GOOD LOOKS WILL NOT FEED EMBAKASI’S HUNGRRY

Looks don’t make one a good leader Publication Date: 6/14/2008

The other day, I was both amused and distressed to watch ODM campaigning for Ms Esther Passaris for the  Embakasi by-election. The highlight seemed to be her good looks. Her campaigners kept referring to her as supu (beautiful). But while good looks are pleasing to the eye, the issues facing Embakasi will require much more than just looks. Certainly, the residents will not be fed, housed or given medical attention by good looks, nor will their children be educated this way. I do hope that the woman has more going for her than her face, but the campaign failed to bring this to the fore. Our leaders should address more serious issues and stop being so frivolous when it comes to the representation of suffering Kenyans. AKETCH  JEREMIAH, Busia.   Write to the author

Ethnic bigotry can only destroy us

Ethnic bigotry can only destroy us Publication Date: 5/5/2008

Ethnic chauvinism is mental decomposition, which retrogressively sets an individual at loggerheads with a member of another ethnic background. It’s a monster that threatens to scatter our beloved country into irreversible tribal segments, with disastrous and unfathomable economic and social consequences. To harbour such mentality is not only retrogressive, but the highest level of mental bankruptcy, to say the least. This mentality reduces our thinking to the era of Stone Age. We must, therefore, jealously  discard this social decadence for the benefit of the grand national cohesion, reconciliation and healing to be realised. This is especially so after our country has virtually segmented itself along ethnic affiliations and cocoons caused by the latest disputed polls.  Let us all embrace the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood for the sake of human development during our generation and those to come. PETER MURATHE, Ukunda, Mombasa   Write to the author

Let’s reject ethnic chauvinism and build one, united Kenya

LETTERS

Let’s reject ethnic chauvinism and build one, united Kenya Publication Date: 3/9/2008

We have been beaten hands down by our own ethnic narrow-mindedness.Each one of us is defined by birth to be a member of a certain ethnic group. Unfortunately, however, our thinking is ever tethered to our ancestral soil which has, in effect, soiled our reasoning. Our thinking is adulterated, soiled and so are our actions. It was embarrassing to see wives being sent back to their ancestral homes after colourful church weddings just because they did not come from their husbands’ ethnic background. Nobody has the power to alter his or her identity or ethnicity and so we must accept one another as Kenyans and not as members of given ethnic groups. We are Kenyan nationals and not Maasai, Luo, Embu or Kamba nationals. The ethnic chauvinism and tension witnessed in the past two months is retrogressive, destructive, demagogic and far removed from nationhood.   We go to church together, to school together but our ethnic sectarianism helps us easily unlearn all the academic and spiritual teaching, leaving us nothing more than educated warlords. In my opinion, it is misleading to substitute regionalism with ethnic nepotism. Though I recognise tribalism as a positive force for self-affirmation, self-identity and cultural celebration, we should all strive to go beyond our ethnic identities given that we are autonomous individuals not bound by ethnic boundaries. It is time each of us tried to be defined in terms of brain power, talent and character. All activities meted out against humanity ranging from rape, sodomy, forced circumcision, castration, beheading, lynching, amputation, to eye gouging, etc, were based on simplistic fuzzy assumptions about our ethnic backgrounds. No tribe is an island; we all need one another regardless of our places of origin. Let us not pretend to allow the law to rule our physical bodies, when our hearts and minds are ruled by culture. President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga joined hands in the much awaited peace truce over a week ago. The lesson we learn from this is that  each one of us has an inherent capacity to engender and effect peace and harmony. Let us all strive to build one united Kenya. George E. Aberi, Methodist University, Meru.   Write to the author

Kenya, killings were not just about election rigging but land

How State land policy shaped conflict Story by KIPCHUMBA SOME Publication Date: 2/9/2008

