Cathy Majtenyi | Nairobi  January 23, 201

Photo: AP

Suspects: Top from left, Mohammed Hussein Ali, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, William Samoei Ruto; Henry Kiprono Kosgey, Joshua Arap Sang, Francis Kirimi Muthaura (undated file image).

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COULD IT BE AL SHABAB?

Latest news say one dead

A grenade attack on a bar in the centre of Nairobi early this morning (Monday 24 Oct) wounded 12 people, Kenyan police said, an incident that comes as Nairobi battles al Qaeda-linked militants in neighbouring Somalia.

Capital news radio quoted a witness who said a man had asked to be let in to the bar shortly after 3 a.m. (Midnight-Irish Time), when he hurled a grenade and fled the scene.

“It was a grenade attack. There are no deaths,” central Nairobi police chief Eric Mugambi told Reuters, adding that of the 12, two had serious wounds in the leg and the face.

The blast came two days after the U.S. embassy in Kenya warned of an ‘imminent threat’ of a terrorist attack in Nairobi after the east African country launched a military campaign against Islamist al Shabaab rebels in southern Somalia.

Nairobi blames the militants for a wave of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil that have threatened the country’s multi-million dollar tourism industry.

Al Shabaab had threatened major reprisals if Kenyan troops did not withdraw and the militants have launched large-scale suicide bombings in the past.

No one has claimed responsibility for the incident.

On behalf of myself and our Chama Cha Mwananchi members, we send  our condolences to the family of the departed Nobel Prize winner Prof WANGARI MATHAI. The death of the Kenyan  prof has robbed the world a master of patience and determination to make not only Kenya but the world a better green earth and a good home for all of us.. Wherever  you are Prof  we shall always be proud of your love for life on this planet. CCM will carry on doing the good work you taught us to commit to.

May you rest in peace WANGARI MATHAI.

Dick Kamau

Secretary General, CCM

Kenyans when shall you grow up?  It’s fascinating to observe, as your mind expands and the cell door creaks open, how the issues and concerns that occupy our minds, screw us up, and give us a bad sense of self, simply don’t matter.

 We are just conditioned to think they matter and so we expend our energies and wind up our emotions worrying about things that others program us to believe are important. Who is our man in state house? who is the PM? Who is our MP? Who owns this or that? Who sleeps with who? Are we too fat? Are we too thin? Are we too tall? Are we too small? Are our breasts big enough? Are our willies big enough? Are we losing the hair on our heads? Do we have too much hair on our bodies? Are we wearing the latest uniform (sorry fashion) that someone we have never met has decided is “in”?

We are deluged by advertisers and the television “programmers” funded by advertisers which tell us how we should be, look, and feel. You’ve got a wrinkle on your face? Oh, my dear, your life is over. It’s the end of the road. Unless, that is, you buy this super-duper face oil named after somewhere that sounds exotic. It will save your life. Hey, look at this curvy, sun—tanned, blonde we paid vast sums to show her burn on a beach. Buy our oil and that could be you. (Author leaves word processor in order to vomit.) Our good traditions are dead and buried. Kenyans want to be actors in other people’s scripts.

The West knows best and has the most honest leaders, we say.

So, a Western representative Koffi Annan is sent to mediate to end a problem intentionally created by our own Hollywood-like politicians.

 Almost all Kenyans are as confused and looking for a way out, wherever they are in the so-called developed Diasporas. To me the West and US, as is Hollywood is the home of self and mass delusion; in Hollywood there are more facelifts and hair transplants per square mile than probably anywhere else on the planet. It is no wonder. The Hollywood mentality is the ultimate illusion and it is obsessed with the physical senses. Its industry, its very reason for being, is based on illusion, with false backdrops, false sunlight, and plastic.

 As did Kibaki and Raila during the coalition talks putting on artificial emotions, both are together today just as two actors who can’t stand each other come together for a warm caress. My darling, I love you (cut!)… you asshole. To me, Hollywood is a wonder to observe it symbolizes magnificently the illusions that keep our minds enslaved. It sells to the mass psyche its version of history and of what is beautiful, successful, and important. This invariably relates to archetypal images of butch men with firm faces and plenty of hair (real or otherwise) and ideally shaped women straight out of wardrobe and make up.

Some actors know all this isn’t real, but many forget to leave the illusions on the set. They live them and take on that celluloid world as their reality It is a world of fear, insincerity and insecurity: you were brilliant darling, what was I like? Oh Dorothy darling, I’m so glad you won the Oscar (lucky bitch). Their sense of self comes not from what they are, but from how they are perceived by those who control the illusion machine and by an audience conditioned by the illusion machine.

 Kenyans you have lost it not only by practicing tribal politics and looting our economy. You are out there making yourselves look more like western robots in all of your looks and likes.

 A few questions for those who buy this idea that there is somehow an ideal shape, height, weight, hairstyle, age or willy size. Who says? Who decided that? Did you decide that because it was your original thought or because that is what you have been conditioned to believe? The latter, almost certainly. What’s more if your friends and family have been conditioned to believe the same (and most of them have) you feel an even greater pressure to aspire to that manufactured image of physical perfection. I saw a documentary about Hollywood men in which this guy’s sex life had been destroyed by an operation that went wrong… an operation to fill his willy with fat from another part of his body to make it look bigger.

 Uhhhhhh! I know, I know, my eyes are watering too. My God, what’s happened to us? What happened to our infinity of understanding, Oneness and self love? I think it bought a movie ticket.

