Executive Blood Harvesting Season is Here - Taabu in his element.
Yesterday was a very sad day for Kenya with the assassination of an opposition MP under circumstances that are still very far from being clear.
But something worth celebrating also happened yesterday and I had just began to write this post, when the news of the assassination broke.
Yesterday the Kumekucha counter on our main site registered ONE MILLION HITS.
1 , 0 0 0 0 0 0 !!!
We thank you all wonderful people out there for making this happen. It is a proud moment not only for me but for all those who blog here regularly. It illustrates the victory and sheer power of citizen journalism at a time when our country's media is more opressed and intimidated than it has ever been in the history of Kenya. My joy is that many times it has been our readers and visitors who have broken major stories here.
Congratulations, Kumekucha and Kumekuchans.
P.S. Kindly note that the moderator will prompty delete any comments that attempt to advertise any product or site in the comments section. If you want to advertise anything to the captive ad mainly Kenyan audience here, our rates are dirt cheap and there is no need to behave so crudely. Just send an email to umissedthis at yahoo dot com for details about our rates if you're interested in reaching a million eye balls and counting. We are also willing to listen to your story if you feel that we should allow you to advertise here for FREE.
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Kumekucha HITS 1,000,000
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Executive Blood Harvesting Season is Here
» You Missed This Two MPs down in under 36 hours. With the death of Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too, the sharks have their jaws wide open ready to claim their next suitable victim. Kenya is paying the ultimate price of having IMPUNITY as a national and official policy. Why then can't murders take cue from the top and do the necessary to squeeze a life and another there for either speculative passion or official reasons?
Kenya remains a country in both self denial of national deception and steady grand match to self-destruction. No parent cannot stop his kids from misbehaving if he fails do lead by example and from inform. So why would a police constable not execute an MP given a template of a President getting away with daylight ELECTORAL THEFT. For those doubt that fact and shamelessly asko for proof please go back to Mars, you are aliens here on earth.
Ours is a country that has become a theatre of contradiction. Just look at policemen now partnering Mungiki who were hitherto chopping the cops' head a few months ago. Instead the ordinary Kenyan who were up in arms against Mungiki's beheading are now the cannon fodder aka STOPPERS of both police bullets and matchetes. Political fortunes can really change drastically for the less 'INDUSTRIOUS'.
By the way the Kibaki government does no need a manual on political assassination given its composition. They have been there since Pio Gama's death in the 1960s. And with 21st Century technology their work is even make much lighter.
With an 'EFFICIENT' police force that knows the cause of death before it even happens, it couldn't get much politically manageable. Mark you only Kenyan police can afford to tear gas the dead and mourners. Now they have graduated to prescribe infedelity to the dead. That is reversed honour Kenyan style for you.
Well, that is two votes less and woe unto you if you are an ODM MP whose blood attracts and has higher affinity for stray bullets. We haven't seen anything yet, BADO. -
Now ODM, PNU Crisis Talks Postponed To Friday
» You Missed This 
Senior police officer and wananchi mingle around the car belonging to the late MP David Kimutai Too in Eldoret at the scene-of-crime where he shot and his partner serious wounded. Following the news of the murder, there have been reports of tension in Western Kenya towns of Kericho and Kisumu, while in Eldoret demonstrations have been held outside the Eldoret Police HQS.
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The ODM /P NU crisis talks that were launched yesterday by both President Kibaki and Raila Odinga have been postponed to Friday.
The convener of the talks Kofi Annan did not give any reasons for the postponement which came against the backdrop of the murder of Ainamoi Member of Parliament David Kimutai Too in Eldoret earlier today. At the same time, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an apparent change of mind, plans to visit Kenya tomorrow (Friday) to add his weight to the efforts of Mr. Annan toward ending the crisis.
Kibaki is presently in Addis Ababa attending the AU summit while Raila Odinga spoke at an ODM press conference in Nairobi (Pentagon House) where he termed the murder of the ODM MP "The second killing of an MP belonging to Orange Democratic Movement is part of a plot to reduce our majority in parliament".
Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner has announced that the assailant, a unnamed police constable, has been arrested in Turbo along the Malaba - Eldoret Road and is currently in police custody in Nakuru. The alleged murderer will appear in court tomorrow, the police commissioner promised. -
Breaking News: Another Opposition MP Shot Dead
» You Missed This Hon David Kimutai the MP for Ainamoi constituency has been shot dead. His body is lying at the Moi Teaching and Referal hospital in Eldoret.
It is not clear exactly what happened but Kenyans are in shock because the other slain MP Mugabe Were is yet to be buried. It is believed that he was shot outside an Eldoret hotel by a police officer. Unconfirmed reports claim that the death may have been linked to a love affair.
We will give you more details as we get them. I am also expecting some details from Phil. -
The Amazing Kumekucha Predictions
» You Missed This Kumekucha asked to predict what will happen in Kenya in 2008
Regulars of Kumekucha have noted that nine out of ten times, I tend to correctly predict exactly what is going to happen next. My analysis which most readers start by disagreeing with, always end up being spot on. I am not one to brag; rather I wanted to give our numerous new readers a little background before I dive into today’s rather detailed post.
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Yet another victim of the raging post-election violence and it looks like the attackers "cut him" as well as attacking him. Police in Naivasha check for any signs of life.
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Actually a reader has asked me what I think will happen in Kenya over the next few months. Before I dive into that question, here are 3 examples out of many where my posts have ended up being spot on.
- When everybody else was calling political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi a mad man, Kumekucha agreed with him that it was doubtful that Kibaki would hand over power in the event that he was defeated.
- Kumekucha kept on calling the 2007 elections the mother of all general elections. Some readers mocked him unbelievingly. You decide if I was right...
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Kumekucha Forecasts for 2008
» You Missed This The question on everybody’s mind is when will the current crisis end?
My answer: Not quickly enough. As you read this my firm belief is that the peace of Kenya is now out of the hands of the two major protagonists, namely the MP for Othaya Hon Mwai Kibaki and the MP for Langata Hon Raila Odinga. PNU are nervously cheering on Mungiki and ODM are nervously cheering on the Kalenjin, Luo and Luhya militia. Both parties hope that these violent groups will help them achieve their objectives. What they don’t seem to realize is that even if they sign an agreement today, ending the current violence will be very difficult. You see the problem with violence is that it begets more violence and it becomes an endless spiral or bottomless pit of violence and more violence. The truth is that negotiations should involve representatives of ordinary Kenyans. Back to answering the question. The violence will drag on for a number of weeks at the very least and for a couple of months at the most. It all depends on how quickly those involved in the negotiations move to address the core underlying issues that are the cause of the violence and were only triggered by what many saw as a stolen election.
To understand the three classes of Kenyans and what they wish for, please read my next post.
For those who understand spiritual things, this is judgement for Kenya and all the evil and injustices that have taken place in our country. It will not stop until every stiff (proud) neck has been humbled. Going by some of the comments I receive in this blog, it will take a lot to humble some of our brothers and sisters.
What will happen to the economy?
Finance minister Amos “the stock exchange is not a fish market” Kimunya said with a straight face the other day that the Kenyan economy will hardly feel the effects of the violence...
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Annan Crisis Talks Doomed To Fail
» You Missed This 
Kibaki, Annan and Raila seen here observing a minute of silence in honour of those Kenyans who have needlessly died since Kivuitu declared Kibaki as the winner of the presidential polls. The call to stand-up was aptly made by none other than Raila Odinga.
Kenyan problem will be half-solved the moment we treat each other as equals
Even before the nominated teams begin negotiations, signs are already emerging that the Annan led mediation talks are doomed to fail. Yesterday, the talks were nearly sabotaged by Office of the President protocol officers who were insisting that Kibaki sits alone on the ‘high table’ because he is the ‘supreme presidential authority’. The ODM and Mr. Annan on the other hand, would hear none of it and in the end, Raila and Kibaki occupied the same ‘high table’ flanking Annan on both sides as equals. This was after Annan and the Speaker of the National Assembly as the convener of the meeting over-ruled the OP protocol officials. Such pettiness, emanating from the PNU side, clearly shows that they are treating their political adversaries as junior partners. Protocol officials who do not appreciate that it is the very presidency that is in contention nearly exchanged blows with ODM officials prior to Annan/Marende's intevention!
The PNU had already started showing bad faith by nominating ODM-K members who have unashamedly already endorsed the legitimacy of the presidency as their representatives in the mediation process. The ODM has been clear in its demands that it does not recognize the 'government' and will only negotiate with the other side as PNU.
Even worse, on the same day talks were due to begin, PNU government insiders were desperately trying to hide from accusations of complicity in the assassination of Embakasi ODM MP Mugabe Were. Similarly, Kenya police were groping around for excuses after tear-gassing innocent mourners at the late MP’s residence. The mourners included the widows and infant children!
Barren Foreign Affairs Policy
Thanks to Kenya's barren foreign affairs policy and scant respect for global affairs, the Annan talks will, in all probability, not see the light of day.
As it is, although the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been in the region in recent days and is due to attend the African Union summit in Ethiopia later this week, he has given Kenya a wide-berth. Ban Ki-moon has been heavily criticised by human rights group for ignoring the Kenyan crisis. The UN-SG seems caught in a serious dilemma because he does not want to be seen upstaging the African Union under whose umbrella the Annan team is operating.As if to add insult to injury, the all powerful UN Security Council has been quick to wash its hands off the Kenyan crisis ostensibly because the crisis does not meet its rules and regulations governing its response to issues of peace and security.
Back to the Addis Ababa AU summit, PNU’s Kibaki has ignored official requests to stay away and is insisting he will attend the meeting as Kenya’s duly elected head of state. This obviously will adversely affect the direction of the mediation talks back in Kenya.
Although the Kenyan deaths and displacements are painful to most people, international sympathy is not too much as to warrant an UN peace keeping intervention. Moreover, the Annan team lacks real powers to enforce some of the pre-conditions it has listed on the MOU that was signed last evening. It is apparent even to Mr. Annan himself that this will not be the first MOU for PNU to disregard MOUs. President Kuffuor (Chairman AU) and President Museveni (Chairman Commonwealth & EAC) have both been in Nairobi to try and resolve this crisis, but both have been largely unsuccessful. Several former African heads of state plus Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Desmond Tutu and our own Wangari Maathai have also been given a cold shoulder by PNU.
What options does this leave the ODM?
- Resign to fate and accept that it is the official opposition and continue its mandate? Obviously NO!
- Revert to its mass action and economic boycott calls? Maybe, YES!
- Hope that someone somewhere has the absolute power to force Kibaki/PNU out of statehouse and organise presidential re-elections in the shortest time possible. Hopefully, YES!
What options does this leave the PNU?
- Continue to bury its head in the sand, assume that it is rightfully in power and proceed with discharging its mandate? Pray, NO!
- Accept that the presidential vote tallying was deeply flawed and Kibaki’s purported swearing-in highly irregular? Of course, YES!
- That both a vote-recount and a legal process are not viable options because the votes are already interfered with and that the judiciary in Kenya is impartial? Please, YES!
- Accept to form a transitional government with ODM with the sole purpose of re-constituting the ECK and re-organising fresh elections? Hell YEAH!
Let the people decide.
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Kenya: Unique Land of Fake Miracles
» You Missed This Is There Any Link Between MP Mugabe Were’s Killing and the Recent Reshuffle in the Kenya Police?
Kenya may be known for many positive things including world-class athletes but the BOTTOMLESS PIT OF VIOLENCE we find ourselves in following last year’s stolen elections by Kibaki makes it a first in many realms. Many things happening right now defy any trace of logic or acceptance and must be uniquely Kenyan.
Kenya is indeed a very special and unique country bereft of humanity. Many things that happen in Kenya have never been witnessed anywhere else in the world. Only in Kenya do you get a police force so determined to crash demonstration that they won’t mind lobbing teargas at coffins bearing remains of what they had earlier killed. The sight of frail old mothers choking under the fumes is no reason enough to be human. Kenyans can kill a body twice if only to prove a point. Tear gas the bereaved to aid them mourn better.
Kenya is the only country which can insist on being called a DEMO(N)CRACY under the rule of the barrel of the gun. Add to this the fact that in the whole wide world only in Kenyan do you find an Electoral Commission boss who declares that he doesn't know who won a presidential poll he was tasked and paid to run. The icing on the cake lies in the fact that statehouse continues to be occupied nonetheless.
Lose to win
Only in Kenya do you win elections by losing it. Truly prophetic because the first shall be last. Besides Kenyans have their own sense of basic counting (NOT BASE 10) where two is LARGER than six. If you doubt and get embarrassed please sue your kindergarten mathematics teacher for intellectual damages to your integrity and fame. Ours must be the only country exclusively populated by geniuses, ehe?
Kenya’s transport and communication network puts Japan’s fidelity and premium to punctuality to shame. Sample this: electoral officials in far-flung areas like Wajir, Funyula, Budalangi, Isiolo, and Lodwar relay their results to KICC overnight yet results from Kiambaa (just past Muthaiga estate in Nairobi) take more than 70 hours (three days) to ‘reach’ Nairobi.
Kenya’s sense of political humour is unparalleled. Consider this: only in Kenya do you count 95,000 votes from a constituency with 70,000 registered voters. Numbers surely don’t lie but we can COOK them into a delicious meal albeit poisonous.
Still on the electoral front, only in Kenya do you find a presidential candidate’s name missing in the Voters register in his own constituency on polling day. Derivatives of selective amnesia can be stretched into other facets of life with a little bit of political entrepreneurship.
Reversed popularity must have been invented by ingenious Kenyans. Only here do we the most "popular" party SCOOPING 35 MPs while the "unpopular" hides in shame with a paltry 100 parliamentary seats.
MOU my foot!
Trust Kenyan voters to pay their politicians with their own coin. These scoundrels can form all GRAND COALITIONS they can dream of but lofty tags like PARTY CHAIRMAN means absolutely nothing to the Kenyan voter. How else do you explain the political Tsunami that swept Kombos, Nyachaes, Tujus, Muites, Ndiles and Koigis of this country?
Finally, who said history repeats itself? For who, by whom and for what? Learning from previous mistakes is an alien concept to us Kenyans. Ati the KANU-LDP MOU was dishonoured by Moi. So what? And then the NAK-LDP MOU was trashed by Kibaki. Common, take a walk and smell the coffee. We live miracles and don’t dream them. ODM-KENYA/PNU is union made in heaven and meant for eternal bliss. Naivety is for the politically faint hearted. Deception is the brighter side of industry and grabbing is a constitutional right to stay anywhere. Kazi iendelee. -
Sacrificing National Integrity at the Altar Of Tribal Pettiness
» You Missed This Guest Post by Peter Ngugi
This is an open letter to Messrs Mwai Kibaki, the President of the Republic of Kenya and Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement.
Sirs, I know that you must be too busy to get time to read this letter but I am very sure that one of your many lieutenants will read it in your stead and convey the message to you.
Sirs, I – like millions other Kenyans – am very angry with you for plunging our country into an abyss of tribal turmoil. I hold you solely responsible for all the mayhem engulfing our beloved country. If this country goes to the dogs, your names and those of your progenies will forever be associated with tribal tyranny and downright barbarism.
I am really saddened by your role in the creation of value systems that have blatantly divided us along tribal lines and thus made us slaves and refugees in the land of our birth. It is high time that you understood that the fundamental tenets of true Kenyanness lie not in tribes and empty political talk but in the ability to spiritedly strive to invalidate schemes whose principal aim is to cause ethnic animosity.
Sirs, it is upon you to start the healing process for, we the citizenry, are sick and tired of your political bickering, empty rhetoric and chest thumping. The Nation hurts- nay it is bleeding profusely and is almost in its deathbed. Sirs, is this the Second Liberation we so intently fought for? Did we strive to kick out the draconian leaders of yester years so that you can set the stage for sacrificing the integrity of our country at the altar of pettiness and outright demagoguery? How much more innocent blood do you want spilt so that you can see the graveness of the matter?
Sirs, you must not allow our country to sink lower than it has already sunk. You have held our country to ransom for far too long as the humanitarian situation deteriorates by the minute.
I beseech thee to put the interests of Kenya before your own. You have got to act swiftly to restore our national integrity.
Faithfully,
Mwalimu Peter N Ngugi -
Is There Any Link Between MP Mugabe Were’s Killing and the Recent Reshuffle in the Kenya Police?
» You Missed This The tragic shooting of Mr Mugabe Were, ODM’s Embakasi MP-elect, puts into sharp focus the real motive behind the recent reshuffle of top officers in the Kenya Police.
It’s too early to conclude if the killing was political assassination or the politician was a mere victim of the breakdown of security in the country. Whatever the case, the killing is bound to evoke deep anger and be a source of great concern within the ODM ranks and all Kenyans of their right mind.
