My class teacher in Std one was Ms Peacock. She went back to England soon after. (I think). These many years on, the memory of her particular manner remains with me.
I remember constant finger-wagging. I remember slow, clipped tones. I also remember a smile, a tight smile.
And I remember a verse that she taught us that’s been seared indelibly into memory since: One-eyed Jack.
One-eyed Jack, the pirate chief,
(Here, you slap you right hand over your eye so hard that it stings, all in dramatic imitation of an eye-patch. I remember it was the right eye because my left handed instinct was to go with the other right and that almost got me into trouble.)
Was a terrible fearsome ocean thief;
(Here, you contorted your face and shook your head slowly from side to side and pronounced terrible as ‘teribo’)
He wore a peg, upon one leg,
(Here you grabbed your right leg by the ankle and folded it to make the bottom half disappear, which made you stumble which you weren’t allowed to so you winced also)
He wore a hook, and a terrible look.
(Here you fisted your left hand (I liked this part) and you contorted your face again and finished with the necessary oomph.)
It was my first encounter with the term Pirate as far as I can recall. It has remained my most vivid image of a pirate through the years. He may not seem very scary to you now, but, one-eyed Jack wrought terror on my six-year-old imagination.
Fast forward three decades.
I’d heard of the occasional incidence of piracy in modern times, of course, but it was all sort of like a whisper in the distance—I could hear the sound, but I couldn’t quite make out what was being said.
Until the notorious rise of the Somali Pirates.
The current headline-grabbing climax has been fifteen or so years in the making. Once upon a time, they were a nuisance. Now, they seem to have entrenched themselves firmly in the world’s collective psyche.
Last I heard, Bankelele’s was seriously considering ditching his profession and taking to the high seas. If you can’t beat them and all that, I suppose.
Still, while they have been Somalis and they have been Pirates, they haven’t taken on a particular tangible form, one that I could relate to, until now. Until a BBC Correspondent’s daughter giggled with a Somali Pirate on the phone.
One-eyed Jack as I conceived him would never in a million years have countenanced giving the time of day to a giggly little girl. And now that curious incident, for better or for worse, is what is burned into my imagination.
(Do you, like me, hate it when someone’s humanity injects itself into your neatly drawn lines, black on this side, white on that?)
The BBC website also has a short audio clip of a Pirate called Daybad declaring, in what seems to me a sophisticated, well-rehearsed political excuse for plain old high seas banditry that, they “have to do everything they can to survive,” and they wouldn’t be doing this if there was a government in Somalia.
Except, did you read what I read on the New York Times some time ago about the Pirates living it up and all that, swaggering about town, one-hundred dollar bills falling out of their pockets? (Or is that just the way I rewrote it?)
But then again.
On the other hand.
When the one group of pirates strikes it rich and moves on to other things, here comes the next lot, scrambling for their share of the pie. That I can get. Everywhere there’s gold, there’s a gold rush.
There is a genesis.
In the beginning was a failed government.
I’ve just been reminded that Somalia hasn’t had an effective government since 1991.
The first armed Somalis on the high seas were armed fishermen turned vigilantes in response to international pirates plundering their tuna-rich waters in the absence of a central government to police such illegal activity. From that, it has snowballed into this.
(An entire generation is coming into adulthood that does not know what it is to live in a stable country. It’s the saddest oddest thing.)
Back to the now thriving pirating business. By the end of October, it was being reported that 75 vessels had been captured by Somali Pirates, who number in the tens of thousands. By now, that number must be north of 80.
Unfortunately, my imagination fails me horribly in this regard. Honestly. I know the movie will come out eventually, but, I’d like the preview if I may. If you can spell it out for me.
I saw a photo recently of Pirates in small boats ‘capturing’ a big tanker. How now do small boats trump big tanker? What’s the drill? What gives? How is power exercised on the high seas?
Also. Plus.
If all the ships that sailed these dangerous waters came with a compulsory armed contingent of trained security personnel of one kind of the other, wouldn’t that quickly put an end to this? Or is sinking the ship the trump card?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself.