 Is it just me? I mean what does it matter if someone has a larger or smaller body than the “ideal”. Does it make them a bad person? No. Does it make them less intelligent? No. Does it make them less able to give and receive love? No. So what does it make them, then, what’s the big deal? It makes them different to the conditioned version of “normality”, that’s all. And what is this “norm”? Is it normal to be a suntanned blonde with a polished smile showing her bum to a camera?

 I’ve just come back from town and I didn’t see one of them anywhere. I would have noticed, I’m sure. All I saw were people of different shapes, colors and sizes adding to the variety of life and experience. Not a bare bum or sun tan in sight.

 Not only women are lost out there. Most men in Kenya don’t want to be seen as if they have lost hair and instead shave their heads clean to hide this reality. What’s this terror that Kenyan men have of losing their hair? Oh my life’s over, women won’t be attracted to me… save my hair, take it from my armpits, anywhere.  Let’s just go through this again: when you lose your hair does it make you a bad person? No. Does it make you less intelligent? No. Does it make you less able to give and receive love? No. What’s more, it doesn’t even make you different. Look around you, most men lose their hair. And get this: what would be our reaction if we lived on a planet in which the physical body had no hair on its head and suddenly it started to grow? Oh my life’s over, women won’t be attracted to me… remove my hair; stick it under my armpits, anywhere, Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Exactly. It’s just conditioning, that’s all it is.

 The irony of all this, and the knowledge that will end the manipulation of Kenyan’s emotions by the Western multibillion-dollar-hate-your-body industry, is that there is no need for all these potions and creams and willy surgeons. Our bodies are a reflection of our sense of self. They are a physical expression of our mind and emotions. You can see in the faces of people if they have been through extreme emotional pain. It is written in their features.

 If we feel good about ourselves we will transmit the same energy to our bodies, if we feel unloved and unwanted, our bodies will manifest that, also. The same goes for aging. We don’t have to age as we do. We expect to age because that is our reality and so we age. Incidentally, returning to that Hollywood theme, those actors who fear losing their looks or their hair are far more likely to lose them. We attract to us what we most fear because overcoming fear is essential to our evolution. Relax. Whatever you are is OK. It’s your role in the movie at this moment. You are what you are and you can change what you are by changing what you think you are. That, too, applies to our bodies. It is just a temporary body – you are eternal mind and spirit. But if we get caught into the trap of accepting the manipulators version of what 15 normal and “sexy”, we will have a lifetime of diminished self worth if we don’t have a body that conforms to that.

 Today as was yesterday thousands of Kenyans are lining up in US and Western Embassies and missions applying for visas to escape to those parts of the world they imagine happiness awaits they entry.  What they later find out is usually a shocker – the great myth that happiness can be pursued.

 Kenyans have long since joined the already duped world population out there duped into pursuing happiness with a bigger fridge, or the latest car, or a bigger house. “If I just had this or that,” they say “I’d be happy.” But when they get it, they’re still not happy. Most people go through their entire lives without being truly happy. Of course there may be moments when they feel blissful, but those moments are so fleeting. Their “happiness” is normally measured by levels of unhappiness. The harder you try to find happiness, the more elusive it becomes. The reason is simple: if you are in a constant state of pursuing happiness you can never be happy. You’re “now” experience is always the pursuing of happiness, never happiness itself. Your happiness is always in the future and not in your now. Its like sitting on one of those horses on the fairground rides. It doesn’t matter how fast the carousel is turning, you never get any closer to the horse in front.

John Lennon once wrote that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. In the same way, happiness is constantly passing us by because we are spending all our time pursuing it instead of “being” it. The only way to be happy is to be happy. That is a state of mind within your control whatever you are doing. It doesn’t require a new Ferrari or an extension to your dangly bits. Happiness is not a pursuing, it is a being. The harder you chase it, the further you push it away. It can be likened to chasing a butterfly. The more desperately you charge at it, the more it will elude you. But if you stop trying so hard, lie down on the grass and relax, there is a chance it will just come and land on your shoulder.

A similar example is the swimmer trying to reach a ball in the water. The harder and more desperately he swims, the more he disturbs the water and the ball gets further and further away. If however, he is patient and relaxes, he will reach the ball using a lot less effort and emotion. We are called human beings and yet we have become human “doings”.

 Why kill fellow Kenyans because of a piece of land? Why cause insecurity just because we want the president to come from our sickheaded tribes?  Our  heads must be sick and our souls gone to town.

The Kikuyu People A Historical Overview

The Kikuyu come from Bantu-speaking people who migrated from Lake Chad (Nigeria, Cameroon area) to Southern Africa before migrating upward to North and East Africa. They entered the Nyeri area where the Kikuyu villages are around 1000 A.D. Because of previously acquired iron working skills they tamed the area quickly, settling along the ridges. Each ridge formed a community or sub-clan. There were ten clans that had all, at one point, been named after women an indication that the Kikuyu culture has not always been patriarchal. The ridge pattern of settlement played a large role in the formation of their culture, specifically their religion. Because the land was so fertile the people prospered greatly. The result: believing God was smiling at them from the largest mountain in Kenya, MT. Kenya.

The mountain, visible from the ridges, has a white patch which the Kikuyu people once believed to be a sign God was watching them. The mountain and country got its name because, when speaking to colonists, the Kikuyu pronounced Kiri Nyaga (white patch in Kikuyu) as Kiinyaa (the people did not pronounce r’s clearly). The result: the colonists thought it was Kenya. Thanks to the fertile soil of the ridges, the Kikuyu people had very good fortune.