Some may argue the killing was not political since Mr Were was little known and he posed no threat in the dangerous power games being played out with our lives by the illegitimate President Mwai Kibaki and the People’s President, Raila Odinga.
But criminologists will tell you that a cleaver person would not go for Mr Odinga because the consequences would be too tragic to image or comprehend. In the current state of affairs, any politician with a killer’s mind would target Mr Odinga’s foot soldier to send shivers down the spines of the ODM leader and his vocal MPs. In fact, there has been talk that Eldoret North MP William Ruto was a marked man for elimination.
The casual manner in which our police conduct serious business that involve human life often leave a wide room for speculation. Shortly after Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe visited Mr Were’s scene of the shooting, he addressed a Press conference and declared the police were treating the issue as murder!
Since the police had not done any investigations, gotten any lead or arrested any prime suspect who had confessed the motive by the time Mr Kiraithe spoke, how did the spokesman (or the Commissioner of Police he said he was speaking on his behalf) arrive at that early conclusion?
Did the police have prior information about the intended crime? International standard police procedures require that the police should approach any criminal investigation with an open mind. You don’t rush into hasty conclusions.
Police who are first to arrive at the scene of crime have the duty to seal off the scene to preserve vital evidence. But from the TV footage we have been seeing since morning, no effort was done by the police to seal off the scene where Mr Were was killed and the scene has been badly violated by the feet of journalists, the police and other curious residents. No pathologist was called to the crime scene contrary to international standard procedures.
Mr Kiraithe recently shocked and angered Kenyans when he claimed that the police gang-land execution of a young demonstrator captured by KTN camera and aired on TV slightly over a week ago was Rambo Movie! Surely, such careless and heartless statement should not have come from the mouth of the spokesman for Kenya’s 36,000 police officers and the spokesman of the security of Kenya’s 35 million population!
If what we watched in horror in our sitting rooms with our children was Rambo Movie, how can then believe Mr Kiraithe’s word that Mr Were’s tragic shooting was a simple act of murder? There is no doubt that there is a serious problem with our security machinery.
From the look of things, this was not an ordinary killing. It was a clear case of gang-land style execution since nothing was stolen unarmed MP and there is no indication he posed any threat to his attackers. Is this another Rambo Movie, Mr Kiraithe?
Contrary to the repeated assurance by the Commissioner of Police, Maj Gen Mohamed Hussein Ali, last week’s abrupt changes in the Kenya Police, when the country was already on fire triggered by the theft of the presidency, was not an ordinary administrative reshuffle of officers.
There was more than meets the eye. Already, the mainstream media – especially the Nation Media Group which was previously regarded as the voice of the voiceless – have entered into a dangerous conspiracy with Maj Gen Ali and Kibaki’s ruling elite to cover up the truth to quench personal desires. Kenyans are living under the mercy of Kibaki and the media and they have to live on lies.
The mainstream media are in the firm grip and control of managers and editors from the Kikuyu community and Kibaki’s ruling clique has had an easy tenure compared to former President Moi who was bashed by the combined media even for trivial crimes.
Kibaki’s administration has committed crimes of international magnitude for the short period it has been in power but the Kikuyu-dominated media has opted to look the other way. This media cover up scheme is spearheaded by Maj Gen Ali and his allies NMG’s CEO, Linus Gitahi, and Kameme FM’s proprietor, Ms Rose Kimotho.
It’s for this reason that no inquisitive journalist from these media houses dared dig beneath the surface to establish the real motive behind the reshuffle of top officers. Brave journalists who dared dig the truth have lived to tell harrowing stories.
Fresh details gathered from the corridors of power by Kumekucha indicate the reshuffle targeted the removal from the Force of the soft-spoken Director of Operations for the Kenya Police, Mr David Kimaiyo, because he was being regarded as an ODM mole in the heart of Kenya’s security.
The reshuffle was carried out in a very clever way to make it look like it was an administration reshuffle affecting several senior officers. It has emerged that Mr Kimaiyo was the prime target of the reshuffle but Kibaki’s ruling elite had to make cover up changes to avoid raising eyebrows in the ODM ranks. The Kelenjins and ODM would have bitterly protested had he been the only one struck off the top leadership of the Kenya Police.
The changes – announced by Maj Gen Ali – were the work of Kibaki’s men and not entirely the Commissioner, as he wants Kenyans to believe.
Mr Kimaiyo was kicked out of the Kenya Police and posted to the Ministry of National Heritage as an Under Secretary, where his police skills are likely to rot for the rest of his life, because he was being perceived as an ODM mole in the Kenya Police.
Kumekucha has established that Mr Kimaiyo’s fate in the Kenya Police was sealed by the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) over his alleged links with ODM’s William Ruto – who is being fingered as the prime culprit in the mass killings of Kikuyus in the vast Rift Valley Province by his own Kalenjin community.
According to confidential and reliable sources, Mr Kimaiyo and Maj Gen Ali had been put on a 24-hour surveillance by the NSIS for being suspected to have links with the ODM. They were accused of leaking sensitive state secrets to the ODM in the ran-up to the General Election in the event that Kibaki lost the presidency.
Maj Gen Ali, having served in the Military Intelligence Corps in his Army career, was wiser than Mr Kimaiyo. He played his political infidelity safely, although the NSIS had him nailed by bagging his phones. He was reported to have been so furious when he discovered NSIS had been listening to some of his telephone lines he had regarded to be safe.
To digress a bit, Maj Gen Ali made himself Mr Odinga’s Public No.1 in October 2005 when his officers shot dead four people in riots triggered by the bogus new Constitution Kibaki was pushing down the throats of Kenyans.
Maj Gen Ali hurriedly called a Press conference at Vigilance House and declared the four victims of police shootings were hooligans who had gone to overran Kondele police station and that he had no apology to make for the police killings.
It later turned out that three of the dead were young pupils mowed down by police bullets on their way home from school and the fourth person was an innocent milk vendor. None of the dead was anywhere near the police station. A thoroughly embarrassed Maj Gen Ali turned to the media to cover up the truth.
A furious Mr Odinga demanded that Maj Gen Ali should be returned to the barracks where the Army was trained to kill. But sensing that Mr Odinga was gaining popularity and he might trounce Kibaki, the shrewd Maj Gen Ali warmed up to the ODM leader by leaking damaging state secrets on the Artur brothers to him. With a powerful weapon to hit his political rival Kibaki, Mr Odinga softened his heart for Maj Gen Ali and their lukewarm relationship continued towards last year’s General Election.
But the police chief quickly stopped his clandestine activities with the Odinga camp when he sensed that the Kibaki elite were determined to hang onto power under what circumstances.
But the poor Kimaiyo was so convinced by the ODM wave that Mr Odinga would win and he threw caution out of the window. He stood a good chance of being the police commissioner if Mr Odinga’s presidency was not stolen.
It has emerged that the NSIS closely monitored every move Mr Kimaiyo made. The NSIS are reported to have established that Mr Kimaiyo was leaking state secrets to Mr Ruto, through former GSU Commander and Presidential Escort Commander (under former President Moi), Mr Samson Cheramboss. This gave the ODM an edge over the Government since they were always ahead of every plot and trick being hatched by Kibaki’s inner circle.
But Mr Kimaiyo failed to read the signs on the wall to make him make an early retreat like Maj Gen Ali. He was convinced Mr Odinga would be president and he would take over from Maj Gen Ali.
As fate turned out, Mr Kibaki stole the election and he was back to State House illegally. It’s being said that Mr woes in the Kenya Police came back to haunt him when the NSIS betrayed him by presenting a dossier on his clandestine activities with the ODM to Mr Kibaki.
Maj Gen Ali and Brig Michael Gichangi, the NSIS chief, are still serving military officers. Maj Gen Ali is senior than Brig Gichangi and they are reported to be in good terms. It’s being said Brig Gichangi opted to save his military colleague as they sacrificed Mr Kimaiyo.
But Maj Gen Ali is not off the hook yet. Kibaki’s inner circle knows that the Commissioner, too, had clandestine dealings with Mr Odinga. But the prevailing national tragedy has turned out to be a blessing for Maj Gen Ali and he is likely to keep his seat a little bit longer.
The removal of Mr Kimaiyo from the Force was good news to Maj Gen Ali since he posed the most serious threat to his police career, which he desperately want to cling to due to the power that goes with that office. Maj Gen Ali and President Kibaki have one thing in common – unquenched greed for power.
Were it not for the blunder Mr Kimaiyo committed, his name was being floated as the most likely successor of Maj Gen Ali by Kibaki’s kitchen Cabinet. Mr Kimaiyo’s star in the Kenya Police began to shine again (it had dimmed soon after Kibaki took over power in 2002) when President Kibaki warmed up to Mr Moi in the run up to the Dec 27 General Election to rescue their sinking political ship.
Apart from being a Markwet, a sub-tribe of the Kajenjin community, Mr Kimaiyo enjoyed wide respect within the Kenya Police than Maj Gen Ali who has always been regarded as an outsider.
The difference between the two men is wide. Mr Kimaiyo is humble, diplomatic, young, intelligence and has the full grasp of the management and operations of the Kenya Police. On the other hand, Maj Gen Ali is crude, arrogant, uncivil, undiplomatic, is a poor manager and knows little, if any, about police management and operations.
The fate that befell Mr Kimaiyo last week was a repeat of what had happened to him weeks after President Kibaki rode to power in 2002 under the strong Narc wave.
When Kibaki became Kenya’s third president, Mr Kimaiyo was the Commander of the paramilitary General Service Unit. Soon after Mr Kibaki was sworn in, Mr Kimaiyo was removed from the command of GSU and posted to Police Headquarters. He was later forced out and posted to the same ministry he was pushed to last week. His crime then? He was regarded as being close to Mr Moi and he was also a Kalenjin!
Moi and the Kalenjin were then being regarded like raw sewage by the solid Narc wave that swept Kibaki to power. Nobody wanted to associate with them due to Moi’s mis-rule for 24 years. No one sympathized with Mr Kimaiyo or his tribe then.
Months after Mr Kimaiyo left the Force, the country started experiencing a high wave of crime and the top police chiefs who were then in office appeared to have ran out of ideas. By then, Kibaki’s popularity had started to wane due to the unmasking of the Ango Leasing scandal and pressure from Mr Raila Odinga and his LDP over his failure to honour a pre-election power-sharing deal in the famous MOU.
Kibaki’s men were forced to eat a humble pie and they brought back Mr Kimaiyo to the Kenya Police and appointed him the Director of Operations, the most powerful post within the force. There was talk that Jebii Kilimo, who was then in the Cabinet, lobbed for Mr Kimaiyo’s return since they both hail from Marakwet and are believed to be related.
The office of the Director of Operations is the pillar of the Kenya Police. The Commissioner is a mere figurehead comparing him with the Director of Operations. All provincial police chiefs and formation commanders report directly to the Director of Operations. He collects and collates national crime and security data from all those senior police chiefs and then presents it to the Commissioner.
The Commissioner relies on the word of the Director of Operations in laying strategies on the every day running of the Force. The Director of Operations takes full charge of all security operations in the country, for instance the nationwide security operation brought about by Mr Kibaki stealing the election from Mr Odinga. The success or failure of such operations largely depend on the plans put in place by the Director of Operations.
On the crime front, Mr Kimaiyo performed very well. He’s the man behind the achievements Maj Gen Ali keeps boasting about. Tribalism aside, Mr Kimaiyo was the best police commissioner Kenya is unlikely to have (at least under the Kibaki regime).
As the Director of Operations and formerly being in the GSU and in State House as the Presidential Escort Commander, Mr Kimaiyo knows the Kenya Police and Kenya’s security system like the back of his hand. He knows almost ever secret of President Kibaki, the First Family and Kibaki’s ruling elite.
Mr Cheramboss, ODM’s unofficial chief security advisor, also took charge of the GSU and Presidential Escort . These two men are not the ordinary product of the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo. They received specialized commando training in Israel and in the US.
With Mr Kimaiyo out of the way, Kibaki’s ruling class believe they have a firm grip of the Kenya Police and they believe state secrets will remain under lock and key. Kibaki’s homeboys in the Kenya Police have taken key positions. For instance, office of the Director of Operations, the GSU, Presidential Escort, CID, Coast province, Nairobi province, Nyanza province, Western province and other key units within the Force are under the command of Gema plus Kambas (after Kalonzo decided to betray the Opposition by taking up the VP’s post).
This move is a dangerous for Kenya since Kibaki’s men – within the security agencies and in the kitchen Cabibet – can easily execute an assassination or any other thoughtless crime against political rivals which can plunge this country into an all out civil war. Perhaps, Mr Kimaiyo was edged out of the heart of Kenya’s security machinery to pave way for Mr Were’s type of executions. God forbid if that is the thinking of those who want to rule by the gun.
Any right-thinking Kenyans – apart from Kibaki’s fanatical blind followers who see and hear no evil as long as their kinsman is in State House – should see the killing of Mr Were to be a wake up call and the time bomb that is likely to explode in the distant near future – IF ALL OF US DON’T USE OUR HEADS AND REASON LIKE HUMAN BEINGS AND KENYANS.
UNLESS WE RISE ABOVE TRIBES, WE’LL ALL SINK TOGETHER IN THE KENYA WE HAVE KNOWN AS OUR COMMUNAL HOME. -
Breaking News: Embakassi MP Shot Dead In Nairobi
» You Missed This The newly elected Embakassi MP Mugabe Were of ODM was shot dead in the early hours of this (Tuesday) morning (Kenyan time) at the gate to his house in Nairobi as he was arriving back home.
The legislator who has barely served for 1 month was shot 3 times in the head by assailant(s) who did not steal anything from him. The late MP lived in Woodley estate, Nairobi and the incident took place at 1 am.
There are very few details emerging, but this blogger will give you more information as he gets it.
Phil, do you have any more info on this killing of the ODM legislator?
Brief report quoting AP on this story.
More detailed report on shooting -
Blood Price of National Deception
» You Missed This The present turmoil is the ultimate prize Kenyans must pay for their obsession with deception and dishonesty disguised as industry. Remove tribalism and its sidekicks depravity, sleaze and Corruption from our map and all you remain with is a pure nation devoid of pretenders of national unity with a sharp eye for any back to ride on to economic prosperity.
Mention trickery, fraud and hoaxes and already specific images and names form in the eye of your mind. And these Kenyans will never remain contended with practicing these vices at the local level. They shamelessly export them to other places with impunity. First they come in silently in search of ‘SUCCESS’ and before the host says welcome they are all over lording and emasculating the generous native. Asante ya punda could as well we a fatal kick.
Extrapolate this supremacist mentality to the national stage and the equation is completed with the present bloodbath. Behind all the mayhem is the mentality of ‘KWANI MTADU?' The late Shariff Nassir could have been a loudmouth with his wapende wasipende declaration but the son of Taib was honesty a harmless turn coat out to please an ego and make a living. Contrast that with the later day kaburu whom you sell a plot in Mogotio and the next day an estate named Gituamba emerges and before you say Ngai he wants to be your councillor and even worse your MP.
Masked evil
An enterprising devil worth his salt will never contemplate coming out with a suspicious face. He hides under national unity to cover his evil domineering intentions. He sups with the real devil and co-opt any willing sell out to cobble up a plastic union disguised as an objective impression. Lakini wapi! Kenyans have been fooled before and they are miles a head of these cheap tricks.
The church’s stoic stand against injustice in the 1990s is a nostalgic case study. Once the trophy was delivered, the goal posts have become firewood and the useless ashes tramped underfoot. Muge and Okullu must be violently turning in their graves.
The present power elite had their ultimate trophy in 2002 and no amount of blood will shame them to let go. They are the greatest master of disguises, lies and illusions. Manipulations and conning other Kenyans are their stock in trade and forte. They have become political and ethnic actors extraordinaire with apologists in tow ready to sanitize the resulting rot.
The truth is if you intend to deceive the public then make sure your agents originate from Mars. Since 2002, Kibaki and his cronies have seamlessly eased themselves to shameless scams. With a bouyant tribal supporting cast, they have created token economic growth decoys which their apologists use to detract other Kenyans from exposing the underlying evil schemes. Well, no scam or deception lasts forever. Kenyans are out both in flesh and blood to reclaim their birth right. No amount of force will stop them, NEVER. -
Will Raila's Election As Langata MP Survive Livondo's Petition?
» You Missed This The answer to this question is an absolute NO!
Infact, sources close to PNU have revealed that the party is in the process of finalising plans to dismantle the top hierachy of the ODM as a way of legitimizing presidential elections that had Mwai Kibaki sworn in as Head of State.