Relentless violence in the Rift Valley seems to have been sparked by more than last year’s disputed presidential election, according to interviews by a cross section of local people. Judging by the form the violence has assumed in recent days, it appears evident that the poll outcome explosion was just but a cover for animosity by communities in the region against one another. Interviews by the Saturday Nation revealed that the increased population in the region had put pressure on available land, forcing some of the indigenous people to seek ways of recovering land that was “irregularly” allocated to non-indigenous communities. “Yes, we were unhappy about the election outcome,” says Mr Paul Yego, a resident of Uasin Gishu. “But more importantly, the presidential election result presented us with a good chance to ‘right’ some of the historical wrongs committed against us as a community.”  Topping the list of these “injustices” is the emotive issue of land ownership in the cosmopolitan Uasin Gishu District.  Ten years ago, the Justice Akilano Akiwumi-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Tribal Clashes during the 1992 and 1997 general elections said that land disputes fuelled the violence in Rift Valley.  And like this year, Uasin Gishu District was hit hard during those clashes. Other areas included Molo and Nakuru’s sorrounding areas. In Uasin Gishu, the area that experienced the worst violence in the latest ethnic attacks, the land issue spans the two major phases of Kenya’s history: the colonial and the post-colonial eras of Presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi. Upon arriving in the country, the British sent Africans into reserves to find huge tracts of land, which they transformed into estates and plantations for cash crops like tea and coffee as well as food crops such as maize and wheat. Due to their suitability, Central province and parts of Rift Valley province such as Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Trans Mara, Trans Nzoia, Kericho and Nandi were greatly affected by this uprooting.  Consequently, what used to be the open grazing and farming lands of the Kalenjin and Kikuyu were transformed into coffee, tea, wheat and maize plantations.  “Instead of restoring our lands that we lost to the white settlers, a few individuals benefited, relegating the majority of us to squatters even with the attainment of independence,” says Peter Kaburu, a settler in Uasin Gishu.  To deal with the new problem, the government resettled the new squatters in trust lands in far off places such as Rift Valley and the Coast province.  “We were unhappy when the government plucked us from our ancestral homes,” says Mzee Simon Kamenya, whose family settled in Uasin Gishu in 1967. “But who were we to challenge Kenyatta’s government? And since we had no lands of our own, we had little choice but to do as the government said,” he adds.  A number of people from Central province were given the opportunity to buy land in the Rift Valley through land-buying companies.  Because of this, the Kikuyu in particular, found themselves owning land in the heart of Kalenjinland which they renamed after the villages and towns they had come from. That is how villages such as Rironi, Kiambaa, Munyaka, ya Mumbi, Kimumu, Gatonye and many others came to be in Uasin Gishu. This did not go down well with some of the indigenous people as they perceived this as an act of dispossession.  “Independence did not do justice to us,” says Alfred Kiptum. “Instead of giving us back our lands, the government went ahead and handed them over to foreigners,” he says.  When Moi became president in 1978, the community had hoped that he would reverse what they perceived to be an injustice perpetrated against them by the Kenyatta regime. “Disappointingly, President Moi did nothing. Instead he went ahead to carry on from where his predecessor left,” says Mr Kiptum.  On taking office, President Moi had made it clear that he was going to follow in the footsteps of the Founding Father. “With this edict, President Moi not only protected the migrant community, he went ahead to dish out the lands for which our fathers had fought and died to his friends in government,” says Mr Jonah Kimaiyo.  The community alleges that Mr Moi sidelined the villagers to whom the land originally belonged. The community often cites the disposal of the East Africa Tanning and Extract Company (Eatec) land in 2001 as an example of the injustices that continue to be perpetrated against them. “The rich people of this country benefited from the Eatec land. We got nothing,” says Mr Kimaiyo.  The community says that the 80,000-hectare Eatec land should have been given back to them since it was their ancestral land. “And if it were to be sold, this should have been at reduced prices and we should have been given priority,” said Thomas Koross, a resident of Turbo. However, the company and the government rejected both proposals. They stipulated that the land would be sold to any willing buyer and the price of an acre was set at Sh50,000.  The local community saw this as a calculated move to sideline them since most of them could not afford the price.  “Where were we going to get that kind of money considering that period was a difficult one for the community economically?” asks Mr Koross.  Mere spectators “We became mere spectators as our land was partitioned to people from other areas,” says Mr Koross. During the collapse of major industries in the area, including the once vibrant Kenya Cooperative Creameries, the economic fortunes of the local people went down drastically. Price of maize and wheat slumped in the wake of an influx of cheap imports.  Thus the majority resorted to selling parcels of their land from time to time to meet the cost of basic needs. And since most people in the community were impoverished and could not afford to buy this land, it was simply sold to anyone who could buy irrespective of their origins. It was also in this way that other communities including those from Central and Kisii came to own parcels of land in Uasin Gishu.  Whereas it can rightly be argued that these deals were legal since they were done on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis, a majority of the indigenous people argue that they were forced by external forces to do so.  “We sold our lands to educate our children in the hope that they would get good jobs and buy back these lands. But look at them; most of them are vagabonds, living far worse than we did. There is little to show for the lands we sold,” says Mzee Richard arap Mosbey.