They thus came to developing their culture around their religion. The Moral Economy Concept also quickly formed a belief that those who are poor are poor because they are lazy- because the Kikuyu were generally successful. Because they believed one could not talk directly to God, a religious hierarchy fell into place.

When communicating with God one spoke through those higher up in the hierarchy. The following, from most to least in importance, was the hierarchy: God, spirits, elders, parents, individuals. Religion influenced all other aspects of Kikuyu culture.

The Kikuyu governmental system also developed as a result of the ridge settlement pattern. Prior to colonization the Kikuyu were very democratic. If you experienced problems, they were solved within your own place in the hierarchy. If that did not work you would go to those one-step higher, and so on. The hierarchy, from most to least in importance, was as follows: community, ridge, inter-family, family.

The family unit was the most basic political unit. To become a member of the community you had to be initiated. Initiation included a period away from home with formal schooling and, finally, circumcision.

The warriors, elders, or statesmen would lead the different political units respectively. The hierarchy of warriors is as follows: Junior Warrior, Senior Warrior, Junior Elder (marry to go higher up), Senior Elder, Elder, and Statesman. The elders were in charge of justice, religion, and administration. Every group had a spokesperson chosen on merit or performance.

In such a system of government no system of prisons or policemen was necessary because, when men were initiated, they were taught to control one another and solve problems at their own level. Although religion and government developed into a relatively formal structure, education remained informal.

Education was based on hands on experience. Fathers would teach sons and mothers would teach daughters. Children would learn how to do the necessary house chores and how to behave themselves. The only formal schooling that occurred was during Initiation, away from the homes, where the children were taught what was expected of them as adults.

In 1895 when Britain took over, everything changed. Determined to prevent other European countries from getting the area, the British wanted to get to the source of the Nile. To do this they walked through Kenya to Uganda. In trying to keep the region, they built a railway line where they had walked from Mombassa, Kenya to Uganda (1897-1902). This was no easy task. The natives refused to help build it because they didn’t measure wealth in work with iron but in the number of animals and children a person had.

The British solved this problem by bringing thousands of Indians and other Asians (then known as Coolies) to work. Because of their light skin, a color the animals had not seen before, many of the animals thought they were good meat, eating them in large numbers. Once finished with the railroad, many Asians remained, setting up small businesses.

The railroad became known as the Lunatic Express because it was a railroad that carried nothing and went nowhere. The British soon got tired of paying for it, introducing European settlers as quickly as possible to speed up the development/Westernization of Kenya. The Europeans transformed Kenyan society through Western technology, Western ideas, and the creation of a new economy. The first thing the new settlers did was establish a new administration structure.

The hierarchy of government became, from most important to least, as follows: Queen, Colonial Secretary, Governor, Provincial Commissioner, District, District Officer, Chief. This undemocratic new government was a problem to the Kikuyu people because they had no chiefs. The British solved this by choosing the chiefs for the Kikuyu people completely destroying the Kikuyu government structure and, as a result, destabilizing the entire culture. Soon realizing the Kenyan land had to be worked, a job they wouldn’t do themselves, the British demanded labor of the natives. They did this through forced labor, sharecroppers, and creating a poorly paid workforce. Kenyans refused to work for money, something that was not valued in their culture, until the government created taxes.

Taxes forced the people to end their barter economy and find work with the British. In a continued effort to Westernize Kenyans, Christianity was introduced through formal Western education (the structure of slave schools in the deep South in America was studied and copied). As soon as the Kikuyu people learned to read and write, they realized much of what the missionaries were saying was not mirrored in the book they preached, the Bible. The result: not believing in Christian teachings.

There soon came a serious clash between tribal beliefs/customs and Christianity so the Kikuyu established their own churches and schools (education soon led to the end of the Kikuyu practice of female circumcision). From the 1920s onward the Kikuyu people were at the forefront of the anti-colonial struggle. It was from among them that the Mau warriors came (the warriors that led the struggle for independence from Britain). In 1962 the struggle of independence succeeded and Kenya returned to the hands of the natives. Despite general rebellion against colonial ways, colonization left a large impression on Kenya.

The cultures of the natives were shattered through the forced introduction of new people and new ways of life. One example of the impact of colonization on Kikuyu society is theorized to be the current imbalance of division of labor between the sexes. Before the colonization, Kikuyu men and women had a relatively equal set of jobs around the home. The men worked in the fields with certain types of crops, for example, while the women would cook. When money was introduced into the economy the men had to leave home and find a job to pay taxes.

While the men were away the women had to do the men’s jobs in addition to their own. With so many men going to the city there were not enough jobs. Currently, unemployment is still very high, and men find themselves without jobs very often. The men never picked up doing the chores they had left to the women when they went away.

The result: the women often work much harder than the men. The inequality in regards to the workload of women versus men is not, therefore, an innate aspect of the Kikuyu culture but, at least partially, a result of colonization. Today the Kikuyu culture is a combination of colonization, new customs, and newly revived pre-colonial culture.

This piece is from http://www.kukummi.org/Stories/kikuyuhistory.html

My campaign manifesto will be out soon online. To those whose motives are pinned on underating my impact and the posibility of a poorman’s son defeating the sons of the rich, corrupt and murderous, let them wait for a real shocker this time. Kenyans abroad are welcome to visit a socialist Kenya soon after I win the coming elections.  Expect a revolution led by the sons and daughters of the poor in Kenya. Your comments are welcome also at dicckamau@gmail.com

KENYA: THE HOUSE OF WOLVES AND FOXES

I found this article of almost 5 years ago relevant to our current state of affairs.