One such sign emerged this weekend when individuals who identified themselves as police officers visited Raila Odinga's Karen home twice in a bid to serve him poll petition papers filed by one Stanley Livongo Livondo. Strangely, the Langata OCPD has confirmed that he did not send any police officers to Raila's home. The question remains; who did? Even out of this world were claims by Raila that he met Livondo in the Office of the President VIP lifts on the same day Kofi Annan had facilitated a three man meeting between Raila, Kibaki and Annan. TV footage had shown security men barring cabinet ministers, including VP Kalonzo, from entering Harambee House.
One wonders why Livondo, a private citizen, is accorded the benefit of state security to run personal errands on his behalf. Livondo claims he received 68,000 votes against Raila's 39,000 in the just concluded elections. The ECK had announced that Raila beat Livondo by a staggering 35,497 votes! You can read the Kumekucha post that announced the Langata results here.
Those who have been following Langata politics know that Livondo's is a political mercenary and that his ambitions to unseat Raila as Langata MP failed miserably even after a massive voter importation exercise into Langata from parts of Central Province prior to the elections and at a time when ECK had officially closed the register. What is intriguing is that Livondo's petition is rumoured to have been agreed upon immediately Kibaki was hurriedly declared president. The plan is to fast track the petition and have a friendly high court judge nullify Raila's election as Langata MP. Soon after, police will move in and quickly arrest Raila and Ruto and have them charged in court for organising and inciting violence in parts of Rift Valley against certain ethnicities.
A Langata by-election will then take place without Raila being one of the candidates! He will be disqualified on grounds of committing electoral malpractices.
PNU will have killed two birds with one stone. Raila and Ruto who form part of the prestigious ODM pentagon will be out of parliament and safely behind bars, and even more importantly, there will be no one to challenge the 're-election' of Mwai Kibaki as president.
Whether these plans succeed is another thing altogether. -
Skirmishes In Naivasha: Latest Update
» You Missed This I talked to my people on the ground this morning at 6am and I could hear gunshots over tha phone. They are fine though. Till now (its now 9.20am) bado there are gunshots.
Guys are still burning other people's things. I have been told that they are taking the things outside the houses and burning them. Already two of my friends houses are down.
A police friend just told me that things are very bad ... and the fightings are spreading further into tha rural areas like a place called Kongoni (the place is in the south past the lake). Here there are many from the west and its confirmed its the Mungiki. He could not give me much info, its like he was running, he said he will call back ... will update you. -
Black Sunday And The Hidden Truth About The Kikuyu
» You Missed This You cannot, and I repeat cannot RULE an unwilling population...
Guest post by our regular Michael Mundia Kamau
The gloom, doom and utter uncertainty that this country has been plunged into following the callous theft of the general election of December 27th 2007, is the direct responsibility of the fascist regime currently in power and the irredeemably tainted Electoral Commission Kenya. If the illegitimate fascist regime currently ruling Kenya is allowed to get away with this felony by it's continued stay in
power, then this country is doomed forever.
There cannot be and should not be any attempt to negotiate an obvious violation and abuse of office. Doing so will only further worsen an already deeply troubling situation. None of the so called high profile mediators currently in Kenya, voted in the general election of 27th December 2007, and their presence is of no value whatsoever to the masses who voted for the “de facto” President of Kenya Raila
Amolo Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The continued presence of these impostors on Kenyan soil and their empty attempts at purported mediation,
only serves to further infuriate and insult the overwhelming majority that voted for Raila Odinga and ODM. It is only those that voted for Raila Odinga and ODM, almost an entire nation, that should be consulted for any mediation or negotiation whatsoever. Such "consultations" were however concluded by way of the ballot box on the 27th of December 2007, before a thief known as Samuel Kivuitu callously reversed the peoples' decision on Sunday, 30th December 2007. In the interest therefore of posterity, this country, it's people, it's institutions and it's future, Mwai
Kibaki should immediately step down as President of Kenya, to pave way for the legitimately elected President of Kenya, Raila Amolo Odinga, to be sworn in, and immediately form an ODM government. Nothing else whatsoever can restore and/or sustain any semblance of faith in this country, it's future or it's institutions. The power to effect regime change squarely lies with the citizens of this country and no one whosoever has the right to stand in the way of this right. This right was jointly violated on Sunday, 30th December 2007, by a bunch of hooligans known as
the Electoral Commission of Kenya and the illegitimately sworn in President, Mwai Kibaki. Faith in this country and it's institutions had already been severely strained prior to "Black Sunday", 30th December 2007, and the announcement of Kibaki's "victory" came as a devastating blow to the vast majority of desperate masses who had anticipated hope and change by overwhelmingly backing Raila Odinga's
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)
It is clear that the last five years were a lie and a nightmare for the majority of Kenyans. Nothing else whatsoever can be held to be the case, given the bitter manner in which the majority of Kenyans shut out the so called Party of National Unity (PNU), and it's affiliates. The hyped up government campaigns of economic improvement, growth and development and of massively increased government revenue from improved tax collections, were clearly nothing more than empty propaganda. It is clear that Mwai Kibaki's five year regime miserably failed to bring about the reform and change anticipated by the majority of people who voted him President on 27th December 2002.
An unfeeling and insensitive Mwai Kibaki locked himself up at State House Nairobi for five years only appearing towards the end of this five year reign with a hastily constituted party known as the Party of National Unity (PNU), numerous decrees for extra districts to be created, a decree for an additional public holiday for the primary benefit of Muslims, a decree that crew of public service vehicles be no
longer required to wear uniforms, and a decree that hawkers be allowed back on the streets to sell their wares. Mwai Kibaki genuinely believed that these were sufficient placating tokens for a population that he openly ignored for five years, and was a clear demonstration of the contempt with which he holds the people of this country.
Mwai Kibaki totally failed to touch base with the people of this country, establish what the real issues were, and facilitate genuine programs on how they could be addressed and resolved, in similar manner to F.D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" of 1933 in the United States.
Mwai Kibaki clearly failed to deliver the "New Deal" and the same majority that elected him to office on 27th December 2002, therefore chose to grant this mandate to Raila Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement on 27th December 2007. The majority of Kenyans exercised the right to elect in a regime that they felt would deliver the greatly desired "New Deal"
Mwai Kibaki has no right whatsoever to stand in the way of this resolution, and he will surely and certainly destroy this country by doing so. He and several others misread the peoples' mood. He and several others, including this writer, underestimated Raila Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement. In a classic re-enactment of David vs. Goliath, Raila Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement skillfully triumphed over Mwai Kibaki and the chauvinistic Party of National Unity (PNU). These are the facts as will always be remembered by history.
Unless Mwai Kibaki steps down immediately in favour of the legitimately elected President of Kenya, Raila Amolo Odinga, this country is lost forever. Things will rapidly degenerate until this country becomes ungovernable, and eventually splits up.
Clearly, the last forty five years, and the last five in particular, have been a lie in which things have gotten worse rather than better. Even amongst Kibaki's revered tribe, the Kikuyu, things are in mayhem, turmoil and utter disarray. The community's wealth has been severely depleted and squandered by current generations of Kikuyus who are heavily in debt and who try to conceal this by showy expensive lifestyles and
heavy consumerism. A glance at the obituaries in Kenya's dailies shows the heavy set backs that Kikuyus have suffered, and continue to suffer. The obituaries are glorifying and paint a picture of accomplishment, but the revealing details come at the end... "to be buried on father's farm" or even more demeaning, "to be buried on grandfather's farm", a terrible indictment for a Kikuyu and a reflection of the true
state of affairs in the Kikuyu community. The sad thing is that these obituaries are for people in their 40s and 50s. If Kikuyus who are forty years old and above are being buried on either "their father's farm", "their mother's farm", "their grandfather's farm", "their grandmother's farm", "their father-in-law's farm", or "their mother-in-law's farm", then it is a clear that even Kikuyus are in serious trouble, and indeed have been for the last forty five years. Even if this writer were to fall down dead today, then it would also be the the humiliating and shameful "to be buried on father's farm", if not "to be buried at Langata cemetry". So there is nothing special about Kikuyus, even though they are now under siege both internally and externally because of terrible mistakes committed by themselves and by Mwai Kibaki.
Mwai Kibaki has revealed his true colours. He is no democrat or nationalist, and nor does he believe in freedom, equality and civil liberties. He is a liability to this country, a fascist, a bigot, a hooligan and a thief. Nothing other than him immediately stepping down to pave way for Raila Amolo Odinga to be sworn in as the legitimate President of Kenya, will keep hope alive, and save this country and
ourselves from perishing.
...And Another View From Another Kumekucha Regular
I am writing after weeks of soul-searching. Just as many I thought Kenya, having earned the title ,exemplary , in many things can handle with sagacity the aftermath of the disputed elections. Living thousands of miles away from what I proudly hold as my motherland, things are not easy to me either. I am depressed. I cannot stand the shame and the pain. Here in Costa Rica we have had news about Kenya that rival the Kenyan ones. So extensive. I am left flattered and desperate for answers to thier numerous questions.
I started as a strong supporter of Raila. I even begged people at home to vote for him. Now as we speak I will give my verdict without blinking and with convictions. Raila and Kibaki and their cronies OUT OF THE FACES OF KENYANS !! I do not want to hear these names again. They both showed poor leadership and we cannot trust them in power. How can Raila and Kibaki trade accusations in Nairobi while children and women die in horrible circumstances. What can they tell us about the lives we lost. Who is that who deserves death next while Kibaki and Raila continue to "talk". To talk what? how can two supposed servants decide what they will do for their really poor masters.
I know the fight are not anywhere near stopping. They will continue not because I said or you said or the politicians said but vindictive spirits are almost immortal and revenge is endless.
What we need to take control of is the talks they are doing. Kibaki and Raila. Annan should meet the people. And the people should send the whole group ODM top body and PNU top body home immediately.
Nomad -
Tribal Pregnancy Finally Delivered
» You Missed This Tribally programmed police bullets are gracing the skies of Naivasha and the embers are spreading fast to the capital Nairobi. What next? Only Kenyans can afford the luxury of making peace with friends and not enemies as the laws of nature demands. The war is on and the faint hearted are better advised to keep their self-serving cheap sermons to themselves and be real.
The thin thread holding Kenya together is threatening to snap, and very soon. The facade that is national unity has been shattered by one single blow. Don't ask me by who because Kenyans unrivalled in the shameless act of self denial. We are a unique human bread who gloss over historic and systematic injustice while hiding under such buzzwords as market economy.
Truth hurts and is very ugly. The genesis of our present problems lies in deep seated tribal rivalries over LAND, BUSINESS and POWER. We have a ruling elite with a willing supporting tribal cast who will stop at nothing to maintain status quo. To them other Kenyans seeking equity are power hungry and must be decimated with all bullets Kenya can buy.
One thing is for sure KENYA WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, NEVER. Unless and until we drop pretense and boldly confront the existing INEQUALITY and deception sown more than 44 years ago, we are cheating ourselves by engaging in half measures that will only make the fundamental problem mutate with devastating consequences sooner rather than latter.
Regional deception
Kenyans are up in arms against abuse and trashing of their birth right. You cannot, and I repeat cannot RULE an unwilling population. We have deceived ourselves all these years creating decoys of unity. A time comes when deception is revealed for what it is. Now the world knows why there is no lasting peace in both Somalia and Sudan - the mediators and their country lacked what it takes to be peace brokers. The same goes to our churches and their loud silence. They have not been spared the tribal poison and the mission was delivered with Moi out of the way.
Make no mistake. No blood is shed in vain. Liberation comes a dear price of blood. Call it death of honour if you so wish. Faint hearts never won any decisive war and you cannot wipe out Kenya before you get consumed by the inferno yourself. We are in the 21st Century which has no room for tribal supremacists. It was an obtuse miscalculation to imagine Kenyans would either be intimidated or fatigued to submission by violence.
The election theft has acquired a life of its own and no amount of force will stop it from reaching its equilibrium - EQUITY. Call incitement if you wish but Kenyans are ready to die for justice. Let the next generation prosper in a country bereft of ethnic apologists wanting to dominate others at the drop of a coin. Never and not in Kenya any more. Kenya is big enough for all of us but too small for few of us. -
Sunday Doodles: My Kenya
» You Missed This Breaking News: Serious Skirmishes Now Reach Naivasha
I am hurting inside. I am in mental and emotional pain. What I feel cannot possibly be put into words even by the most prolific wordsmith in town. The pain, the anguish, the distress, the confusion, the desolation… (A concoction of insalubrious feelings)!
The killings, the murders, the lootings, the torchings, the lashings, the perfidy, the larceny, the … (my mind is going round and round in circles). Someone please do help bring sanity to my being.
I have seen it: my dear Kenyan brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and children cut down by the machete; shot to death and left to rot in the streets; burnt in their houses and in the churches; thousands of men, women and children bounding, with whatever belonging they could salvage, to God knows where; the hopelessness and despondency pasted on the faces of my country men.
I have heard it: the wails of terror made by the children; the screams of horror made by the women; the sighs and stifled screams made by the men; the shouting, screaming and struggle of the women who are being raped and left for dead.
Someone please do tell me that I am just dreaming. Please tell me that this is just a bad dream and were it not for the long night, then, it would be over.
This is not the Kenya I knew; and, optimistically, is not the Kenya I‘ll wake up in tomorrow.
And before I pen off, please don’t ask my tribe; I am a Kenyan. -
Breaking News: Tribal Clashes Now Reach Naivasha
» You Missed This
A frightened school boy interviewed on K24 just a few moments ago told the press how the bus he was on, turned hurriedly, and abandoned its’ trip to Western Kenya when confronted by a road block of rowdy youths. The young man wonders what will become of his education because he was meant to resume his schooling 3 weeks ago and now it looks like the first term may not happen.
As you read this fierce fighting is raging in Naivasha and once again, the Kenya Army has been sent in (rather than the police). Many people wonder why. The truth of the matter is that we are now seeing militias arming themselves with automatic weapons. When you have a war going on between two groups using guns as well as machetes, it is probably much more than the police can handle.
Already we have seen situations where Kenyans have lost their lives after heeding appeals from the government to go back to areas that have been affected by clashes. The busload with the student that was forced to hurriedly turn back at Naivasha would have raised the statistics even higher had it not been for the alert driver and his quick life-saving action.
It is believed that well over 10 people have lost their lives in the Naivasha skirmishes pitting Kikuyus against Luos and Kalenjins that erupted late on Saturday night and continued through most of today. Meanwhile reports of fighting are still coming in from Nakuru.
Late Extra 1:
News just in indicates that police are now turning motorists back to Nairobi on the Naivasha highway advicing them against proceeding further.
Late Extra 2:
Kumekucha can confirm that Stanley Murage is back at State House. It is not clear exactly what is happening and why he was ejected in the first place although insiders say that it is "normal" for officials who get on the wrong side of Mrs Lucy Kibaki (former first lady of former president Kibaki) to be ejected from the house on the hill. They usually sneak back in later when things have cooled off. It is a well known fact that Mrs Kibaki does not like Mr Murage. However other sources say that this time there is something major afoot although they have no idea exactly what it is.
Read more about the Naivasha skirmishes.
Emails I received earlier from trusted sources monitoring the situation on the ground:
Hi Chris,
hope your okey. Am told that Naivasha is burning.
That place has been having mungiki and they are now teaming up with tha once from kinangop and they are tha ones who are on a revenge mission just like in nakuru. Yesterday they killed 2 luo men and they have just killed another. They have also blocked tha roads and stopping all tha cars demanding the luos & kales out. Have been told that there are police but i aint sure that they are doing ... but apparently in tha town things have cooled down. Lakini huko kijijini ni kubaya.
My family are okay as of now.
Second email:
Things are getting worse. There are people who have been burned alive in a house have been told they were 40 ... i dont believe it but if its true then am in denial.
Many more houses are been burnt down, those that are presumed to be luo or kale houses. At the rate that they are been burned ... in like another 2hrs my neighbours hse whom we are sharing a fence will be up in flames. All tha roads to naivasha have been blocked, including tha one for mai mahiu (and here around seven people have been killed as till now).
Things are definitely out of hand. And am sure now the masais will also try to attack from mai mahiu down to naivasha. Am told there are police & GSU who are trying to contain the situation. There is a curfew as i write this. Nobody is allowed outside ... very many gunshots been heard ... so you can imagine how many are dead by now. Very sad. -
Kibaki Succession Rages as Kenya Burns
» You Missed This 
With Stanley Murage fired from State House, the Kibaki succession is ragging oblivious of the national haemorrhage. The daggers are menacingly drawn as Muhoho warms himself to succeed Murage. Other predators think that Uhuru will gain undue advantage to prey Kenya from his uncle.