Oh, well, in the meantime, here comes Marek Nishky, the Polish Captain of Saudi Oil tanker, the Sirius Star, the largest vessel to fall into the hands of the Somali Pirates. He sounds tired, but otherwise, fine. He says all the crew members are being treated well, that they’ve been allowed to speak with their families, and that they have relative freedom of movement, within the ship.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
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19:11
Red Monday
» For Love and Money Red Monday -
Fillin' Up Like It's 2004
» For Love and Money Fillin' Up Like It's 2004
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18:38 Dr. Doom
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com Let’s hear what Dr. Doom, aka Dr. Nouriel Roubini has to say {again} about this economic crisis. It’s amazing how his predictions keep coming true. His next prediction? deflation (someone please feel free to explain that). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6cyOtGnhyQ
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9:23
Econet/YU Crazy Tariff
» KA-INVESTOR 
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} YU has launched today one of the craziest tariff I’ve ever seen in Kenya. Apart from charging the cheapest calling and sms rates in the market of Ksh.7.50 per minute (billed per second) and Ksh.2.00 per sms across all networks, subscribers to this network get a 75 cents (Ksh.0.75) bonus airtime per minute every time they receive a call from any local network! Are these guys serious? How long will this ‘bonus offer’ last? And you can still reserve your 'old' mumber with their 0750 prefix.
Econet also plans to introduce a mobile phone money transfer service in conjunction with Opal Pay(to compete M-Pesa) and a 3G internet service.
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8:03
Urban Inflation Index: December 2008
» bankelele Four months ago last review (should be a quarterly exercise going forward) . 2008 has been a year with high prices and cost of living factors in the news. From the post-election violence in January to the (then) world oil prices, the pinch has been felt in Kenya.
The Government has come under pressure, but without addressing of its own excesses (procurement, new offices & limousines, parliemantarians, councilors and judges who refuse to pay income tax), has likewise tried to run the screw on the corporate sector - resulting in efforts to reduce the price of petrol and now maize flour (staple food)
Gotten more expensive
Staple food: Maize flour which is used to make Ugali, that is eaten by a majority of Kenyans daily. A 2 kg. Unga pack at Uchumi today costs Kshs. 97 which is 1/3 more than the Kshs. 73 four months ago. Farming woes continue, the crop this year is bad and Unga who said that they ran out of flour, among other revelations at their AGM, also stated that the maize harvest in 2009 will be worse and high prices will continue. There have been allegations of dodgy imports and the Government is today trying to arm-twist the price of Unga down to Kshs. 55 (EDIT – the Government announced today that maize will cost Kshs. 72 in urban areas and Kshs. 52 in rural areas)
Other food item: Sugar (2 kg. Mumias pack) is at Kshs. 160, up from Kshs. 145 three months ago. For Mumias customers and shareholders, the price is even lower for other unbranded sugar(s) on shelves.
Foreign Exchange: 1 US$ equals Kshs. 79.08, (18% weaker) than the Kshs. 67.4 four months go. This is partly the strengthening of the dollar, partly outflows from Kenya (at the NSE) - and comes after the shilling (while strong) had cushioned some impact of high oil prices.
Gotten cheaper
Fuel: Litre of petrol fuel (at local petrol station) is now Kshs. 92.7 (~$5.40 gallon) which is about 10% cheaper than the Kshs. 101.50 seen last time. While that is still higher than it was at the beginning of the year, and oil prices are down over 60% from the record highs of mid-2008, it is remarkable that for once fuel prices have reduced. In the past they have merely stagnated and oil companies, not passed on savings to consumers, but the threat of the government to regulate the prices, and a sustained media campaign (web/radio) has resulted in a slight reduction in petrol prices. (EDIT – A leading oil marketer - Shell announced today that prices will drop by Kshs. 15)
Entertainment: Bottle of Tusker beer (at local pub) is Kshs. 120 down from Kshs. 130 (cheaper by 8% from four months ago). Don’t know if this is one pub decision or the competition from new Summit beet launched by Keroche in October 2008 - the first true local competitor since (South African) Castle folded shop about six years ago. How will EABL fight back, and do they have to? Keroche got off to a good start but there has been little post launch marketing.
Communications: Continues to get cheaper as two mobile phone companies have become operational in the last quarter of the year – Orange (France Telkom) and Yu (Essar/Econet). The tone was set by Zain’s successful Vuka tariff, priced at Kshs. 8 per minute to call any network. Market leader Safaricom responded with Jibambie (up to a 63% discount) which enabled their subscribers to make calls at prices ranging from Kshs. 8 down to Kshs. 3 per minute if they bought a bigger denomination airtime voucher. The battle for subscribers is shifting now from voice calls which have reached unprecedented lows to data and money transfer where Safaricom is effectively Kenya’s largest ISP and money wallet.