I lifted it from Kenya Young Voter’s Alliance blog.
 

Malcolm X had no illusions in the so-called differences between the Democrats and Republicans. “One is the wolf, the other is a fox. No matter what, they’ll both eat you.” In the 1964 presidential elections, when the US presidential candidates were Lyndon B. Johnson (the “peace” candidate) vs. Barry Goldwater (the “war” candidate), Malcolm X exposed the deceit of this phony distinction.

“The shrewd capitalists, the shrewd imperialists,” he said, “knew that the only way people would run towards the fox (Johnson) would be if you showed them the wolf (Goldwater). So they created a ghastly alternative . . . And at the moment he (Johnson) had troops invading the Congo and
South Vietnam.”

This above analogy by Malcolm x seems to fit well in the current political situation in
Kenya. Everybody seems to be fighting corruption, give them power and you will see their true coloures.Show people true coloures of ODM-K and you will see them running towards NARC-K.

Corruption has so much dominated the political scene until many Kenyans feel so betrayed by leaders who have decided to feed on the sweat of poor Kenyans, since independence to date. When are we going to put this to an end? After trying all my best to avoid the raging debate on the decision of choosing between a wolf (ODM-K) and a fox (NARC-K), the temptation can’t go further than this. I strongly believe that there is need for us to be realistic and avoid running into the ideologies (if any) advanced by the two sides.

I consider my approach and understanding to this game realistic. Its highest time we stopped being hypocritical about our ideological orientation. Many of our people will come up with many theories that qualify ODM-K or NARC-K to be the best parties of belonging.

If you become more metaphysical, you will understand what I mean. As I have always said and believed any political equation can only be qualified on the basis of which side of the spectrum you look at it. Let us look at this historical example:In preparation of what would come to be known in history as the Russian revolution, students of Karl Marx; one group led by Lenin and another led by other communists developed two different approaches to governance. two of the main would be Lenin confidants:ie Joseph Stalin and  Leon Trotsky joined the two opposing sides with what they called ideological reality according to their own respective ”schools of thought”.

while Stalin followed Lenin to advocate for a leadership based on a kind of electoral college(Bolshevism)Trotsky on the other hand preferred to support the grassroots system-where leaders could be elected on the basis of getting direct peasantry vote.(Menshevism).later when the Mensheviks were defeated, Trotsky decided to realign himself with Lenin and became very loyal while still upholding his sincere ideological principles that favored grassroots involvement in the Communist party democracy. Most Bolsheviks who really looked at Lenin as a demi-god used every opportunity to sabotage Trotsky’s efforts to rise in ranks on the basis of his initial opposition to bolshevism.

Stalin grew very popular in the communist party because of his hypocritical adoration of Lenin. It was too late for even Lenin himself to discover that Stalin had been only loyal because of personal selfish political reasons. Stalin was too powerful by the time Lenin discovered this and wanted Trotsky to be his political heir instead of Stalin. Therefore Stalin became the automatic heir to Lenin as the general secretary.

On Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin forged himself into leadership to later become the chairman of the people’s commissars.To me the lesson here is that gaining political power has more to do with strategy and shrewdness than the sincere ideological approach that all of us commonly wish and advocate for. If its truth, let us say it. We all, (at least those who believe in certain principles) know that we believe in certain ways that we call moral governance. Most of us adore revolutionaries, we call them heroes, and we call them all names of admiration.

America calls them dictators, war criminals, we  associate political prowess with great names like Castro, Che Guevara,Tupac Amaru I(the last Inca of modern Peru)&Tupac Amaru II,Simon Bolivar,Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara,Malcolm X,Marcus Garvey,William Wilberforce, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, ,Patrice Lumumba,Dubcek,Husak,Olof Palme,Steve Biko,John Okello.,Haters of imperialism. We all categorize this people differently than what the US does.

To America all those names mean terrorists, communists, human rights abusers.blah blah…but for us we look at all these names differently, there are heroes, there are criminals, there are role models, there are human rights activists, but for the
US…it doesn’t care. They put Hideki Tojo and Che Guevara in the same group. The same way as a young person, these political vultures will never care what you believe in. they have already made their judgement…You are a political tool to be used. Or if you pose any political threat to them, then you are their enemy to be dealt with, or to be eliminated just like JM Kariuki was.So what’s the way forward?

To sit and wait to be judged? Or to move and create our own space and destiny in those ranks? I agree with all you comrades who insist that we should support or oppose such and such a party because its made up of heroes,villains,saints,sinners ,devils, angels or whatever you may call them.

Have you been honored with the order of Vladmir…to sing and dance to their tune? Or you are just a well wisher, a goon or a sycophant. Being a well wisher or any of aforementioned attributes amount to serious  level of political insignificance.My position is that we got to be strategic otherwise we are going nowhere. for my choice if I were to choose between the wolf and a fox, which as per now I don’t intend to do, I would prefer the sly fox than the wolf that has decided to put on a sheep skin because the chicken worthy preying on are not in the vicinity.

just know that the wolf in the sheep skin intends to make you his meal…once it gets near the chicken.It’s wrong for us to start following monarchs who have presided and/or benefited from the economic atrocities committed against the people of this country for the last more than four decades of this country’s independence. lets not follow monarchs…our only way to political freedom is joining hands with self made politicians…not monarchs. Down with monarchs…If you can only be relevant in politics if your father was a president or a colonial chief, when are the sons and daughters of peasants like you and me going to rule this country?