KENYA, Western democracy has failed in Kenya

Western democracy has failed in Kenya

Published on February 9, 2008, 12:00 am

Models of government based on Western politics have failed. They have not delivered tangible stability and economic growth in developing countries.

These political party models are adversarial, antagonistic and ideological.

The underlying belief is that people fall into a political spectrum running from Left wing radicals, through to Right wing reactionaries. In between, you have the mainstream of political thought in liberals and conservatives.

This spectrum is adversarial because Left wingers are ideologically opposed to Right wingers.

In Western democracies, this model works because of two important factors.

The first is that the populations of these countries are more homogenous than African countries

Second, due to more equitable distribution of resources, the differences between political factions remain ideological rather than life threatening. The differences are about what people see as a vision for the country’s future and not about its very survival.

In Africa, the fundamentals are different. Due to inequitable distribution of resources or lack of them, there is adversarial party politics, along ethnic lines. Tribes are pitted against each other in a zero sum game where the winners are perceived to have gained all the political and economic prizes. Others feel excluded, which becomes a life and death issue.

This is what triggered the post-election chaos.

The bloodletting and destruction of property is an economic-ethnic conflict.

Charles Kang’ethe,

Via email.

 

KENYA, KISUMU GETS ITS SHARE OF EVICTEES

Crisis as IDPs arrive in Kisumu

Published on February 5, 2008, 12:00 am

By Harold Ayodo and George Olwenya

Kisumu is facing a fresh humanitarian crisis after hundreds of displaced people arrived at the lakeside town shortly after midnight.

The 800 passengers, who were transported by a fleet of buses, were yesterday hosted at the St Stephen’s Cathedral Church compound in Milimani estate.

The victims said a similar number of people were on their way to the town.

Many were due to travel to far-flung districts in Nyanza while the rest were headed to Western and Rift Valley provinces.

“We left them boarding buses in Naivasha and hope that they will arrive safely because the roads are not safe. They are barricaded with boulders and bonfires,” a victim, Ms Rose Atieno, said.

Hungry babies wailed as their mothers requested well-wishers to bring them milk.

Bishop Mwayi Abiero of the Anglican Church and the Migosi Ward councillor, Mr Paul Achayo, who received them, said sanitation was a problem.

“We only have two toilets in the church compound.Catering for this large number of people is going to be a problem,” Abiero said.

Mwayi urged the country to be optimistic about the mediation talks.

The Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company ferried tankers of water to assist the victims, who said they had not bathed for days.

Life for Children Ministry is among the non governmental organisations assisting the displaced. The coordinator, Mr Peter Raila, said they were giving food, blankets and clothing to the victims.