Well, scavengers are strategically circling carcass Kenya. Woe unto those cheap schemers wo think that either George Kiarie Kinuthia Muthengi (aka) Saitoti or Martha Karua are church ministers and flower girls respectively from Matasia Ngong and Gichugu.
In by the sword out by the same blade. Murage filled the void left by Kireri and before he could say Artur he is out of favour. Granted, his intentions to patch a ceasefire document using Collin Bruce may have been honest and noble. But a time comes when costly political sacrifices must be made and his head fell on the chopping block.
Mutahi Ngunyi saw it as early as December 2003 if we thought Moi was the political devil incarnate then we haven't seen the mother of all evil in Kibaki. Using the ordinary Kikuyu to pamper their political egos, Kibaki's cronies are busy scheming on the scramble and partitioning of Kenya (ala Bismark) as blood rains on our streets and villages.
While Nakuru smolders, Kibaki's apologists may thumb their chests in self-delusion that it is a square deal. Well, we haven't seen anything yet from the Wanjohi-Muhoho-Wanjui troika. To these leeches Kenyans are nothing but guard flies who cannot and will NEVER stop them from their selfish schemes. But wait a minute! This is the 21st Century and Kenyans far smarter than these Makerere dinosaurs with their sole agenda of domination. Never, not again. Na bado. -
Nation Media Group in Post-Election Genocide Conspiracy With The Police!
» You Missed This Insider Speaks Out
The tragic tribal divisions that have almost driven the country on its knees have not spared the largest media house in East and Central Africa region – the Nation Media Group.
The loyalty of journalists and editors in NMG’s editorial department is sharply torn between bitter protagonists PNU and ODM camps putting into sharp focus the credibility and the accuracy of the news being fed to the public by the once-independent and reputable media house.
In principle, journalists all over the world are supposed to be professional, neutral and independent in their reporting, thinking and public conduct. Sadly, this is no longer the case in the Kikuyu-dominated and controlled Nation Media Group. The once-respected media house is fast evolving into another KBC.
As an insider, I can tell you that NMG has been rocked by deep tribal divisions in the run-up to last year’s General Election and the tribal tensions have reached fever pitch high in the on-going post-election violence that threaten to drive Kenya on the brink of a civil war.
Although NMG has been under the firm control of Kikuyus – looking at the appointments and promotions across all the ranks – tribal resentment was mute during the long tenure of Wilfred Kiboro. Things have taken a dangerous turn since Linus Gitahi replaced Kiboro.
The pro-Kibaki coverage of news by all the media outlets owned by NMG have been subject of public heated debate at homes, bars, offices and in matatus. It has been argued that NMG had lost its independence and credibility in the coverage of political events and other issues of great public concern. Nothing can be further from the truth.
I’ll attempt to give an insider’s view of what has been happening at the heart of our newsroom.
First, the independence of the Editorial Department has been greatly eroded since Gitahi took over from Kiboro. Gitahi, being from President Kibaki’s Nyeri District, set a very bad precedent by turning up in editorial meetings and placing calls to senior Editors with an intention of manipulating and dictating the content of news that was to be fed to the public.
For the sake of those who don’t know, Gitahi has never stepped inside a journalism classroom, therefore being less qualified to lecture trained and professional journalists on what they should write. He went up the corporate ladder at SmithKline Beecham previously GlaxoSmithKline.
Gitahi has never hidden his deliberate and systematic intentions to ensure only news content that was music to President Kibaki’s inner circles was churned out by NMG products since he arrived in Nation Centre slightly over a year ago.
In the run up to the Dec 27 General Election, Gitahi often banged tabled in editorial meetings when professional and seasoned editors differed with him or defied him on the coverage of political events. He often turned up in the meetings to ensure President Kibaki got better coverage over his rivals Raila Odinga of ODM and Kalonzo Musyoka of ODM-K.
Another wing headed by the Group Managing Editor, Mr Joseph Odindo, openly showed their loyalty was with Mr Odinga. Mr Odindo, who has a big title which lacks any portfolio (in fact, he was given the post when the Standard wanted to poach him and offer him the post of Editorial Director some three years ago), always hovered in the newsroom changing stories to ensure they favoured Odinga.
Most of the Luo editors and journalists and a few other colleagues from other tribes were fully behind him. Some of them are Jaidi Kisero (Managing Editor, The EastAfrican), Macharia Gaitho (Managing Editor, Investigations and Special Projects. Just like Odindo, his post has no portfolio but he owes it for being Odindo’s foot soldier), Lucy Oriang’ (Managing Editor formerly in charge of Magazines), Emman Omari (Political Editor), Owino Opondo (Parliamentary Editor), Odhiambo Orlale (journalist), etc.
However, Gitahi’s camp carried the day in pushing its agenda for President Kibaki. NMG’s Editorial Department, and most other departments within the group, suffers from imbalance in key appointments. Key posts within the Editorial Department are headed by the Gema.
Look at this: Editorial Director - Wangethi Mwangi (Murang'a), Managing Editor (Daily Nation) - Bernard Nderitu ( Kiambu), Managing Editor, (Sunday Nation) - Mutuma Mathiu (Meru), Managing Editor (Business Daily) - Nick Wachira (Nyeri), Managing Editor (Daily Metro) - Julius Maina (Central province) and Managing Editor (Taifa) - Wainaina Kiganya (Kangemi). NMG's only publication not headed by GEMA is The EastAfrican. With a strong tribal army like this behind him, Gitahi’s wishes flooded NMG publications.
Journalists from the minor tribes, who are also a minority in the newsroom and where I belong, have no say and we only just watch helplessly as the two camps try manipulate news to suit the ears of their preferred political godfathers.
The consequences are clear – the Circulation Department has been reporting a marked drastic drop in sales of newspapers. Daily Nation’s rival, the Standard, has taken advantage in the tribal infighting within NMG and gained a big market share in Nairobi, Rift Valley, Coast, Nyanza and Western provinces. Readers predominantly ODM regions prefer buying the Standard rather than the Daily Nation.
The worst manipulation of news by the Gitahi-Wangethi axis has taken a dangerous precedent in the post-election period. Gitahi and Wangethi have taken it upon themselves to go through stories before they are published to ensure President Kibaki’s interests were taken care off. We have seen a deliberate and shameless campaign to misinform the public by doctoring the real truth on the ground or the number of ODM supporters and other innocent people shot dead by the police.
The news gathered by reporters on the group is doctored with the direct instructions of Gitahi and Wangethi to cover up the truth. There’s already an unofficial policy that the figures of the dead published by NMG must be those from the deceitful Kenya Police!
Even in cases where our colleagues were in the field and witnessed first-hand police shooting people and did their own tally, such news can’t be published in NMG until the police gave their own doctored figures. For instance, there a day Daily Nation and NTV journalists counted 14 bodies of victims shot dead by police in Kibera. Wangethi insisted that journalists had to call the police spokesman. Know what? The spokesman gave a figure of ONE person being killed and that is the story Daily Nation published!
There has been talk in the newsroom that Gitahi has been holding frequent meetings and is in constant telephone communication with Police Commissioner, Maj Gen Hussein Ali, and Kibaki’s ruling elite to help them play down the insecurity situation in the country. We understand all the other media houses have been co-opted into this scheme.
Significantly, Gitahi has been prevailed upon to ensure NMG outlets carried few figures, or nothing at all, of the ODM supporters being executed by the police to ensure the other tribes don’t rise up against the illegitimate Kibaki regime and his Kikuyu tribe. It’s feared the rest of Kenya would rise up against the Government if the real death toll – which reliable police sources now estimate to be above 2,500 – was made public.
On the other hand, Odindo and his camp have been rejoicing every time non-Kalenjins, especially the Kikuyus, are reported butchered in parts of the Rift Valley province by ODM supporters. Odindo and his Co. have taken it to be their responsibility that news that paint ODM negatively in the ethnic cleansing was muzzled or killed. Odindo and his camp could not hide their disgust when Kibaki was declared winner on Dec 30 through a stolen election.
In fact, a few journalists from the Kikuyu community have been accusing Odhiambo Orlale of acting like the spy boy for Odinga and ODM. They accuse him of reporting Editorial’s in-house matters directly to ODM. The Kikuyus openly complain that Orlale’s action posed a serious threat to their lives in case the rowdy ODM hooligans decide to strike.
This problem is not confined to NMG only. Odinga has recruited spies in all the newsrooms and he gets a first-hand account of what goes on there.
The sad state of affairs in NMG came just months after it suffered a serious moral credibility after some of our colleagues exposed shocking sex scandals involving Gitahi, Wangethi, Odindo and other top managers.
The fall out in the top NMG ranks over the sex sleaze leakage has been severe and some of the key figures linked to the scandal have left NMG in mysterious circumstances. But Gitahi, Wangethi and Odindo are still hanging on and the reputation damage they have done to this company will take years to recover.
The wounds inflicted by the sex leak are far from over from healing. However, journalists behind the sex leak made a major achievement since the management was forced to improve better terms for journalists – especially the correspondents who had been turned into modern slaves by NMG despite making huge profits.
All news correspondents in Nairobi were given a minimum monthly retainer of Sh17,000 while their colleagues in the bureaus got Sh12,000 plus a medical cover. The rate for paying stories published by the correspondents was also improved. A number of long-serving and qualified correspondents were given permanent jobs.
Previously, most correspondents didn’t have a retained and they only relied on the poor rate that was paid for every story published. A majority of them earned an average of Sh5,000 every month.
The on-going tribal animosity in our newsroom is sickening and it’s time to lift the lid and let the entire world know the lack of impartiality in news coverage. Should Kenyans and the world continue relying on distorted news being churned out by Nation Media Group? -
Nakuru Updates From Our Man On The Ground
» You Missed This Mayhem in Nakuru as a Catholic church-holy cross in the outskirts of the town burned down and people literary walking with crude weapons.
Mungiki group arrested on a lorry in the Nakuru-Nairobi road,a 7-6 curfew has been reinfoprced and there is more Kikuyu exodus to the ASK Nakuru showground.
The Nakuru showground fence was burned in the morning by members of the Kalenjins,Luos and Luhyas militia combined,demanding that the Kikuyus vacate the town.
More bloodshed expected today as a lorry full af vigilantes have arrived from West part of Kenya with bows and arrows.
Report received in the morning Kenyan time. -
Annan Meets Faces of Old Leadership
» You Missed This 
Kofi Annan may be passionate and committed to his mediation mandate but oblivious of the quality of principal characters he is dealing with. If only the former UN boss knew that INTEGRITY is one word that our leaders mouth only for expediency and never mean any of the letters spelling it!
Annan has visited Kenya's war zone and his verdict of systematic human rights abuses is apt. But there starts the problem and not solution. The events of the last three weeks are results and consequences of smouldering HISTORIC injustices accumulated over 40 years old school leadership - imperialism and impunity.
Ridding tiger
With Kibaki is playing Russian roulette with the lives of Kenyans, Annan has witnessed first hand how a true African leader can single-handedly destroy and sell his country down the path of civil war. Kibaki is riding a tiger and soon the beast will have its prey seated atop.
Land lies at the heart of this turmoil and Kenyatta is the root. An honest evaluation will leave the Kenyatta family bloodied with guilt. Jomo went on a land LOOTING spree as Kenyans smarted from uhuru hangover. Before they realized it Kikuyus were scattered all over Kenya in token appeasement to the disgruntlement of natives of their new homes.
Dishonesty and deception are no pillars to true leadership. The present SYSTEMATIC inequality clothed in TRIBALISM was planted by Jomo, watered by Moi and nurtured to maturity by Kibaki. The end product is the perfect tinkering time bomb which Kibaki belligerent ignited on December 30, 2007.
We haven't seen anything yet and until and unless the root cause is exhaustively addressed we remain collective victims of five-year cycle of violence. Pretending otherwise is to bury our heads in the sand. Kenya's past and present problems requires LEADERSHIP and not the rulership we have been subjected to since independence. -
Who?What?How?
» You Missed This 
The question that has been keeping me pre-occupied for the past sad event-filled month is; when the time comes, who is going to mourn for the 1000 plus Kenyans who are losing their lives as a result of December's post-election violence? It haunts me to think that out of the many lives lost, more than just a handful were supposed to have played a significant role in my life at some point in time and i in theirs but now this opportunity is lost forever. This is not even considering the feelings of their loved ones left behind struggling to come to terms and make sense of life without their family members. What bitter tragedy
Sometimes i think we make a mockery out of life when we approach the seriousnes it demands without the requisite sincerity to match. In my opinion, the best gift we can give to honour the memory of those already dead (dying a death most foul) is not only political and economic restitution-in any event, these are two important aspects of our nation that we would have had to get right at some point, regardless of whether a thief stole the election or not
In the long-term we may have to agree never again to take one another for granted and stop turning a blind eye to the well-being of the country we love for the sake of traditions. Such long-term thinking will reveal itself from the little things like refusing to litter our streets when with only a little effort your refuse can easily be disposed of in the proper places, to walking in the type of integrity that means swearing to our own hurt and not changing even if we'll be unpopular.
The sacrifice that Kenya demands is not blood through the killing of life but the giving up of close-minded individuality to redefine what our nation means by coming together to paint a rich picture of many tribes, languages, politics, economics and religion with a single common thread-we are Kenyans
Coming soon:- dealing a death blow to tribalism -
Better Watch Your Thoughts
» You Missed This What you are screams to the whole world the kind of thoughts that you have been thinking and are continuing to think. You are literally what you think and your character is the total sum of all your thoughts. Every act of man is from his thoughts … you first think then you act … the thought could have come immediately before the act or it could have been sitting in your mind for quite some time now.This is to say that the kind of thoughts that you entertain must always be carefully examined. It’s of no use entertaining a thought(s) that will end up harming you and all that you care about and are around you. Always remember that your mind is a lot more like a fertile garden, you can cultivate it or just let it run wild … and whatever you decide to do … it will and it must bring forth. If no useful seeds (thoughts) are put into it, then useless weeds seeds will fall therein and will continue to produce their kind.
So, what kinds of thoughts should we entertain and what kind of thoughts should we shun? Let’s remember that our thoughts can't be kept secret. They will rapidly form into habit and the habit will solidify into a certain circumstance. What kind thoughts bring about what habits and what habits brings about certain circumstances?
Bad thoughts:
· Bestial thoughts - habits of drunkenness and sensuality - circumstances of destitution and disease
· Impure thoughts of every kind - enervating and confusing habits - distracting and adverse circumstances
· Thoughts of fear, doubt & indecision - weak, unmanly & irresolute habits - circumstances of failure, indigence & slavish dependence
· Lazy thoughts - weak, habits of uncleanliness & dishonesty - circumstances of foulness & beggary
· Hateful & condemnatory thoughts - habits of accusation & violence - circumstances of injury & persecution
· Selfish thoughts of all kinds - habits of self seeking - distressful circumstances
Good thoughts:
· Beautiful thoughts of all kinds - habits of grace & kindliness - genial & sunny circumstances
· Pure thoughts - habits of temperance & self control - circumstances of repose & peace
· Thoughts of courage, self reliance & decision - manly habits - circumstances of success, plenty & freedom
· Energetic thoughts - habits of cleanliness & industry - circumstances of pleasantness
· Gentle & forgiving thoughts - habits of gentleness - protective & preservative circumstances
· Loving & unselfish thoughts - circumstances of sure & abiding prosperity and true riches
A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstance. We cannot directly choose our circumstances, but we choose our thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape our circumstances.
-
Mid-night Brawl
» You Missed This An analogy depicting the present situation in Kenya
Prevailing altercation,
A string of expletives,
A dash of angry shouting,
Rent the warm night air.
The faithful night breeze,
Carried the commotion far and wide,
Rats stopped their activities to listen,
Crickets stopped their innocuous sounds.
The man could be heard quite distinctly,
Effing and blinding strenuously,
Barking, screaming and shouting,
As he pulled his wife by her hair.
Finally, the two were outside,
And the whole world with them;
The world watched as they rolled and turned,
Clutched, clawed and hit each other.
The man shouted:
You have betrayed our love,
You did confidently sleep,
With my friend, under my very roof!
The neighbours very well remembered,
The tall, lanky fellow,
Who had discreetly left the man's house,
Early that evening.
The woman heatedly rejoined:
You slept with the chief's wife last week,
You moved around with my best friend,
And I did not raise as much as an eyebrow.
The bandying was sustained for as long as it could hold,
With either party venting their heart's contents on the other,
The man was the first one to have enough of it all,
As he slammed his burning fist against her face.
A sorry state indeed, isn’t it?
Wanna speak to Ritch? Drop him a line at thisEmail Address. -
Armageddon Begins in Nakuru, Where Next?