JUST TELL ME WHEN? We need to get the way out.There we are…..me and you attempting to put Jommo Kenyatta’s son in power? Daniel Moi’s son in power?, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s son  in power?. Longest serving ministers like Kalonzo who have nothing to show after 19 years in cabinet in power? Moses Mudavadi’s son in power? Ruto-the political son of a corrupt regime? If we stand and pursue freedom justice and equality, then we need the land back…the land cannot be returned by land grabbers in power.Landgrabbers and pretenders to democracy can’t be reformists. What are they reforming? They have already taken part in deforming the country.

If we want to achieve true change in this country we need to create a better strategy…if you read the future, then you will come to know that the only way of getting true reformists and sons and daughters of peasants to power is through NARC-K if all factors are kept constant consistent with the current prevailing conditions.

To me and I don’t think any sane person will challenge that, NARC-K’S future could be us. Monarchs will never have space for us. They only have space for their sons and daughters in law. Those impoverished and deprived in the past are now we are getting into those positions.Kibaki is only but a unifying factor for NARC-K…Once he finishes his second term, then all kanu will have retired…Michuki, Karume, Nyachae,then people like Kibwana,Kituyi,Mungatana,Tuju,Kimunya,Karua,Kilemi Mwiria,Kirwa,(not necessarily them, but they are symbols of rise from ashy to classy, not from state house to state house.) ,and many of us in our age bracket who are coming up now will obviously have this space.

A good number of protagonists here are the true reformists or even if they may not be according to some of the arguments some of you may advance. They at least were. and that’s why democratically we are where we are. most of you know the role played by people like Prof Kibwana  and the likes of Dr.Njoya.,Henry Waruhiu,Muturi Kigano and the rest that you know who belong to this school in bringing Kenya to where it is now. We are at least where they helped us get.

Its time to complete the revolution. And the revolution can’t be completed by the people we were revolting against. They are using the strategy used by Stalin to inherit Lenin’s position, but at least in a moral and democratic way, unlike Stalin. In the same vain, we need to use this strategy…that’s our only way to power. The rest are rhetorics.no monarchs please.For you who have already taken sides…that’s my analysis.

However if you are a general in the wolf kingdom you are better than a foot soldier in the fox kingdom. If you got no strategic standing then I consider this as the best position to adopt so long as you are not Kenyatta’s or Moi’s son or daughter.The value of NARC Kenya to Kenyan youths as per now is that one of our own-Tedd Munovi is one of the nine national board members of the NARC-K election board.

The great hope, which we are anyway yet to see, is that more positions will be allocated young people. We welcome the same or greater gesture by ODM-K or any other party with a political muscle.

I personally don’t think if we should vote in a wolf or a fox. But if we got no other option which is seemingly the case, then lets learn to use the Stalin strategy. Vote for the fox that is if it’s a must for you to choose between the two. Otherwise I would advice you to join Chama Cha Mwananchi (CCM).It could be the party that has meaning for the people at the grassroots… 

FWAMBA NC FWAMBA
Kenya Young Voter’s Alliance

+254721779445 

January 30, 2007

Some Final Thoughts on the
Death of Osama bin Laden

 By Michael
Moore

“The Nazis killed tens of MILLIONS. They got a trial. Why? Because
we’re not like them. We’re Americans. We roll different.” – Michael Moore in an interview last week

Last week, President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise and killed Osama bin
Laden. Well he didn’t actually do the killing himself. It was carried
out by a very brave and excellent team of Navy SEALs. Not only does Mr. Obama
have the overwhelming support of the country, I think there are millions who
gladly wish it could have been their finger on the gun that took out bin Laden.

When I heard the news a week ago Sunday, I immediately felt great. I
felt relief. I thought of those who lost a loved one on 9/11. And I was glad we
finally had a President who got something done. This is what I had to say on
Twitter and elsewhere on the internet in that first hour or two:

I want to point out that Barack Obama took two years to do what
Bush couldn’t do in over seven. That’s the difference between STUPID in
charge and SMART in charge. STUPID pursues two reckless wars, lets OBL escape
from Tora Bora, keeps looking for him in caves and invades the wrong country.
He bankrupts us to the tune of $1.2 trillion for the Iraq War (it will eventually
actually be over $3 trillion), and worse, he cost us the lives of almost 5,000
of our troops, not to mention hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq
and Afghanistan – and, after all that, he STILL couldn’t bring the perp to
justice. In fact, in 2005, Bush closed down the CIA station that was
devoted to looking for bin Laden! What does SMART do? He sends in a
small elite strike force, no troops are killed, and the perpetrator is stopped
for good.

I was thrilled that the Osama bin Laden era was over. There was now an
end to the madness.

Being near Ground Zero that night, I decided to head over there and join
with others who saw this event as a chance to have some closure. On 9/11, Bill
Weems, a good and decent man I knew and worked with (we had just recently
completed a shoot together in Boston), was on the plane that was flown into the
Twin Towers. I dedicated ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ in part, to him.

But before leaving to go to the former World Trade Center site, I turned
on the TV, and what I saw down at Ground Zero was not quiet relief and
gratification that the culprit had been caught. Rather, I witnessed a frat
boy-style party going on, complete with the shaking and spraying of champagne
bottles over the crowd.