Three-piece voting not the way to go

LETTERS

Three-piece voting not the way to go Publication Date: 12/10/2007

The appeal by Mr Maina Kiai, the chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, against the three-piece voting system, was timely. Time has come for the electorate to realise that the problems that dog this country are as a result of the failure in leadership. The capacity to challenge and set a personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership, are badly lacking. With the Ninth Parliament, our politicians manifested vicious, incompetent and corrupt tendencies. With the General Election on December 27, time has come for us to take a hard and sentimental look at the crucial question of leadership and power.  We need to bear in our mind that we shall never experience real progress without proper leadership.  We get the leadership that we deserve and with our vote, power is in our hands to shape our destiny. Let us elect leaders who have passed the test of leadership. MUKUHA MUCHERE, Runyenjes, Embu.

That was yesterday

1. mogi Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 6:32 pm e

   Leo If you listened to kissfm you hear raila say it Jua Kali is breeding poverty .And no criminals will be charged with theft so what change is raila talking about .

2. If Anglo leasing people ,Goldenberg people will remain free then how different is that from Kenya today .What makes an odm government even worse is the fact that now raila has declared war on small scale businessmen and women, first it was the stock exchange investors, now it is the jua kali man and woman . What more evidence do people want. Straight from the horses mouth .

   Raila and Odm are promising heaven and earth but the realities for Kenyans who fall for them will be disastrous .the other day I heard a joke that has been circulating on the web about an odm supporter who died .

3. When he died he arrived at the gates of heaven ,Saint peter looked for his name and couldn’t find it . so he said we seem to have a glitch your name isn’t here , you should have gone to hell but you ended up here .
4. so this is what we will do you will spend 24 hours in hell and 24 hours in heaven ,then you can decide where you want to go .The odm supporter objected but saint peter told him we have rules here .we have to do what I told you . So saint peter took the odm supporter to hell.
5. When they arrived the place wasn’t like the odm supporter thought it would be .The place looked beautiful, there was free food, free rent songs and dance even raila was there, drinks to go all around and even a clubhouse.
6. Leaders in hell were funny and the entertained the crowds that were in hell .People danced made merry all night ,Everyone was happy.
7. 24 hours went by so fast that when saint peter came the odm supporter didn’t want to go .

   Rules are rules my man lets go -you have to go to heaven before you make a choice. On arrival in heaven things were ok ,people were happy though it wasn’t as exciting as hell. the mood was good but things seemed kind of slow compared to hell. The odm supporter though settled and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and 24 hours passed. Saint peter came and asked the odm supporter ok you have seen both sides tell me which one do you want to go to.

   The odm supporter said I would have never thought of saying this but I choose to go to hell!

   OK saint peter said lets go so he pushed the elevator button and the went to hell .upon arrival the odm supporter was shocked.

8. Hell was looking grim the people were in rags and they were hungry, the place smelled and garbage was strewn all over ,there were flying toilets and rapes ,violence and all sorts of things . Saint peter quickly shut the door and left the odm supporter.
9. The odm supporter started complaining I was here yesterday everything was fine the people were happy the place was clean there was free rent, food and drink this is not the same. At this point RAILA put his hands around the odm supporter and said:

   THAT WAS YESTERDAY WE WERE CAMPAIGNING .THIS IS TODAY YOU VOTED !

   Think before you vote ODM!

TWO WARRING TRIBES

There are only two tribes in Kenya Publication Date: 9/01/2007

A recent letter in your newspaper “I accuse Kenya” dug deep to show how the heroes of the first and the second liberation have vanished without vindication.  The analysis concluded that the ‘‘villains of yester year are the heroes of today and the heroes of yester year are either forgotten, vilified or just sidelined’’ by those in power.  But worst of all the masses whose loved ones lost lives, were maimed or simply left without a livelihood. The latter are just stepping stones to bring in any regime to power. We have always been told that there are 42 tribes in Kenya but it is slowly dawning on me that there could only be two tribes in Kenya. The haves, always getting and willing to do anything to get; and the have-nots, always losing and always hanged on promises in a year like this.  DAVID KIMANI,  Thika.