» You Missed This 
The 7-7 police curfew in Nakuru is the beginning of the end. The army are out on duty with predictable results - more bloodshed. It started with Kibaki's ILLEGAL swearing in on December 30, 2007. Seeing no enough blood, Kibaki pressed the blood button yesterday with his 'as your duly elected and sworn in President' remark. Bad faith and insensitivity comes in all shades and shapes, don't they?
To match the mayhem, the death merchants are out roaming the Kenyan streets with their sharpened machetes ready to severe the next head. As Kibaki confines himself to the comfort of State House lawns, Kenya continues to bleed profusely thanks to Kibaki-Michuki-Martha-Wanjui troika. This Kikuyu elite have squarely pitted the house of Mumbi against Kenya.
Kibaki has latently allowed merchants of death to met 'REVENGE' as a show of hollow might with eyes on show of power. But no drainage will be big enough to contain the resulting national haemorrhage. Kenya is crying for leadership to replace the present rulership. Meanwhile Kibaki's apologists may cheaply thumb their chests in brinkmanship oblivious of the fact that the GUILLOTINE monster consumes both the targets and perpetrators.
True Mungiki are agents of death and destruction through terror in Central and Nairobi. But I can assure you they will meet their match in the villages. With the police force not spared the national ethnic tensions it is just a matter of time before all militia acquire guns in sufficient numbers to finish the job. There is no monopoly of militia or vigilantes.
Fighting fire with fire is cheap philosophy. Listening to one Mungiki tweet Dennis Kariuki boasting to a Reuters reporter that "we have vowed that for every Kikuyu killed in Eldoret, we shall kill two Kalenjins who are living in Nakuru," is the beginning of the end. Well, Nakuru is not called the hot bed of Kenyan politics for nothing. For the records Nakuru has its ANCESTRAL OWNERS and the Kalenjins will not leave without a bloody fight.
Last straw
The Armageddon is here. At least most surviving Kenyans have HOMES to turn to once evicted from their HOUSES. What of those whose version of homes and houses is blurred? They have the most to lose and the present belligerence is not doing them any good. Speak of amputating a limb to stop haemorrhage!
The truth is Kibaki's stealing of the election was the last straw that broke Kenya's back. That single selfish act snapped the long-standing tribal tensions. The genesis lies in land disputes and we all know who the beneficiaries are. The camel came, CONQUERED (in fact emasculated) and now want to dominate the natives politically.
Transforming the economic to political might is unacceptable unless the rest of Kenyans silently resign to the stereotypical tag of LAZY and JEALOUS (of dishonesty and deception of course). The HELL-FOR-LEATHER Kenyan 'entrepreneurs' may Shed all shades of crocodile tears whining about lost economic opportunity. But to majority of other Kenyans that is the collateral to pay in quest of JUSTICE.
You can indulge is all the brutal niceties to delay justice but you cannot succeed in 1000 years to deny the same, NEVER. It is and will never be business as usual till an equilibrium (equity) is realized. -
Breaking News: Clashes Now Arrive In Nakuru With A Vengeance As Kenya Army Moves In
» You Missed This Are The Revenge Attacks Escalating?
News from Nakuru is scanty and difficult to come by but Kumekucha can confirm that there are some serious clashes going on in the town at the heart of the Rift Valley and the largest security operation since the aborted 1982 coup has now been deployed involving the Kenya Army.
I have been unable to reach our man on the ground but from the information gathered so far, it appears that a revenge attack by mainly members of the Kikuyu tribe, against Luos and Kalenjins living in the Cosmopolitan Nakuru town is what triggered off the whole incident.
Some reports indicate that members of the Kalenjin and Luo re-grouped too quickly (like they were expecting the attack) and chased after the attackers who had burnt houses as well as killed people. Some eyewitnesses claim that policemen stopped them and assured them that they would arrest the whole lot on their own. However this looked unlikely as the policemen were vastly outnumbered by the attackers.
It is not clear at what point the Kenya Army arrived, but it is common knowledge that the Army are mostly trained to kill and fight gun battles rather than to quell riots, which suggests that the security situation in the town must be extremely serious.
It is instructive to note that the clashes in most of the Rift Valley has brought a vast majority of the refugees to Nakuru town and many of the Kikuyu victims who have lost everything have been holed up in the town.
This development is significant because although we have seen clashes in the major city of Nairobi, so far they have been limited to slum areas like Kibera, Mathare and Huruma. In Nakuru we have witnessed for the first time clashes coming into town and involving the middle class. This is certainly very bad news for Kenya and illustrates the fact that despite the optimism from many quarters yesterday when Kibaki and Raila shook hands in front of the press, nobody is addressing the core issues and therefore we need to brace ourselves for the worst. Actually it is becoming increasingly clear by the day that nothing short of Mwai Kibaki’s resignation from the stolen presidency will restore peace in the Rift valley.
Read more about Nakuru violence. -
The dawning of a new day
» You Missed This 
Kenya, Sleepy giant,
You've been resting awhile.
Now I see the thunder,
And the lightning,
In yor smile.
Now I see the storm clouds,
In yor waking eyes:
The thunder,
The wonder,
And the new surprise.
Your every step reveals,
The new stride,
In your thighs.
These are the very eloquent words of the master poet, Langston Hughes.(But I have changed his original Africa to read Kenya)
The words there-in hold true to us today. With the fall of every word the walls in the room reverberate and the din rises to fever-pitch crescendo.
Kenya, we've been somnolent and sleepy for far too long. We've been reluctant to rise above our lot.
We've been known as non-starters and non-proactive. The world has always seen Kenya as a country replete with problems: all manner of ills and inefficiency to boot!
Political turbulence; ethnic clashes; economic instabilities; famine and drought - and a host many more!
Kenyans, it's time to kick all these out and turn over a new leaf. Let's put the red herrings aside and pursue matters of import. Matters that will help us rise out of the miry bog of complacency and compromise.
We've the potential to change our 'countenance' in the public eye nationally and internationally.
We've just to set the records straight and do what we must: institute mechanisms to put things in proper perspective.
We don't have to swallow notions and ideas pushed down our throats about the incapacities in our dear, beloved country.
There's still a chink in the wall.
Where there's a will there's a way.
We must endeavour to rise above our condemning environment and embrace the dawning of a new day.
Kenya, this is our time. Climb up that mountain. GO FOR IT!! -
Political History Repeating Itself in Advance
» You Missed This 
Kofi Annan appears to have waved his MAGIC wand and viola all Kenyans are ululating with bliss. But just wait a minute? Was the Kibaki-Raila handshake the lull before the deadly storm that will make the present 1000 graves accommodating poor Kenyans look like a beautification parade? You guess right we are back to square one ala IPPG of 1997 and 2002 where deals were hammered with the sole intention of trashing them immediately thereafter.
Kibaki DOES NOT mean any good for Kenya and any motion from him is meant to generate no meaningful movement. Annan has already reprimanded him for poisoning his mediation by a belligerent and careful reference to himself as ‘your duly elected President’. You don’t STEAL an election to hand it back, or do you? Kenyans must be aliens from Mars to accept that fallacy.
Make no mistake. No everybody who goes against the current should be cheaply labelled a hardliner. By the way pessimists are not what they are demonized to be but in retrospection they are REALISTS. We cannot and will never solve our problems by sweeping them under the carpet. We must squarely address the genesis of the present turmoil. Cheating ourselves that we are looking at the bigger picture is to engage in self-deception. No forest exists without trees and the former is trivially the sum total of the later.
Short-termism may help cool political temperatures yes but failing to confront our problems head on is to latently and unwitting incubate our national problems which will surely explode sooner rather than later. Justice has no synonym and can attempt to decapitate it only to have it mutate to its original form and demand redress.
False confidence
All the talk of power sharing may look rosy in between textbook pages but not for Kenya. The level of hatred has reached irreconcilable proportions. The supremacists will shout themselves hoarse urging all and sundry to move on. Common try another one. We know the hindsight and your eyes are singularly trained on the price: status quo and subjugation.
You don’t negotiate with a serial promise broker beholden to a small clique of entrepreneurs who see Kenyans as the providers of a collective back to ride on for their selfish economic enterprises. No more and enough is enough. Raila and co have two choices: either to fight the war to its bitter and logical end or detour and win the ‘winnable’ battle with all the attendant BETRAYAL and loss of goodwill amongst majority of Kenyans.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to decipher why a section of Kenyans demonize devolution of any shade – political and economic. Simple, devolution slashes profits and wipes away domination. Once bitten severally shy.
Power games
The Kibaki-Raila handshake was nothing but a smokescreen meant to mean nothing absolutely. The only point of convergence was a hollow mention of the word peace. Otherwise while speaks of JUSTICE and TRUTH, Kibaki take is RECONCILIATION and HEALING. Who is fooling who here? Granted, whoever is right or wrong is spurious in times of war. If we were to be honest with ourselves we would see all this for what it is: POWER GAMES with a predictable outcome.
If Raila by any chance succumbs to pressure and betrays the majority he will be simply repeating history before it is even written. The NARC-LDP betrayals are still raw wounds inflicted by the same players. I wonder whether Rails is ready to jump into that cesspool of MISTRUST and BAD FAITH again. Time will tell and the time of judgment is here. Rails finds himself between the rock and the dark blue sea.
Raila has to prove that his shoulders are large enough for the troubles of his many supporters and NOT just big enough for his ego and political expediency. I don’t envy the man any little bit. But the bottom line remains Raila's position is not meant for the politically faint hearted. Good luck in the interim. -
Kenya Politics Headed to a Grand Coalition
» You Missed This 
The first day of Koffi Annan led mediation talks indicates that there is light at end of the dark political tunnel, we can authoritatively reveal.
It looks like Kenya is headed for a power sharing deal that may also see the country establish a truth, justice and reconciliation committee. The grand coalition will operate on consensus and will see significant decentralization of executive power by the president.
As a matter of priority, the current Electoral Commission of Kenya will be disbanded and a new representative one constituted to oversee preparation for future (general) elections.
Whereas the ODM was initially pushing for a short term transitional government that would prepare for a re-run of the presidential polls, the party has significantly thawed and is ready to accept a power sharing deal with its bitter rival PNU. On the other hand, the PNU camp feels its candidate won the presidential polls 'fairly' and that a re-run is not an option. The ruling party prefers to incorporate members of the ODM into Kibaki’s vacant cabinet positions as a way of appeasing them and their supporters. The PNU is also open to the coalition idea but are reluctant to see presidential powers devolved.
It would appear that ODM/NARC are seeking permanent and independent share of political power for their parties as opposed to being mere appointees of PNU’s President Kibaki. In other words, ODM/NARC are avoiding the same treatment the LDP received during the initial days of Kibaki’s first term as a NARC president.
It is significant that both Museveni and Annan have adopted a straight shooting one-on-one approach with the key protagonist whom many believed are driven to their hardline positions by allies surrounding them. It is widely feared by the international community that the collapse of Kenya will be catastrophic and have far reaching implications on the entire African continent.
Going by the closely contested results of the presidential and parliamentary polls; political observers foresee the formation of a balanced grand coalition government which will be facilitated by constitutional amendments when parliament reconvenes.
Each of the two major partners will be allocated top positions in government and each will have some degree of executive power which will enable them draw their own line-up of select members of cabinet.
This proposed grand coalition, having a total of 34 members of cabinet, will be structured along this forecast:
Mwai Kibaki (PNU) – President & Head of State
Kalonzo Musyoka (ODM-K) - Vice President & Deputy Head of State
15 Cabinet Positions - PNU/ODM-K/KANU/A.N. OTHER
Raila Odinga – Prime Minister & Leader of Parliamentary Business
Musalia Mudavadi – Deputy Prime Minister
15 Cabinet Positions - ODM/NARC/A.N. OTHER
(Sounds to me like the Bomas Draft)
But then, what does such an arrangement mean for multi-party democracy?
Is this an introduction of a new constitution through the back-door?
This is apparently the cost of achieving lasting peace and moving on after the highly controversial and violent 27 December general elections.
What is your take? -
Githogo Blames Expediency and Inequality
» You Missed This Strong case for a new Mumbi republic
John Githogo last night literally measured to HARD TALK's billing when he traced the genesis of Kenya's present turmoil to two vices of INEQUALITY and EXPEDIENCY. And I couldn't agree more when he added the optimistic line that all is not lost and Kenya can pull herself out of this hole.
Talking straight unlike majority of us who often prefer baptizing Lucifer as God's disgraced angel, JG made it clear that the buck stops with Kibaki who STOLE elections from Kenyans. To him the protests is a commitment to democracy which Kenyans are ready to die defending.
Looking at he bully ex-graft czar one cannot fail to read the pain on his face. While trying TOO hard not to disappoint the BBC Hard Talk host, he appeared to be keenly aware of the sharks lurking in the waters for is blood. You cannot blame him knowing that nobody exiles himself and remains happy. In JG's mind the present violence is traceable to his pet subject of corruption by our political top dogs which they dole by whipping ethnic tensions and rivalry for expediency.
Unsung heroes
Githongo's parting shot is that unless the present obscene inequality among Kenyans s addressed expeditiously, then all the efforts at seeking lasting peace will be nothing but coloured charades. And I would hasten to add that unless we get a new political order (CHANGE) ready to strip Kenya of the imperial presidency, the ethnic tensions will boil over and end up consuming all of us.
Kenya's only salvation lies in a new constitution that makes the presidency UNATTRACTIVE and corruption VERY EXPENSIVE. But who will bell the cat, any takers? -
Paka Imenyeshwa Sasa Ni Simba
» You Missed This "Listen here Government, if you don't lift the ban on live broadcasts by tomorrow, we will do something about it because we are not afraid of you now that Michuki is no longer internal security minister i am lion hear me roar........."
Please do not adjust your computer monitor-there is nothing wrong with it. What you've read is the response of our local mass radio, newspaper and televison media finally appearing to get their act together and warning the government that unless they withdraw their 3 week-long ban on live broadcasts, they can expect consequences ala ODM albeit silent instead of "peaceful" demonstrations.
Unlike ODM, the media feel that if they go to courts in this case, they will see justice served-what exactly would justice be in their case? Its not just the lifting of the media ban that is the solution to the problem, its the basic question of just how much "freedom" is in the "freedom of press" which our (in) dependent media is supposed to have? Now there is a something to scratch your heads over
The press can practise freedom akin to Government spokesperson Mutua which amounts to mounting attacks always on the offensive in defense of the state and its machinery, or the press can practise freedom similar to blogs and websites and just run with whatever they get afterall what makes their sources more credible than mine? or they can turn a blind eye
It will be intersting to see which "freedom" the press enjoys in Kibaki's second term of office-maybe just maybe the cat will evolve into a lion
-
Kenya: Unique Land of Miracles
» You Missed This Kenya may be known for many positive things including world-class athletes but the DEEP HOLE we find ourselves in following last year’s stolen elections makes it a first in many realms. Many things happening right now defy any trace of logic or acceptance and must be uniquely Kenyan.
Kenya is indeed a very special and unique country bereft of humanity. Many things that happen in Kenya have never been witnessed anywhere else in the world. Only in Kenya do you get a police force so determined to crash demonstration that they won’t mind lobbing teargas at coffins bearing remains of what they had earlier killed. The sight of frail old mothers choking under the fumes is no reason enough to be human. Kenyans can kill a body twice if only to prove a point.
Kenya is the only country which can insist on being called a DEMO(N)CRACY under the rule of the barrel of the gun. Add to this the fact that in the whole wide world only in Kenyan do you find an Electoral Commission boss who declares that he doesn't know who won a presidential poll he was tasked and paid to run. The icing on the cake lies in the fact that statehouse continues to be occupied nonetheless.
Lose to win
Only in Kenya do you win elections by losing it. Truly prophetic because the first shall be last. Besides Kenyans have their own sense of basic counting (NOT BASE 10) where two is LARGER than six. If doubt please sue your kindergarten maths teacher for intellectual damages to your person. Ours must be the only country exclusively populated by geniuses, ehe?
Kenya’s transport and communication network puts Japan’s slavery to punctuality to shame. Sample this: electoral officials in far-flung areas like Wajir, Funyula, Budalangi, Isiolo, and Lodwar relay their results to KICC overnight yet results from Kiambaa (just past Muthaiga estate in Nairobi) take more than 70 hours (three days) to ‘reach’ Nairobi.
Kenya’s sense of political humour is unparalleled. Consider this: only in Kenya do you count 95,000 votes from a constituency with 70,000 registered voters. Numbers surely don’t lie but we can COOK them into a delicious meal albeit poisonous.
Still on the electoral front, only in Kenya do you find a presidential candidate’s name missing in the Voters register in his own constituency on polling day. Derivatives of selective amnesia can be stretched into other facets of life with a little bit of political entrepreneurship.