I can completely understand people wanting to celebrate – like I said,
I, too, was happy – but something didn’t feel right. It’s one thing to be happy
that a criminal has been captured and dealt with. It’s another thing to throw a
kegger celebrating his death at the site where the remains of his victims are
still occasionally found. Is that who we are? Is that what Jesus would do? Is
that what Jefferson would do? I was reminded of the tale told to me as a kid,
of God’s angels singing with glee as the Red Sea came crashing back down on the
Egyptians chasing the Israelites, drowning all of them. God rebuked them,
saying, “The work of My hands is drowning in that sea – and you want to
friggin’ sing?” (or something like that).

I remember my parents telling me how, on the day it was announced that Hitler
was dead, there was no rejoicing in the streets, just private relief and
satisfaction. The real celebration came six days later at the announcement that
the war in Europe was over. THAT’S what the people wanted to hear – not just
the demise of one evil madman, but the end to all the killing.

When the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, people didn’t pour into the
streets to whoop it up. Yes, people were happy that it might help end the war,
but there was not a public display of “Yippee! A hundred thousand Japs
have been fried!” If they had done that, well, who could have
blamed them after so many tens of thousands of their sons and fathers had been
lost in the war (including my uncle, a paratrooper, killed by a sniper near
Manila). But the sailor kissing the girl in Times Square was on August 14th,
1945, when the Japanese surrendered and the war was officially over. That’s
when America went crazy with joy – not over a killing, but over an announcement
of peace.

We are a different people now, aren’t we? Well, sorta. There was no
bloodlust euphoria on the day Timothy McVeigh was executed. We were silent. The
families of the Oklahoma City dead were silent, relieved. What is the
difference between McVeigh and bin Laden, other than the number they slaughtered?
I wonder. I think we know the answer.

Though bin Laden is dead, we are told that Orwell’s Permanent War – the
“War on Terror” – must continue! Not allowed to have our V-J day and
run into Times Square with exhilaration! No, there could be terrorists there.
So all we’re left with is to cheer the death of one evil man, and that is
supposed to make us feel powerful and good.

There can be no celebration for the end of the Afghanistan War because
the war isn’t ending. The war must continue! Even though our own CIA tells us
there are no more than a few dozen al Qaeda left in Afghanistan. We
still have 100,000 troops there fighting a few dozen crazies? We say we’re
fighting the Taliban, too, but the Taliban are Afghan citizens, not an invading
force, and, for better or worse, they seem to enjoy the support of many of the
common people throughout Afghanistan. (If you don’t believe that, ask any
soldier who has served there and seen it. Every day is like Apocalypse Now.
Poppies, anyone?)

Meanwhile, we – me, included – get lost in the weeds of how this one
madman was killed. The official story from the Pentagon changed four times
in the first four days! It went from OBL firing on the troops with one hand and
using his wife as a human shield with the other, to, by the fourth day, not
single person in the main house, including bin Laden, being armed when killed.
Instantly, this created a lot of suspicion about what really happened, which
itself was a distraction.

Here’s my take: I know a number of Navy SEALs. In fact (and this is
something I don’t like to talk about publicly, for all the obvious reasons), I
hire only ex-SEALs and ex-Special Forces guys to handle my own security (I’ll
let you pause a moment to appreciate that irony). These SEALs are trained to
follow orders. I don’t know what their orders were that night in Abbottabad,
but it certainly looks like a job (and this is backed up in a piece in
the Atlantic) where they were told to not bring bin Laden
back alive.

The SEALs are pros at what they
do and they instantly took out every adult male (every potential threat) within
a few minutes – but they also took care to not harm a single one of the nine
children who were present. Pretty amazing. This wasn’t some Rambo-style
operation where they just went in guns blazing, spraying bullets. They acted
swiftly and with expert precision. I’m telling you, these guys are so smart and
so lethal, they could take you out with a piece of dental floss. (And in fact,
one of my ex-SEAL guys showed me how to do that one night. Whoa.)

In a perfect world (yes, I would like to reside there someday, or at
least next door to it, in Slightly Imperfect World), I would like the evildoers
to be forced to stand trial in front of that world. I know a lot of people see
no need for a trial for these bad guys (just hang ‘em from the nearest tree!),
and think trials are for sissies. “They’re guilty, off with their
heads!” Well, you see, that is the exact description of the Taliban/al
Qaeda/Nazi justice system. I don’t like their system. I like ours. And I don’t
want to be like them. In fact, the reason I like a good trial is that I like to
show these bastards this is how it’s done in a free country that believes in
civilized justice. It’s good for the rest of the world to see that, too. Sets a
good example.

The other thing a trial does is, it establishes a very public and
permanent historic record of the crimes against humanity. This is why we put
the Nazis on trial in Nuremberg. We didn’t do it for them. We did it for
ourselves and for our grandchildren so that they would never forget these
horrors and how they were committed. And we did it for the German people so
they could see the evidence of what their elected leaders had done. Very
helpful. Very necessary. Very powerful.

And for those who wanted blood back then – well, the majority of the
Nazis all hanged in the end. So, it doesn’t mean the bad guys get away – they
still swing from the highest tree.

