers saw the harm colonial politics could rain on a nation and came up with an alternative approach dubbed African socialism-but this remained a dream on paper. They had the good will to approach politics with the African attitude of brotherhood and community burden sharing, simply put, being mindful of ones neighbours' welfare.
Somewhere down the line, our leaders betrayed their own cause and and deviated their noble path and took up short cuts to enrich themselves and entrench their grip on power. The noble goals of eradication of poverty, disease and ignorance were thrown by the roadside and forgotten. The ignorant 'mwananchi wa kawaida' was left dazzled by the slogans, chanting and fanfare blaring from the political arena. His case was sealed. He was forgotten.
That is, until just the other day when a people driven attempt to change the way politics is played was promulgated. The mwananchi wa kawaida finally shook the dust off, cleaned himself up and got ready to march on towards the old goals of zero poverty, zero disease and zero ignorance-or so he believed, but then again the politicians might have set other goals! The under-currents in the public service and political scenes seem to indicate that it's the same old song only with a different tune. This is the reason that most of those interested in the new political seats of governors and senators are former or current politicians. The powerful seats in the judiciary have attracted old players in the tainted system. The nominee for the director of public prosecutions is a shining example of a system not willing to let go of the reins of power by hook or crook-even laden with an impeccable record of commissions and omissions, the gentleman is not self conscientious enough to withdraw and reflect on his own past record. One cannot be found wanting by so many scales and come out clean- Lazima iko kitu.
My call is to the mwananchi wa kawaida to not forget the past betrayals. To look at those calling for support with a sober mind and gauge each according to their past deeds and mis-deeds, both committed directly or by proxy. Listen and take note of what they are promising and hold them accountable-the current constitution allows for recalls if one fails midterm. The mwananchi wa kawaida needs to keep in mind that the power really rests on himself and not the politician. The time to be conned and treaded on by the politicians is gone. This is the new dawn of the Kenya we always wanted-and no one should be allowed to hijack it from us. Let us always remember.
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