Reversed popularity must have been invented by ingenious Kenyans. Only here do we the most "popular" party SCOOPING 35 MPs while the "unpopular" hides in shame with a paltry 100 parliamentary seats.
MOU my foot!
Trust Kenyan voters to pay their politicians with their own coin. These scoundrels can form all GRAND COALITIONS they can dream of but lofty tags like PARTY CHAIRMAN means absolutely nothing to the Kenyan voter. How else do you explain the political Tsunami that swept Kombos, Nyachaes, Tujus, Muites, Ndiles and Koigis of this country?
Finally, who said history repeats itself? For who, by whom and for what? Learning from previous mistakes is an alien concept to us Kenyans. Ati the KANU-LDP MOU was dishonoured by Moi. So what? And then the NAK-LDP MOU was trashed by Kibaki. Common, take a walk and smell the coffee. We live miracles and don’t dream them. ODM-KENYA/PNU is union made in heaven and meant for eternal bliss. Naivety is for the politically faint hearted. Kazi iendelee. -
Strong Case For A New Republic Of Mount Kenya
» You Missed This Proof of America’s role in fanning current chaos and their solid support for Kibaki
Proof that the civil war may have already started as security forces from different tribes defy orders from their superiors
I can’t remember when it first started but recently it has become clear that it is difficult to have a discussion on the situation in Kenya with my Kikuyu beauty without one of us getting emotional and even losing their temper. (For those who are new to this blog, this blogger is the product of a mixed marriage between a Kamba father and a Bukusu mother and has been happily married to a Kikuyu beauty for over 22 years now)
This state of affairs in my house has really surprised me because going into the elections Mrs Kumekucha was a staunch Raila supporter. This is even stranger because she has no relatives in the Rift Valley and has therefore NOT been affected by any of the killings. In fact she was as puzzled as I was at the wild celebrations my in-laws were involved in after Mwai Kibaki was announced winner (despite the tension in the country and the fact that even a young child could see that the elections were stolen).
My 17 year old son has been a great help in sorting out that problem. All he has had to do is ask which side of the divide he should support and that ends the heated argument right on its’ tracks.
But I have been thinking deeply about this shift in emotions and have done my own research and I have realized that Kenya is in much bigger trouble than most people realize.
Ever since this blog was launched in May 2005, our main theme has been the tribal tensions in Kenya which started during the Jomo Kenyatta administration. We have also talked at length about the widening gap between the rich and the poor and how it has always been a time bomb waiting to explode. Few Kenyans have taken us seriously until December 30th.
The strong feeling amongst supporters of President Kibaki is that the crisis...
Read more -
ODM Sues Government as Massacre Continues
» You Missed This 
So ODM has sued the Kenyan 'Government' at the Hague accusing it of crimes against humanity following last week's police brutality that left hundreds of skulls cracked and bodies stopping bullets. Depending on which political divide you stand either the opposition is desperately seeking justice from without our borders or just playing cheap insensitive political games with the lives of Kenyans.
True to our Kenyan political pussyfooting antics, Alfred Mutua has already opened his mouth spewing threats of counter suits with the caveat of individual culpability with no recourse to collective responsibility among ODM. The charade is on folks and it appears we haven't seen anything yet. Meanwhile the embers continue to engulf and extinguish more lives.
Already we have more than 1000 Kenyans dead in less than one month and we still shamelessly hang onto that tag of democracy and sovereign. As a nation we have taken DECEPTION to new levels no amount of pretense will pull us out of the present quagmire.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan may be in town with good and honest intention but unless the two sides undergo a MASSIVE change of heart, the outcome is as predictable as the sun rises in the east. Add this to the suspicious presence of one strong man in the name of Museveni you get a pot brewing with potent mistrust.
Granted, both the Government and ODM have their hands drenched in blood of innocent Kenyans. But until and unless the root cause of present skirmishes is addressed transparently, then we are only engaging in grandiose political motions bereft of any meaningful movements. Our political class are simply buying time and postponing full-fledged GENOCIDE. -
Post-Election Genocide: Blame It On Kibaki’s Parallel Police Forces
» You Missed This Kumekucha investigative article that will shock you...
Taking stock of the high death toll in the post-election period, it’s clearly evident there is something terribly wrong with Kenya’s security agencies.
The most notable issue that has emerged from this national tragedy is that the security agencies appear powerless to contain the bloody mayhem or bring it to a stop.
And there is no doubt that both the Government – President Kibaki’s state agents – and the ODM are guilty of engaging in acts that border on genocide – wanton killing of people perceived to belong in the opposite political divide.
Official police statistics show that the number of Kenyans who have lost their lives – either shot dead by state agents or slaughtered by ODM supporters – stands slightly above 500.
However, informed sources within Kenya’s security agents say these figures are doctored and they do not reflect the reality on the ground. The real truth will emerge when the dust finally settles down – hoping that state agents will not be used to falsify medical records in mortuaries and hospitals across the country to lime with the lies being churned by police headquarters.
Our security sources revealed that the death toll in post-election violence stands between 1,500 and 2,000. Thousands of other Kenyans are either fighting for their lives or nursing serious wounds in hospitals across the republic while an estimated 500,000 other Kenyans have been displaced from their homes.
Kenya has been at standstill and bleeding profusely since Mr Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the December 27 Presidential election through open stealing and fraud. The wound inflicted on Kenya – through Mr Kibaki’s own actions of stealing an election – will haunt Kenya for the rest of her history.
Marauding ODM youths who have been protesting Mr Kibaki’s illegitimacy in State House have been sweeping across villages in parts of the Rift Valley inhabited by the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities killing, torching houses and driving their perceived political opponents out of their homes and farms in broad-day light. They are making a very powerful statement – there is no Government in control in Kenya!
The youths behind the mayhem move in large groups and they have made no attempt to cover their faces to conceal their identity. After killing and torching houses, the youths often re-assemble in a show of solidarity and celebration for the successes they had made.
The worst such incident happened in Eldoret where a gang of 200 youth swooped on a church where women, children and men displaced by the post-election violence were taking cover and set the House of God on fire. An estimated 16 people perished in the bonfire. Police were nowhere to be seen and no arrests have ever been made.
All this mayhem happens when there is a “Government” in power! Kibaki has been holed up in State House, Nairobi, since he was sworn in and perhaps he has been watching and enjoying the Rambo Movie – as Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe called it!– from the comfort of his bedroom, with either Lucy or Wambui on his side.
Maybe his handlers tell him it’s the work of mischievous TV editors who have been manufacturing footage from other war-ravaged countries and only airing it in our local TV stations to keep Kenyans entertained with Rambo Movies!
On a serious issue, the Government, if there is any, appears not to be in control. The actions of the police and other state agents are only reactionary. A serious and a working state machinery is always ahead of anyone with a criminal mind. But not with our security agencies who are mostly caught flat-footed by rag-tag private militias and made to look like a squad from a third-rate security firm for training watchmen.
In retaliation to the ODM protests, state agents have turned Kenya into a shooting range and woe onto you if you happen to be near the battle-ground. Chances of stopping police bullets are higher than when we had dictator Daniel arap Moi in power.
The Big Question in the minds of Kenyans and foreign Governments represented in Nairobi is: Why does our security agents appear so impotent today than ever before?
Authoritative sources within the security agencies revealed that the confusion being witnessed in containing the violence is a reflection of the boardroom wars which have been simmering behind closed curtains in the Office of the President – Harambee House and State House - for years.
Kenyans have been immersed in their daily duties to place some food on the table and have failed to take note of the creation of two parallel and competing police forces in the country – the Kenya Police and the Administration Police. The two security arms of the state have harbour so much bitterness and rivalry right from the top to the bottom.
Before President Kibaki took over power in 2002, Kenya had only one national police – the Kenya Police which has three key units namely the regular police, the paramilitary General Service Unit and the CID. But today, the Administration Police has been strengthened and it rivals, and in some cases, overshadows the Kenya Police, thanks to political intrigues and selfishness in Kibaki’s ruling elite.
In the mid-term of Kibaki’s five-year term, he encountered serious problems with the men he had entrusted in the security docket. He was forced by circumstances to replace Internal Security Minister Chris Murungaru and Police Commissioner Edwin Nyaseda. Rattle snake John Michuki replaced Dr Murungaru while Maj Gen Ali took over from Mr Nyaseda.
Both Mr Michuki and Maj Gen Ali are men of bloated egos and there is no love lost between them. The two war-mongers believe in chest-thumping and ruling by the sword. Diplomacy is a foreign concept to both of them. It is, therefore, foolish for anyone to expect the combination to cook in the same pot.
Maj Gen Ali rarely took orders from Mr Michuki. Since he is still a serving Army officer, he regards a minister to be a civilian and insists he can’t take orders from such an individual. His contempt for Mr Michuki was clearly evident from the nasty public exchanges the two had when they worked under the same docket. Their arrogance is a good theme for a Kenya Rambo Movie!
Maj Gen Ali has made it a tradition to side-step the minister – who by Government protocol is his boss – and decided to report directly to the Chief of General Staff, Gen Kianga, and the President, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Mr Michuki and his replacement, George Saitoti, are no different. Both are men you would think twice before you lay your foot on them – even accidentally.
The only distinction between Prof Saitoti and Mr Michuki is that the former is somehow diplomatic in public glare but a worse rattle snake than Mr Michuki in private or in the confines of his office. If Maj Gen Ali succeeded in showing open contempt to Mr Michuki, time will tell if Prof Saitoti will give him the slightest chance to do it.
Close aides of the two ministers say Mr Michuki thoroughly briefed Prof Saitoti about his frosty working relationship with Maj Gen Ali and the measures he should employ to contain him.
Mr Michuki’s former Internal Security docket had two powerful wings – the Internal Security (the police) and the Provincial Administration. Maj Gen Ali heads the police wing. When the differences between Maj Gen Ali and Mr Michuki reached a climax in 2005, the latter made spirited efforts to have President Kibaki fire the commissioner.
However, the political mood in the country appeared to favour the Army soldier. Several things appeared to favour the commissioner – he is a Muslim and from the minority Somali community, there was the impending General Election and ODM leader Raila Odinga (who initially could not see eye to eye with Maj Gen Ali over the October 2005 Kisumu police killings of four innocent people during the referendum protests) appeared to have warmed up to the Commissioner in exchange of secret dossier on the Artur brothers.
Maj Gen Ali also capitalized on the bitter marital row surrounding President Kibaki and his two wives, Lucy and Wambui. Wambui and Mr Michuki were said to be behind the presence of the Arturs in the country.
Seizing on Lucy’s hatred on her marital bitter rival, the Commissioner hinged himself under Lucy’s armpit to ensure no one touched him. Lucy wields a lot of influence over President Kibaki. Maj Gen Ali stood on the side of Lucy while Mr Michuki, Wambui and the Artur brothers were roasting in the public frying pan.
The factors above gave Maj Gen Ali a new lifeline despite Mr Michuki’s spirited campaign to have him shown the door. Maj Gen Ali’s appeared to have won the battle for supremacy and shown Mr Michuki that he enjoyed the better ear of President Kibaki despite the President and the minister belonging to the same community.
But a frustrated Michuki could not take this lying down. The only weapon at his disposal for revenge was to humiliate Maj Gen Ali using the Administration Police and its Commander, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua. Mr Mbugua belongs to Mr Michuki’s tribe.
For the period Mr Michuki has been in charge of the country’s security, he ensured that a large portion of resources in his docket went to the AP. Unlike Maj Gen Ali who has an office away from the centre of power, Mr Mbugua’s office is situated inside Harambee House – where the Office of the President and that of the Internal Security minister are located.
Mr Michuki has over the years been strengthening the AP in his attempt to overshadow and clip the wings of Maj Gen Ali. The AP today is a national police force rivaling the Kenya Police. Unlike before, Mr Mbugua was among top security chiefs who shared a dais with President Kibaki when he was sworn like a thief in the lawns of State House on December 30. Maj Gen Ali, according to our sources, was not pleased to drive to State House and find Mr Mbugua in the dais.
Previously, the AP was just a colourless wing attached to the Provincial Administration – chiefs, District officers, District Commissioners and Provincial Commissioners. Their role was to hunt down chang’aa brewers and men who behaved badly by beating their wives in the villages. APs who were assigned VIP guard duties considered themselves lucky and with decent duties.
But as the row between Mr Michuki and Maj Gen Ali intensified, the fortunes of the Administration Police changed for the better. It’s now a parallel police force, it boasts of better equipment and terms of service than the Kenya Police and it’s more closer to the ruling elite than the Kenya Police. The AP is now actively involved in key national duties. Their training rivals that of the dreaded GSU and they are more sophisticated like the army.
Kibaki’s ruling elite feel more comfortable entrusting the AP and its Commander with state secrets – like planning how to rig the December General Election – than Maj Gen Ali and his Kenya Police.
The situation has created bitter rivalry between Maj Gen Ali and AP Commander Mbugua. The two men rarely talk or shake hands – either in private or in public. Maj Gen Ali has on several occasions attempted to dismiss the AP in public.
But that has not helped him in any way. Power is in the hands of the Kikuyu elite and his protests sounds like child’s play to them.
Maj Gen Ali has found himself in a quagmire of a first wife in a polygamous marriage. The second wife always enjoys the tender heart of the man, better resources, close attention, unlimited ear and unlimited bedroom bliss! The first wife has no choice but to either pack up and go or stay put with a broken and wounded heart.
The bitter rivalry between the APs and the Kenya Police almost cost the life of the then Police Spokesman and now Coast PPO King’ori Mwangi after the Bomas conference on a new constitution. The Kenya Police – feeling the heat of humiliation by being neglected by the State – was aggressively pushing for the disbandment of the Administration Police and the formation of one national police force. The APs vehemently opposed it and they carried the day through vigorous lobbying. Top police chiefs were left nursing their wounded egos.
Mr Mwangi, who was at Bomas to push this radical view, was later waylaid by an AP who shot him. Mr Mwangi was shot in the hand and he is alive today because he managed to wrestle the gun from the emaciated AP sent to squeeze the life out of him.
Despite the bitter rivalry, the Administration Police and the Kenya Police are expected to take up joint national duties when the security of the nation is threatened. This is where the Kibaki regime seems to have shot itself in the foot in dealing with the post-election crisis.
A closer look at the riot squads which have been battling rioting ODM mobs shows glaring disparities between the APs and members of the Kenya Police – the GSU and regular police.
The APs have better riot gear and body protection gear than the regular police. While the regular police go to the volatile battle zones with almost bare chests, their AP rivals look like the commandos we see in Rambo Movies – perhaps this is what Mr Kiraithe was referring to. You can hardly pick out your own brother who is an AP from the rest of the squad. The APs are well covered from head to toe and this reduces chances of injury if attacked by the rioting mobs. Woe onto the regular police!
Security is a sensitive docket and the pillar of any nation. It can’t be taken so casually like President Kibaki and his ruling elite have done. Is it then a wonder that mobs have been sweeping across villages killing and torching homes without any presence of security agents?
There has been talk of officers from communities that rejected President Kibaki in the December polls rocking the boat from within. There is a lot of truth in that claim. The situation is further complicated by the rivalry between the APs and the regular police. How are the hostile officers expected to work together knowing one is the blue-eyed boy of the State?
There is a great cause of worry when key security agencies that we rely on for our own security are rocked in such a bitter rivalry. The heads of the AP and the Kenya Police don’t read from the same script. The current confusion in the security agencies equals to solders in a parade ignoring orders from the parade commander and each one of them opting to match to his/her own direction.
In the current scenario where state agencies are deeply polarized along ethic and identity lines, the Government finds it very difficult in keeping state secrets and this is a major threat to national and international security. The deep mistrust in the security agencies is not good for this country.
This is why Mr Michuki kept Maj Gen Ali in the dark when his own officers were used to plot and execute the raid on the offices of the Standard newspapers and KTN in March 2006. Isn’t a much serious issue when a whole Commissioner of Police is kept in the dark when his officers are being used by the same Government he serves to carry out serious criminal acts in the dead of the night? It’s no laughing matter when a Government can’t even trust its own Commissioner of Police in matters of “national security”, to borrow a phrase from Mr Rattle Snake.
And in his reaction to Mr Michuki’s frustrations, Maj Gen Ali has paralysed the Kenya Police by dismantling operations structures to create a royalty cult. This has fueled a lot of discontent in his ranks and the senseless shootings that Kenyans have been watching in Mr Eric Kiraithe’s “Rambo Movies” in our TVs might be a direct reaction to the mounting frustrations in the force.
In his greed for power and in his quest to please the Government that doesn’t recognize him, Maj Gen Ali has seriously dented his reputation by committing serious crimes against humanity (read a story titled Charge Maj Gen Ali with Crimes Against Humanity in this blog. Scroll down to find the story). He thought he wound endear himself to the ruling elite by ordering his officers to use lethal bullets to silence ODM supporters and engage in gang-land style execution of youths under the guise of fighting crime.