My own spiritual beliefs do not allow for capital punishment, and I was
raised in the state (Michigan) that in the 1840s was the first government in
the English-speaking world to outlaw it. So, I’m just not inclined that way. I
don’t believe in “an eye for an eye.” I know the old book said that,
but I like its sequel better (a rare case in which the sequel – like Godfather
II, Star Trek II, Terminator II – is better than the original). If you don’t
believe the way I believe (it’s also the official position of the Catholic
Church, for whatever that’s worth these days), then that’s your right, and I
understand.

Perhaps there was no way to bring him back alive – I sure as hell
wouldn’t want to be in that dark house trying to make that snap decision. But
if the execution was ordered in advance, then I say we should be told that now,
and we can like it or not like it.

For nine years I wrote and I said that Osama bin Laden was not hiding in
a cave. I’m not a cave expert, I was just using my common sense. He was a
multimillionaire crime boss (using religion as his cover), and those guys just
don’t live in caves. He had people killed under the guise of religion, and not
many in the media bothered to explain that every time Osama referenced Islam,
he wasn’t really quoting Islam. Just because Osama said he was a
“Muslim” didn’t make it so. Yet he was called a Muslim by everyone.
If a crazy person started running around mass-killing people, and he did so
while wearing a Wal-Mart blazer and praising Wal-Mart, we wouldn’t
automatically call him a Wal-Mart leader or say that Wal-Mart was the
philosophy behind his killings, would we?

Yet, we began to fear Muslims and round them up. We profiled people from
Muslim nations at airports. We didn’t profile multi-millionaires (in fact, they
now have their own fast-track line to easily get through security, an oddity
considering every murderer on 9/11 flew in first class). We didn’t run
headlines that said “Multi-Millionaire Behind the Mass Murder of
3,000″ (although every word in that headline is true). You can say his
wealth had nothing to do with 9/11, but the truth is, there is no way he could
have kept Al Qaeda in business without having the millions he had.

Some believe that this was a “war” we were in with al Qaeda –
and you don’t do trials during war. It’s thinking like this that makes me fear
that, while bin Laden may be dead, he may have “won” the bigger
battle. Let’s be clear: There is no “war with al Qaeda.” Wars are
between nations. Al Qaeda was an organization of fanatics who committed crimes.
That we elevated them to nation status – they loved it! It was great for their
recruiting drive.

We did exactly what bin Laden said he wanted us to do: Give up our
freedoms (like the freedom to be assumed innocent until proven guilty), engage
our military in Muslim countries so that we will be hated by Muslims, and wipe
ourselves out financially in doing so. Done, done and done, Osama. You had our
number. You somehow knew we would eagerly give up our constitutional rights and
become more like the authoritarian state you dreamed of. You knew we would
exhaust our military and willingly go into more debt in eight years than we had
accumulated in the previous 200 years combined.

Maybe you knew us so well because you were once one of our mercenaries,
funded and armed by us via our friends in Pakistan to fight the other Evil
Empire in the last battle of the Cold War. Only, when the killing stopped, the
trained killer, our “Frankenstein,” couldn’t. The monster, you, would
soon turn on us.

If we really want to send bin Laden not just to his death, but also to
his defeat, may I suggest that we reverse all of that right now.
End the wars, bring the troops home, make the rich pay for this mess, and
restore our privacy and due process rights that used to distinguish us from any
other country. Right now, our democracy looks like Singapore and our economy
has gone desperately Greek.

I know it will be hard to turn the clock back to before 9/11 when all we
had to worry about were candidates stealing elections. A multi-billion dollar
industry has grown up around “homeland security” and the terror wars.
These war profiteers will not want to give up their booty so easily. They will
want to keep us in fear so they can keep raking it in. We will have to stop
them. But first we must stop believing them.

Hideki Tojo killed my uncle and millions of Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos
and a hundred thousand other Americans. He was the head of Japan, the Emperor’s
henchman, the man who was the architect of Pearl Harbor. When the American
soldiers went to arrest him, he tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in
the chest. The soldiers immediately worked on stopping his bleeding and rushed
him to an army hospital where he was saved by our army doctors. He then had his
day in court. It was a powerful exercise for the world to see. And on December
23, 1948, after he was found guilty, we hanged him. A killer of millions was
forced to stand trial. A killer of 4,000 (counting the African embassies and
USS Cole bombings) got double-tapped in his pajamas. Assuming it was possible
to take him alive, I think his victims, the future, and the restoration of the
American Way deserved better. That’s all I’m saying.

Good riddance Osama.

Come back to your ways, my good ol’ USA.

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.

Given the above story what makes Kikuyus think political games played by Ruto and Uhuru will stop the killings that were not political land violence?

Think and think again what is actualy taking place now.

At the risk of being misunderstood by my fellow Kikuyu slaves and their counterparts such as Luos, in the new slavery pen, I would like to give you a personally researched view of a today’s Kikuyu
and where each belong today.

I will begin with saying that to me almost all Kikuyus existing today are mostly slaves, a few are slave servants and least of them are slave masters.

Why are majority Kikuyus slaves while they own most of arable land and large sums of monies in Kenyan banks and abroad?  How comes they are slaves while they produced the first president of Kenya who gave them a lot of wealth at the expense of all the rest of Kenyans?  Many ask.

The problem comes when the majority Kikiyus think as true of the above claims by the rest of Kenyans and start boasting that: we are the most wealthy people in Kenya, we are the most hardworking people in Kenya, we are the most clever people in Kenya, we are the majority
tribe in Kenya and whoever is not with us cannot win presidential elections in Kenya. And many others that they are real men while others are something else. I miss words that could express my doubt in the above claims.