No change: Electricity: My November KPLC bill is still Kshs. 1,900, same as it was in August, with a fuel surcharge reduction yet to be effected. High electricity prices have been a major cause for concern among Kenyan companies leading to President Kibaki to call for a reduction in the taxes levied on petrol prices and electricity.
But: Related: Is the quality of official statistics inflation data in question?
EDIT - Challenged by inflation, but with a view to improving liquidity, the Central Bank of Kenya today lowered the CBR rate (implied base rate) from 9 to 8.5% and also lowered the bank minimum cash ratio from 6 % to 5%
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6:49
The Aids Scourge
» You Missed This Our society is afflicted with the scourge of Aids and other diseases that owe their origin to promiscuity. Yet the cry is not, “How can we stop promiscuity?” but rather, “How can we cure Aids?”
Aids is a disease that has basically ravaged the society to the very core of the family. Many a family has been brought to their wits end by the crippling effects of this formidable scourge.
With fathers and mothers succumbing to Aids,thousands of children are left parentless.It is estimated that there will be 54 million Aids orphans in Africa by 2010.
As if the pain of being left parentless is not enough, the children are faced with the stark reality of survival— fending for themselves!
A large percentage of them drop out of school and resort to menial jobs to assuage their economic misery. What is more, some girls plunge headlong into the dizzying world of unexpurgated prostitution ending up with the dreaded HIV virus.
Many new cases of HIV infections and Aids deaths are reported daily. With overawed emotion, thousands watch as their beloved die in pain and anguish.
In Africa it is estimated that there are 30 million people living with the virus. This fact clearly traverses the lengths of all imaginable reality.It flies in the face of all the Aids awareness programs that have been mooted and undertaken.
If anything , the pessimistic statistics on Aids are unnerving.Nothing less than this.
Take for instance the recent Aids data in Malawi.It is said that seventy percent of its workforce is infected with the deadly virus.
And without batting an eye , seventy thousand teachers die of Aids yearly in the same country. In Zimbabwe one person in five is infected with the dreaded disease. Similarly in many third world countries such is the tune and song.
Looking at the society one would not fail to see where we have compromised our ideals at the expense of precious lives.
Many Aids awareness campaigns and strategies are put in place but the stark truth is growing dimmer and darker by the day. But instead of trying to patch up our tattered morality, the hue and cry is about getting a cure for Aids.
Nowadays we hear of ‘free love’ and the resulting children as ‘love children’.Sexual experimentation is only wrong today if people do not ‘love’ one another.We hear so often , ‘We love each other , don’t we? That’s all that matters.’
Many people engage in such a liaison with impunity and of such there’s been an alarming spate.
Who can deny that many sexually transmitted diseases, Aids included, arise from this profligate indiscretion? Who can deny that behaviour of this nature is rife in this present day and age?
We also hear of ‘nyumba ndogo’[a man’s mistress] in Tanzania. This is so common place that even the young know what it entails when you talk of it.
Most men go to these mistresses for sexual release which , as many are heard saying ,they don’t get from their wives.
One would rightly expect that with the ever rising rate of Aids infections , the case of ‘mistresses’ would be ‘burnt to a frazzle’. But this is not the case.
Aids, which is no respecter of persons, uses this open door [one of the many doors] to wreck havoc on people’s lives. Infact it would be preposterous for anyone to think that he can hold hot coal to his bosom and not be burnt.
Besides,disorderly houses[brothels] are a common sight in many cities.Here women can be hired for sexual pleasure.
Women of different sizes and ages driven by their different problems parade themselves to attract the ogling eye of many a prurient man for a quickie before he heads home.
Women do it for money ; men do it to satiate their insatiable appetites[or so it is said].
What do they end up with most of the time? Aids. Even if they use a sheath [condom] it goes wrong sometimes.
Furthermore, there is a sad ring to the whole shooting match. The practice of prostitution goes well below the norms of society.
This is gross moral turpitude!
Sadly enough, countless numbers of girls of school going age are hooked in this inglorious vice. And countless numbers of these girls are dying of Aids each passing day.
Lives that have not been lived to the full are suddenly nipped in the bud. All their aspirations and ambitions go up in smoke.