Maj Gen Ali can’t dare raise a finger against this regime for he would find himself behind bars facing humiliating charges on serial murders. Maj Gen Ali has earned himself a dubious tag equal to his namesake and comrade in the military, Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, who was dubbed "Chemical Ali" by Iraqi Kurds for his attacks against them in the 1980s and 1990s in the Iraqi government's campaigns of deportations and mass killings against its Kurrdish and Shi’te populations.
“Chemical Ali" and his master, Saddam Hussein, were captured years later, tried and hanged in like dogs. I’m sure Maj Gen Ali thinks what happens in Iraq can’t happen in Kenya.
Maj Gen Ali should watch out. He and his masters might find themselves in the docket one day answering murder charges, just like Chemical Ali, if a serious and credible Government that respects human life and human rights ascends to power. The law is very clear – crimes never grow old. Old crimes can be revived and charges preferred against the culprits.
As the country seeks a lasting solution to the post-election crisis, the question is; how long will Chemical (Maj Gen) Ali survive in police headquarters? Time will tell.
And as Kenyans walk towards the path of national healing and reconciliation, the Kibaki regime needs to put its act together and bring sanity and a clear structure of command in our security agencies. This will be the surest way to ensure Kenya does not slid into anarchy like the lawless Somalia. -
The Evolution of Our Very Own JUDAS ISCARIOT (2007-08)
» You Missed This 
Raila Odinga asked: "I am sure even Jesus Christ and his disciples would not have sat in a committee chaired by Judas Iscariot."
Former Law Society of Kenya chairman Ahmednasir Abdulahi on Kalonzo Musyoka's candidacy: “It (presidential bid) is not driven by any belief or principle. It is the most naked attempt to catapult an average individual to the political elite of the presidential candidacy based on nothing other than the token numbers of his ethnic group."
Now read and listen to the man himself: Kenyan Vice President, brother-in-Christ, aka miracle, aka wiper, Hon. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka……
“In London, we will sit and compare notes because all of us have campaigned far and wide. We will identify our weak points and improve on them.” March 2007 before the abortive ODM-K London trip. Kalonzo did not travel to London.
"What has happened today demonstrates leadership. By shifting to this alliance, we have shown the resolve to strengthen ODM Kenya. Remember that at the formation of ODM, I said the future is Orange. I want to repeat today that the future is Orange. Those who have been going around saying that Kalonzo has plan 'A' or Plan 'B' have been proven wrong. As you can see, it is Orange and ODM Kenya." 15 July 2007, after ‘defecting’ from LDP to LPK within ODM-K.
"Our destiny was linked together following the 2002 road accident after the campaign in my constituency, and that is why I stood by you through the election despite pressure from your predecessor (former President Moi)". Hata kama utaendelea kwa kipindi kingine, nakuomba uhakikishe usawa. (If you are given another chance, I urge you to ensure equity prevails)." 17 July 2007, during a rally attended by President Kibaki in Mwingi District.
“This is the dawn of the miracle! President Kibaki and ODM candidate Raila Odinga should know that we are roaring to State House. We need inspirational leadership and not politics of hate.”15 October 2007 Daily Nation
“Kibaki is not a man of his words. He promised to serve only one term and requested that we should not put it down because he was a man of his word. Kibaki should hand over power to a younger generation and join Moi in retirement". At the launch of his manifesto last year (2007)
“I am the only presidential candidate who can fight corruption if elected. Presidential candidates who refuse to declare their wealth are saying that they are ashamed of what they own and know it is immoral. I therefore urge Kenyans to reject candidates who have not publicly declared their wealth as they could have obtained this wealth by corrupt means.” November 2007 while on the campaign trail in Makutano (North Rift).
“Kenyans will not accept a rigged poll. It can be terrible as the world is watching Kenyans to set an example." 3 December 2007, after attending church service.
"Fighting corruption must start from the top and the top is you. That is why I challenge Kibaki and Raila to declare their wealth and how they acquired it. If they are unable, they should not get any votes.” 24 December 2007 Nairobi
"The presidential votes tallying is not conclusive yet, nothing is done until the figures are finally done by the ECK, but I am not discouraged in any way and will respect the wishes of the people." 29 December 2007, on being asked if he was discouraged by initial presidential results showing him trailing a distant third behind Kibaki and Raila.
"My focus at the moment is to see the country remain united, with no further incidences of the anarchy threatening to tear our nation apart. It is meaningless for me to accept the (VP’s) slot when the country was in chaos. If I have to negotiate with President Kibaki over the position, I will make it open (sic). We must face the reality that the nation first needs healing and not pursuit of positions." 5 January 2008 in an interview with the Standard Newspaper.
“I am greatly honoured (sic) by the (VP’s) appointment and I thank the President on behalf of ODM-K. I am intensely aware that the appointment comes at a very difficult time when the country is going through very painful moments.” 9 January 2008, on being appointed as Kenya’s VP.
“I not surprised by the appointment, we have been consulting with PNU before the announcement was made.” 9 January 2008, responding to journalists who wanted to know if he was surprised by the appointment as Kenya’s VP -
The Possible Rebirth of Kenya
» You Missed This A call for a transitional government
Honesty in the face of despair is the rarest commodity in Kenya today. The reality is that our jealously guarded cultural and tribal biases have manifested into the most painful event in the history of our nation. Through excruciating personal experiences of loss, pictures of bludgeoned and bleeding children and the circulation of death infested video clips; we have become accustomed to visions of dead or dying Kenyans. The sound of rapid gunfire, the wailing of mothers and the screaming of toddlers no longer disturb our heavy sleep.
This is the Kenya of today….but for how long? Let us not seek solace in the Kenya of yesterday; for it was dogged by tribalism, corruption, ineptitude and suppressed feelings of hate, resentment and impending atrocities. As we live amidst this explosion of tribal hate, we realize that many of our neighbors, classmates, colleagues and friends were in deed living on borrowed time. The demon is us has been awoken.
It is the fire that burns Kenya today that must also provide the light that guides our future. Let no burnt churches or bullet riddled bodies reduce us to hopelessness.
It is clear that the current administration, one of questionable character, unclear mandate and doubtful legitimacy, cannot successfully pursue an inclusive agenda of justice, national healing and reconciliation. It is these overwhelming evidences of deficiencies that call for a transitional government. If Kibaki accepts, we could use the opportunity provided within the transitional period to heal and unite as Kenyans. This would be an opportunity to reconstitute the ECK providing it the capabilities to efficiently and fairly conduct a presidential election….thereby providing Kenyans a properly elected president.
If Kibaki refuses, then he must use his forces to suppress all manner of uprisings with an aim of ‘moving on’. Kenyans are now tired. Let him jail us all if that would mean that our children return to school and our wives find peace. Let him maintain a heavy police presence in every street corner, after all it will also deter carjackers and common pickpockets. Let him espouse his Moism traits and bring order by intimidation and detention; civil order if through fear is better than violence and destruction. Let us in fact tremble at the sight of the presidential motorcade. Kenyans, the ‘half’ that apparently didn’t vote for Kibaki must be hammered into submission. Wameze wembe na kazi iendele.
-Question: If the current real or imagined tribal hate has resulted in the bloody fracas of today, what will happen five years from now when, in addition to the current resentments, that of a stolen presidency is added? -
Chasing the Rat as the House Kenya Burns
» You Missed This 
Summoning of the UK's envoy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand a forced recognition of Kibaki's government is an apt case of reversed priorities. Wetangula may be doing his job by soothing the ego of whoever pays and butters his bread. But on the same breathe the good 'lawyer' must not be NAIVE to demand recognition of an ILLEGITIMATE government.
The British government was told of a Mr Kibaki whom they urged to dialogue with his competitor a Mr. Odinga and there lies the bare facts. Playing games with such weighty diplomatic matters is definitely a lose-lose situation. This is one war Wetangula is destined to lose even before he starts. In retrospection he is unwittingly providing a face for egg plastering.
One would be occasionally tempted sell ice cream to an Eskimo. Instead of addressing sideshows, how I wish the MP for Sirisia would put his brilliant legal acumen to good use by advising his boss Emilio to face the truth and save Kenya from the furnace he started on December 30, 2007. But agian you don't expect a goat to appreciate the melody from a guitar no matter expertise of the maestro strumming the strings.
As Kibaki and his cronies shamelessly and insensitively chase after rats escaping the burning house, more Kenyans continue to be butchered across the country courtesy of his belligerence. Speak of insensitivity at its zenith.
Make no mistake, human blood is never shed in vain and one day (no matter how long) it will be time to met justice and it will surely be served cold and unadulterated. -
The Unanimous Declaration of the SIX United Provinces of Kenya
» You Missed This The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN THE KENYA PARLIAMENT, MARCH 1ST, 2008.
The unanimous Declaration of the SIX united Provinces of Kenya
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
-That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
-Such has been the patient sufferance of these Provinces; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present President of Kenya is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Provinces. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Mount Kenya brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their leaders to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our existence here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.- He has refused his Assent Bomas Constitution, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
- He has forbidden his Members of Parliament to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
- He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
- He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the Province remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
- He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these Provinces; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Empowerment of people; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers, and by installing a Chief Justice who is his Kinsman.
- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
- He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
- He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these Provinces:
- For our votes through an impossed electral commission:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting our muslim brothers beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
- For abolishing the free System of Assembly in the world, establishing therein an Arbitrary police government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Provinces:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
15. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
16. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
17. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
18. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Kikuyu Savages (Mungiki), whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the Orange Republic Of Kenya, in General Parliament, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Provinces, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Provinces are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent Country; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Mount Kenya Mafia, and that all political connection between them and the Province of Eastern and Central (Banana Republic of Kenya), is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent Provinces, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent Countries may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Western
Rift Valley
Nyanza
Nairobi
Coast
North Eastern
www.ODM.gov
21.Nov.2008
-
Kenya Polls Crisis: What PNU And ODM Are Secretly Planning
» You Missed This Kenyans Should Prepare Themselves For A Nightmare Where Their Worst Fears Become Reality
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Quote of the day
It is important for the President to come out and meet Raila. Kenya is bleeding and people are suffering.
Why is Kibaki not ready to meet Raila? After all Raila campaigned for him in 2002 and I believe they can still sit down and talk. What is too difficult for the two to talk about?
In 2003, I warned the leaders, that their misunderstandings would lead to something bigger, but they did not listen. I was a lone ranger and now this is the result.
I am now urging the international community to put pressure on President Kibaki and his Government, without which innocent Kenyans will continue to suffer.
Wangari Maathai
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Since Mwai Kibaki and a few handlers fiddled with presidential election votes and stole the election plunging the country into chaos, many Kenyans have come out calling for peace.
Even the media has been convinced to censor itself in many instances (to avoid incitement) for the sake of peace. So far nothing has worked and peace in Kenya has continued to be elusive.
Few have really bothered to ask themselves why Kenya has stubbornly refused to return to the peace and tranquility we had all taken for granted, and the media has continued to play games. Let the world know today that when the police chase rioters into the slum area of Kibera and spray bullets into houses with rather “porous” walls, according to the Kenyan media, this is not news. Only the Standard newspaper under considerable pressure occasionally dares to include such occurrences in a major article somewhere in the newspaper.
Naturally everybody is eager that things should go back to normal as soon as possible. After all our children need to go to school and we need to earn a living and therefore anybody who does not promote peace is the enemy (like Kumekucha. Only that most people do not know that Kumekucha wants peace more badly than most, that is why I have been warning about tribal tensions in this blog for over 2 years now).
It is yet to dawn on the minds of most peace-seeking Kenyans that there is no way that peace will come unless we address the root cause of the problem. I challenge you to tell me how else peace can come. I hear somebody saying; by telling the Luos and Kelenjins to shut up. (That is the “ingenious suggestion” of some commentators in this blog).
It is also yet to dawn on most Kenyans that the biggest hindrance to the restoration of peace are not violent Luos or angry Kalenjins. It is not the mass action called for by Raila Odinga and his gang.
It is the gentleman whom most of you saw seated taking notes as he listened to a carefully selected delegation of private sector personalities (most of whom helped fund his campaign) the pother day in State House. That man calls himself the president of the republic of Kenya. If this was not such serious business, that is laughable. This is the same man whose wife slapped a civil servant in public in front of the poor man’s family. Rumours have persisted that the same woman (who obviously needs medical help) slapped Gitobu Imanyara...
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Who actually owns Equity Bank? -
Who Actually Owns Equity Bank?
» You Missed This By a Guest writer (Mark)
Besides the fact that Transcentury holds a direct stake in Equity bank, it also holds a stake through Britak which in turn has a large shareholding of Equity Bank.
Recently, Transcentury also bought the maximum stake allowable for one shareholder of a bank in Kenya (24.9%) though their holding in Helios EB Partners. Helios Partners is a foreign incorporated company that recently got new investors in the form of Transcentury and more than half the money invested by Transcentury ($300M = Ksh 19.5B) came in to increase the capital of Equity Bank (This amount was approx Ksh 11B). The Finance Minster decided to look the other side as this transaction happened right under his nose. He even gave this group the exception from any scrutiny of who the shareholders are for 9 years.
Essentially, we will never know who the investors are for 9 years in this bank. Why would the government official make an unprecedented decision to exclude them from a regulation to protect consumers in such a sensitive sector? The reason could be to be to hide the fact that the ‘foreign investment’ is actually local investors and the fact that the same local investors have violated the max. Shareholding rules for banks. Picture this…
• Maximum Shareholding allowable to a shareholder who is not an executive = 24.9%
• Equity bank holding through Britak = 10%
• Equity Bank holding as Transcentury directly = aprox 3+%
Clearly, Transcentury now holds more that 38% of Equity Bank!
Proof of this available on: http://www.transcentury.co.ke/transcentury/portfolio.asp
For the government officer involved… what was in it for him? For the government? Think of Equity bank chairman in London with PNU chaps openly campaigning for PNU and rubbishing ODM… do you start to get the answers?
Issue with Diversity at Equity Bank:
We have established that the majority shareholder is Transcentury, now other issue is almost all senior managers of the bank are from one community. Over 85% of the employees in the bank are from the same community. The converse is that more than 50% of the banks customers are drawn from all the ethnic communities of this country. How do you support a company that does not promote diversity? There are multitudes of Private companies that do not promote diversity, but the duty for a listed company is to represent all Kenyans in its workforce and Equity is not exempted. If they exempt themselves, then we tell their customers so they can choose if that’s acceptable.
Business Model:
Most people defending Equity bank never fail to mention that it has helped the poor and I support that, but this particular business model targeting the millions at the bottom of the pyramid is no longer unique to Equity Bank. We have leading financial institutions like Barclays, KCB following suit and doing it well with their deep pockets. KCB as a local bank and deserves our support, Barclays too because in as much as it’s about capitalism for its shareholders, they promote diversity internally in their recruiting.
IPO (initial Public offer)
Please note that Equity bank is the only listed company that got listed on the NSE without selling any new shares, so it wasn’t an initial public offer per se but a listing. The difference is it retains the exact shareholding when on the NSE as before with no dilution at all. These and only these shareholders were able to benefit with this listing, and later, the secondary buyers and sellers on the NSE. The best way to say this is they got credibility out of the listing without offering anything to the public.
Tell tale signs of the success of the Boycott:
• A day after word spread around on this, I had a chat with some staff members and one mentioned that they stopped 2 days ago paying cash against uncleared cheques even for a fee.
• Share starts the downward trend and will be a good sign that ODMs strategy is working.
• Few to no deposits in Equities branches in Western and Rift Valley. The first sign of a run on the bank and I am sure the CBK will come and rescue them by closing these branches due to the ethnic connections they have.
• Equity bank website www.equitybank.co.ke is now down. Reason? You and I can speculate that they have something to hide… I was looking for the IPO briefing document that listed the largest shareholders, but doubt you will find it again. I had to revert to an earlier download.
Eventually really, if they can balance the staff and hiring to represent the face of Kenya without bias, and I am sure they can find skilled talent from all ethnic communities, though they choose otherwise, then the boycott should be re-considered.
(Kumekucha: Please publish this as a contribution article to kumekucha instead of a s a comment. Hopefully this will provide a forum to justify the reasons why these institutions have been selected for the boycott and you can call on more articles on Brookside, Citti Hoppa etc
Another suggestion on the boycott campaign is to brand it a “Kenyan Company Diversity” campaign to show that this is not about one community but ensuring a better Kenya for all)
-Mark- -
Business Community Laughing at Our Funeral
» You Missed This The MYTH created by Kenyan media and business people in preaching peace has been exposed for what it truly is: SELFISHNESS. Seeing the so-called private sector and businessmen trooping to State House to preach peace betrays their thirst for profit in 'missed opportunities'.
And predictably Kibaki never disappointed the chaps. Emilio knows who oils his political wheels when he sets eyes on those who paid one million shillings for a plate of fish and chips or mokimo to finance the elections that he ended up STEALING anyway. Confined to the walls and lawns of State House after selective visits to the internally displaced, Emilio looked all academic in taking notes. In truth he may have been reconciling and prioritizing which accounts (election debts) to settle first.
The truism that image is everything particularly in the service industry has no exception. Contrast that fact with the sight of Equity bank chairman sojourning to London in a PNU delegation. The chap then gets embroiled in partisan escapades rubbishing ODM whose supporters sustain his bank.
So after roasting their geese, it defeats even basic tenets of imagination to see these economic mercenaries shamelessly start asking where the rain started drenching them wet. They dug the hole which they must enter. All we have are scoundrels in all shades who only speak of the 'wider good' in jest while the real motivation are grandiosely selfish.
Until and unless HONESTY reigns in Kenya, the business community will remain blinded by profit in their singular HELL FOR LEATHER pursuits. Their hollow proclamations of the wider good will remain a shell as Kenya continues to bleed profusely from all her orifices. These so-called industrialists are nothing but dogs of war in disguise. Pepo mbaya, washindwe. -
Hanging on a String and Barely Holding On
» You Missed This There are so many people who've gone through this patch in their lives. And they can associate with what is encapsulated in the poem below – a feeling of dejection, utter loneliness and guilt. If you know people who are going through such a rough patch, talk to them and try to show them love. I promise you, they need it 'badly' and urgently…
Hanging on a String
Thoughts,
Constrict my heart,
With every thought,
My heart pains.
Thoughts,
Of what I didn't do,
And should have,
Always stalk me.
Thoughts,
Of what I did,
And should not have,
Smile at me.
Thoughts,
Of a beloved friend,
Who passed away,
Grin at me.
Thoughts, come and go,
Of an intimate friend,
Who said enough's enough,
And took her leave.
These thoughts,
Take me down,
Deep down,
To a place of no return,
I'm left,
Gasping for breath,
Gasping for air,
That really isn't there.
These thoughts, like acid,
Eat at my heart,
They eat and eat and eat,
And leave horrid, gaping holes.
These holes wear out my heart,
And with every thought added,
I do say, verily,
My life is hanging on a string.
Contact Ritch At This Email Address. -
Feigned Courtship: A Lady's Woe
» You Missed This You bet I know what I am talking about here. I am miffed by the way some men treat ladies. You may throw all Beijing 'blue blistering barnacles' (remember Captain H*** in theTintin comic!) my way but I'll still hold my ground, look you in the face and tell you what I don't like!
Some men take advantage of the 'men-are-as-old-as-they-think; women-are-as-old-as-they-look' saying. They 'know' that looks to women are like shells to snails – they will go to great lengths to preserve their youth (at least for their 'prince charming'!).
You still don't get the drift of this piece. Let me explain.
I know of some men who have courted young, beautiful women. But after about two or so years they broke up with them for reasons best known to them. The while the courtship lasted, the ladies built so much hope in being married by the men that shared their lives.
The sad thing here is that the men were all the while not serious with 'their' ladies. They just lied through their teeth that the relationship would end up in walking down the aisle to consummate their 'fiery' love. But the converse of that was true all the while.
Put yourself in these ladies' shoes. Having put all their years and energies into the one thing that they thought would work, they are totally broken when the bombshell is exploded on their laps: "It's over between us; It just couldn't work; You were not the one for me; I made a wrong turn in the road of life; I think I now know where I am headed and you just don't fit in the bigger picture."
This is very 'brutal', to say the least. Why couldn't you just tell the truth as it were before the bud blossomed into a flower. Yes, you knew it all along that all you wanted were the stolen moments with the lass. You should have painted this aim in black and white before things became 'major' between you.
It would go something like this:
Man:I don't foresee us walking down the aisle. I just want you by my side to satiate my ego and sexual desires. What do you think?
Woman: Thank you for being upfront with me. Most men wouldn't do half as much. But no, I don't wish to be party to your whims!
Talk of being true and never coming to rue!
Men, if you don't wish to marry a lady with whom you have entered into courtship, then let the lady know.
It is painful for the ladies when you take them for a ride, waste their years and dump them at the junction of desperation. If no one has ever told you, then let me tell you: Time, to women, when viewed against the backdrop of marriage, is of utmost importance. Don't waste their time. Be straight with them and save them the searing pain.
Contact Ritch At This Email Address.
(undaunted_2006 at yahoo dot com) -
What Kind of a Person are You?
» You Missed This There many ways you can use to determine what are some of your major strengths and/or weaknesses. Hundreds of books and numerous sites use many ways different ways from questionnaire, to IQ tests, to handwriting, to how you dress, talk, the kind of things you like, etc etc. But the best and the most reliable is by how you fart. I can confidently tell you that the description of how you fart is one of your major character traits.
Here are the different types farts that we have ... where do you fit?
Shy farters- those who let out silent farts.
Clever farters- Those who fart and cough at the same time.
Miserable farters- Those who cannot fart.
Dissappointed farters- Those who's farts do not emit odor.
Dishonest farters- Those who fart and then blame the dog.
Mean farters- Those who fart in bed and shake covers over spouse.(this is not recommended)
Vain farters- Those who love the smell of their farts
Amiable farters- Those who love the smell of others farts.
Strategic farters- Those who fart and smile at the same time
Acute farters- Those whose fart smells and indicate their recent diet.
Confident farters- Those who let out really loud farts.
Scientific farters- Those who bottle their own farts.
Nervous farters- Those who stop in mid farts.
Honest farters- Those who confess their farts.
Foolish farters- Those who keep their farts inside.
Unfortunate farters- Those who start to fart but poop instead.
Insecure farters- Those who compare their fart quality to others.
Jealous farters- Those who claim the fart of others.
Prompt farters- Those who always have a fart ready.
The farters farter- Those rare farters whose farts clear moving vehicles.
So where do you belong? -
Does Kumekucha Hurt The Election Thieves Where It Counts?
» You Missed This 
Kumekucha Reader's comment of the Month;
Kenya nchi yetu said...
Chris, the only reason why people would want to sabotage this blog would be because they are feeling threatened or insecure. These are not people of lesser means. For them to go to the lengths that they are tells me that it is now hurting where it counts. I agree - State House may now be realizing what they have unleashed. I'm sure the incumbents just want people to go back to their lives - which they will. Food has to be put on the table. Children have to go back to school. But I don't believe that Kenyans who feel robbed are going to let it pass this time.
Kumekucha's reply;
The general feeling amongst those who handle Mwai Kibaki's image is that blogs like Kumekucha have contributed to their resounding defeat on the International stage. Hence the sensitivity about Kumekucha and the attacks (which now involve clogging up the comments system with gibberish).
While this is very flattering (I had no idea we can be that powerful) it is NOT TRUE. The Kibaki gang shot itself in the foot when they banned live media broadcasts. That single decision guranteed their defeat no matter what. Secondly the truth tends to come out in the end no matter how much "spinning" is done. The truth as the world knows now is that Mwai Kibaki rigged himself back to power. Period.
Congratulations the commentator using the apt name Kenya nchi yetu, your comment hits the nail on the head. (Or shall I say "hits the hissing snake that rattles on the head.") -
Behind The Scenes: What Really Happen In The Rift
» You Missed This
Here is what our special informant on the ground could accurately gather about what really happened during the post-election violence in Kisumu, Migori and North rift. A story of heartache, headache, collusion, conspiracy and death.
Basically in Eldoret and environs, including burnt forest. The so called Karamajong warriors are correctly identified. Since the karamajong and Pokot are actually the same tribe but to safe guard themselves from retaliation the Pokot called their Ugandan neighbours (brothers) to do the dirty work. They were being paid by a combination of people closely linked to top brass politicians.
Their reputation and ruthlessness is legendary (ask the Samburu) and as such in one incident only 7 warriors raided a town in Nandi and all the police barricaded themselves in the police station with rifles facing out and let the warriors torch houses and kill to their abandon.
They warriors were (are) under instruction to kill all Kikuyu and Kisii torch their business and take away or give away their belongings. The unwritten agreement is that No Kikuyu or Kisii will live or work in Uasin Gishu at all. Not one.
One lady I know personally who lives right in a high class surburb in Eldoret was visited by the warriors. Fortunately she and her family were away. Her guards (maasai) and fierce dogs managed to keep the raiders at bay. That's how serious the situation was. Had she been found at home they would have killed her. She lectures at a nearby university.
It is clear that word had got around in North rift that an ODM government was going to finally address the injustice the Kalenjin feel has been visited on them since Kenyatta's days when a lot of their ancestral land was allocated to Kikuyu's and Kisii's. During Moi's time they thought that Moi would address the issue but Moi looking for his own survival actually allocated more land to Kikuyu and Kalenjin elite.
ODM's majimbo stance (never mind that ODM had intended to effect a constitutional and staggered move to majimbo) was misinterpreted by grassroots as a Government move (ODM Government) to reverse this and find other land for non indigenous people to settle or have them return to their own ancestral land. As it became clear in the run up to the election that it would be to close to call word went round that if ODM failed (and elections were rigged, that's the only way they believed or had been convinced that ODM could fail) then they would take matters into their own hands. So those who claim that the killings in North rift were not spontaneous but orchestrated are right. It was planned from way before the elections.
A respected Nandi elder had this experience. He went to Kisumu on 29 December morning from Nandi to buy spares for his tractor. He says he did not expect things to get out of hand. This is what he witnessed. On arrival at the Kisumu/Kakamega junction he met the first roadblock manned by youth demanding 200 bob from each car. Of course one had to act like a total ODM supporter to get through besides the money.
Firstly. The rape (looting) of Kisumu town began on Saturday morning from 9pm. Way before results were in contention. Other sources say that tensions due to suspicion of rigging caused by the delay in the announcement of the results triggered this early violence.
The interesting thing is that this was going on for whole day until 5pm when the government finally realized the severity of the situation and flew in GSU troops to restore order. People just waited for shops to open then all hell broke loose.
Folks went straight for supermarkets and petrol stations, liquor stores, electronics and shoe shops. There was major collusion from the police force. Once shops were open and being looted, police at times mingled with the looters and carried goods to their own landrovers. In other incidents the police would arrest people carrying looted goods and load them into landrovers. Then as they drive they would ask, 'unataka kuenda stationi' of course people would decline and they would stop the vehicle and order them out. Of course the goods would remain with the police.
Kisumu is devastated far more seriously than even the media have shown. A week ago prices of foodstuffs had shot up to double and even triple their old prices. There is a shortage of water and food and some face the real possibility of starvation as Kisumu is a net importer of foodstuffs from Kakamega and North rift which have been interrupted by the fighting.
Recently Kisumu businessmen have been seen in Eldoret buying maize and other wholesale foodstuffs to take back to Kisumu.
The man who had gone to purchase the tractor spares then tried to leave Kisumu but the police told him it was too dangerous to travel. This man moved on to Bureti. He was stopped at Awasi. Again youth extorted money from him. He noted that just outside Kisumu the two petrol stations adjacent to the Nakumatt mega were burnt and looted. One belonged to a Kikuyu and the other to a Kisii.
In Bureti he heard rumours that a contingent of AP's were on the way to Migori with stuffed ballot boxes. This is what raised the hackes of Migori residents and they waited in ambush. This rumour is what led to the killing of the AP's. Meanwhile KASS radio were asking people to go to the aid of their brothers who were being killed in Migori (the AP's were stationed in Bureti and most were Kalenjin).
With hindsite the man says that the rumour was started by KTN when Njoroge Mwaura said in a news broadcast that buses had been seen driving from Nairobi with AP's and ballot boxes (City Hoppa and KBS). Later KTN called government spokesman who clarified that due to a shortage of transport the buses had been hired to take AP's to different parts of the country to enhance security operations. Well the damage was done. One AP in Migori even pleaded with crowd saying that if they could find a single ballot paper he would resign there and then.
The man traveled back to Nandi. From Kisumu to Chemelil there were a number of roadblocks but he noticed now that it was the enterprising Kenyans making a living. Especially towards Nandi, those who live along the roadside were getting a few youths and setting up their own road blocks basically family affairs (trust Kenyans) then extorting money from motorists. The mzee of the house would sit a distance away and watching his sons and nephews work.
Meanwhile other "enterprising" Nandis took advantage to set Moi's Nandi tea farm on fire. They just spread a rumour that Moi was actually there and the crowds did the rest. They then moved in to pick up the spoilts and loot the place. Same thing happened to former president Moi's Kipkabus farm
Back in Eldoret it was the Luos who were doing the looting after hearing what was going on in Kisumu. Eldoret has a huge resident Luo community. The Kalenjin themselves are not so interested in household goods. They were busier in the outlying areas burning and looting Kikuyu and Kisii owned properties. Their pride was any livestock they could find. In Uasin Gishu there was feasting for days as they said they should kill and eat as much of the livestock as possible so there would be no evidence.
Meanwhile in upper North Rift the Samburu were having it rough. They supported ODM while the Pokot (who now have 2 ministers) were PNU. The Pokot have started their raids again. Their youth have also found a new trick. Believe it or not. My man witnessed it, they have discovered a way of changing permanently the colour of a stolen cow.
They dig a pit and fill it with still-warm ash. The cows are forced into the pit and kept there for a whole day only being fed water. When released, voila, the colour has changed and even if washed it remains a grey shade. So those who come to check for stolen cattle will see a familiar head but different colour. -
Of Kenya's Political and Religious Scoundrels
» You Missed This Kenya's enterprising religious industry saw any opportunity they never cashed in. While the country is bleeding to the last drop, religious zealots are at their best foaming at the mouth in selling CHEAP dogmatic theories with eyes singularly and selfishly trained at exploiting the present hopelessness and insecurities.
Here at Kumekucha, one such peddler, a pastor Douglas Muchiri, posted some concoctions of justification of the present political predicament qualifying it as God's punishment to Kenya. The good (actually fake) man of the collar shamelessly spinned the facade that God in his infinite wisdom saved Kenya Armageddon by using Kivuitu to declare Kibaki the present following the flawed elections.
The REAL God must be very mad as us for invoking his name in vein. No wonder our streets are painted red in our own blood. Reminds one of the miracle campaign to House that ended up being nothing but political con games.
Kenyans must lean to take responsibility of their own political actions and stop seeking cheap and hollow divine refugee after setting their own country ablaze. God for one abhors SLEAZE and you cannot expect HIM to take kindly to our tasteless religious cries.
Seeing Machakos DC Mr John Litunda abdicating his administrative responsibilities and instead admonishing Kenyans for having disregarded Rev Owuor's pre-election warning to repentance as the root cause of the present bloodbath is to extrapolate high school CU sermons into hell. We thought the era of PC Raburu preaching every morning to his juniors in Nyeri were long gone. How things remain the same the more they appear to change?
Kenya's present problem has a known cause which is ELECTION THEFT. No lasting solution will ever be reached if we choose to delude ourselves with cosmetic ventures while skirting the naked truth. Even religious repentance first demands acknowledging your sins.
Justice must and can only be served in black and white. No amount of colouring can wash any of its derivatives. Our God must be really mad us for killing His people and dishonestly turning to him for mercy. Speak of unwittingly inviting a curse unto yourself? -
How Long Can Mwai Kibaki Survive?
» You Missed This Breaking News: ODM has announced that mass action will continue next week after all. This will be coupled with economic boycotts.
The angry reaction from a section of suspect readers of this blog illustrates the current mood in State House perfectly.
Why do I call the readers of a blog suspect? For the simple reason that their behaviour is bizarre to say the least. Their comments clearly suggest that they abhor and strongly disagree with the content in this blog. Ordinarily when you do not like something that you see on the web, you move on. Time is precious. And yet this group of readers have stayed on, saying everything they know how to discredit every story published here. They have refused to leave. Make your own conclusions as to who they really are and what their real objective is.
When I re-introduced comment moderation yesterday, this group was extremely angry. Threats poured in as I moderated and I deleted most of them. It was easy to sense the frustration at the fact that things did not go their way. The carefully and well thought out damage they had planned for the most popular Kenyan blog had been thwarted.
The mood is the same inside Mwai Kibaki’s State house as handlers scramble to find a way to keep the Kibaki administration going for another couple of months. Their plan to enforce the daylight vote theft has met with much stronger resistance than they had imagined. Despite the largest deployment of security forces countrywide in the history of the country, the situation is much worse than it was on 30th December, the ill-fated day when a few individuals inside State House decided to bite the bullet and...
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