Aids denies them the chance ‘to make a dent in the universe’.
To add more doom and gloom to this already dark picture, we hear of teachers who have sexual relations with their students.This clearly flies in the face of the teaching profession conduct and ethics.
This behaviour is diabolical and socially unacceptable. Moreover, it doesn’t help check the spread of HIV Aids but rather propagates the scourge.
Randy teachers who instigate such liaisons leave indelible marks in the lives of their mates –the young students.These may be pregnancy, Stds or even worse, Aids.
In view of these many doorways to Aids and more yet, we need to redress how we approach the fight against this pandemic.
Fighting against Aids is not an end in itself .We must fight the core: promiscuity. Please don’t get me wrong. Trying to get the cure and anti-retrovirals is not wasted energy. Not in a million years.
But after all illusions of the truth are driven away and the truth is left shining bright, the snag still remains :does it really make sense to get anti-retrovirals for a few[because too expensive] while tens of thousands are infected daily?
People need to be hit where it matters –stop your immorality! -if any realistic end is to be realised.From there work our way up the ranks of prevention and…..cure. If the cents are taken care of, the shillings will definitely take care of themselves.
Promiscuity and immorality have to be taken for what they are; evil, unacceptable and deterrent in the fight against Aids. Period.
To sum up, can we expect to extricate ourselves from this menace if promiscuity and immorality are still a principal part of our moral fabric? If we do, then it’s like expecting a snow ball to survive in hell.
Driving a Point Home – home-style!
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4:34
I Still Care!
» Mount Kirima For all those whom I knew Those I’m yet to know For those who are left behind Lets all take care! It’s been a whole year since this last post my thoughts remain the same so no harm in repeating, but still the struggle continues with statistics such as this the battle is far from won International Statistics People living with [...]
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2:00
World Aids Day: Zimbabwe
» Black Looks As the international community commemorate the twentieth anniversary of World AIDS Day, there is a country which today is left dwindling behind watching every day as it comes and only hoping against every hope that food and possibly a cure will be found. What is more traumatising is the fact that even if this [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "World Aids Day: Zimbabwe", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/12/world_aids_day_zimbabwe.html" });
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1:03
Passing the Buck in Kenyan Politics (At Least They're the Best at Something)
» What An African Woman Thinks In full view of public, over the weekend, Kenya’s top political leaders played a game of musical chairs with responsibility, deftly ducking the buck every chance they got and, when they couldn’t, expertly passing it on to the person next in line.
The occasion for this display of a new kind of political choreography was Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Thank-You party held at the Joseph Kangethe grounds in his Lang’ata constituency. Alongside him was a strong contigent of Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament.
The crowd came with a clear agenda and were determined to be heard, chanting “Unga!” (Flour!) loudly and defiantly every chance they got.
One by one, as Cabinet Ministers took the microphone they urged this nameless faceless entity called “the government” to do something about the soaring price of floor that is at the heart of Kenya’s local version of the global food crisis.
(Seriously, if rolling the eyes was an effective calorie-burning exercise, no Kenyan would be overweight.)
Every single one of them referred to this amorphous entity, “the government”: Raila Odinga, Prime Minister. Musalia Mudavadi, Deputy Prime Minister. Minister for Agriculture, William Ruto. Other ministers besides: Chris Obure ,Martha Karua, James Orengo, Fred Gumo, Joseph Nyagah Anyang’ Nyong’o. Every single one of them in government, all of them brazenly calling on “the government” to do something. All joined by the Kenneth Marende, the speaker of parliament whom Kenyans have yet to forgive for calling taxes as paid by MPs ‘philantrophy.’
Perhaps the climax of this display was the skillful tossing of the buck back and forth between Prime Minister Odinga and Minister for Agriculture, Ruto. First, Ruto takes the microphone and asks Raila, who chairs the sub-committee on Agriculture to ensure that the price of maize is brought down. Then the Prime Minister speaks in turn and declares that the issue lies in Ruto’s docket and he is the one who should do something about it.
Despite stiff competition, however, the “Passing the Buck” Award goes hands down to Anyang Nyong’o, minister for Health. He declared that he would lead Kenyans in peaceful demonstrations if “the government’” did not do something about the escalating food prices.
Kudos, by the way, to Kibera residents who let the leaders have it. Because of them, relief may be on the way.
Way. To. Go.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
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