But looking deeper at what the Kikuyus became soon after independence proves to me that actually Kikuyus should start accepting their rightful position in Kenyan society today.  Modern Slaves.

Starting with the fact the majority of Kikuyus are voiceless and robotic to the tunes of their slave masters dead or alive starting with the late KENYATTA who sold them whole sale to new slave
masters in his government. The slave masters eg  such lords as Uhuru Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki,
Njenga Karume, John Michuki, Saitoti, religious leaders, and a few other rich bankers and property magnets operating a large tribal outfit running the minds of the slaves in the name of GEMA. How I wish GEMA was actually a commercial grouping as its ordinary members are told. Members of this tribe are being herded like sheep for slaughter. And when trouble comes a few of them can die but let
live their masters and their servants

Whenever the above call on their slaves the slave dance begins and whatever the above require of them they never question, and if any of them tries to question the rest many even kill him using the Mungikis an outfit created by the Kikuyu slave masters and run by the Kikuyus slave
servants such us Maina Njenga or any other political thugs.

Its amazing as to how such a thing can happen in front of their noses and yet see nothing wrong. This time they are being told that they have chosen son of the first black Kenyan slave master Uhuru
Kenyatta to be their tribes’ presidential candidate come 2012.

This Kikuyu herd never thinks for itself but the masters do in their place and in their name. In Nairobi and elsewhere in Kenya you hear them say this time come elections they should all unite to give their son a chance to be president because if they don’t the person likely to win would kill all of them including their masters and that would be bad for the survival of the tribe.

They are told all the land they own would be taken away and they are given as an example the election results of the 2007 and what happened when they were evicted from Rift valley by politically
oriented Kalenjin thugs. Yet their original lands were taken away by the same families of the slave masters and they dare question the unquestionables.

They dare not ask why they are still in IDP yet they have Kibaki as the president? You can’t question the wisdom of the slave master while you are still a slave. They can’t ask what all this means and what happened to their lands that were taken and shared by their masters soon after independence.

Whenever I get a chance to try to give them some meaning to what they are asked to do by their masters I find it even hard since they do not believe they are slaves. while every indication points to the fact that they actually are robotic slaves mentally and otherwise and the trade to
enslave  their off-springs has gotten more tribal fuel in the name of GEMA. They floock in churches every day of the week thanking God for his great works in having a son of their own to inherit the presidency. Yet when trouble comes only the Kikuyu slaves are locked in a church and burned to death while their slave masters were planning how to keep power to themselves at the cost of their scoached slaves in Rift Valley.

They are like freed prisoners whose entire lives have been lived in maximum prisons and when they are released and told to leave prison they turn to their jailers and ask them what they mean by asking
them to leave the only lives they know? Actually they are today asking why should any Kikuyu man or woman even think of vying for president while Uhuru is still alive? In another meaning they ask why should their master be opposed? They even wonder why other Kenyan tribes
dream of ever ruling Kenya without a Kikuyu being the president. They are currently being told which slave masters will grab the governor and senator county seats within Gema Counties.

They are already sure which slave master is better than the other in running the lives of the slaves and that one has already won without a problem. How the Kikuyus like to be enslaved beats logic.
Someone out there is also looking at the Luos and their slave masters and servants whom I have personally known for some time. They too borrowed slavery methods from Kenyatta slave masters and acquired massive wealth in terms of billions and large lands too.

The Luos as are the Kikuyus are not so a free people given the fact that both tribes are fanatics when it comes to enthroning one of their slave masters regardless of their cruelty as they go about salve
running.

Someone is saying the Kalenjins had Moi as a slave master and he too made sure they join the rest of the 2 tribes by imprinting slave mentality in their heads and now they are singing Ruto’s song
without asking themselves why Ruto? And the Kambas, the Mulimutisyas are gone but new slave masters are emerging as fast as in other areas and the Kambas are told only Kalonzo can save them from domination of the Kikuyus and Luos and that they must join other slaves to make their son head of state since he is just a step away from Milinani. They too are sinking deep in slavery.

But can the above tribal  slaves ever listen with understanding what their enslaved but brave sons are telling them? I would like to tell you what the bravest sons and daughters of the slaves would tell their parent slaves:

They tell us, dad that we are weak—unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when
shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a masters’ guard shall be stationed in every house?

Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Dad, we are not weak.

The brave one would end by saying to his master: I know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

To make matters worse as the enslaved sleep hungry and impoverished, the slave masters’ sons, brothers, uncles and unties are getting ready to inherit the masters at anytime by sabotaging the prison escape of the enslaved masses.  They are ready to kill and silence justice as long as they live to remain masters of the Kenyan ordinary person they turned into a mindless and sickly slave parroting about the virtues of tribalism. Can you imagine that the ICC six have implanted themselves as heros soon after the massacres committed in post election violence. No wonder masters are masters when right or wrong.

Some of who you who have witnessed the above story are willing to keep it up and continue to say it
loudly that there is a way to freedom and the road is not that long as long as there is a will to walk it. We know that patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. Apatriot must always be ready to defend his country against his/slave masters’ government.

Any
comments?

By Dick Kamau

By Otsieno Namwaya

Kenya’s two former First Families and
the family of President Mwai Kibaki are among the biggest landowners in the
country.

A residual class of white settlers and a group of former and current power
brokers in the three post independent regimes follow them closely while a few
businessmen and farmers, many with either current or past political
connections, also own hundreds of thousands of acres.

The extended Kenyatta family alone owns an estimated 500,000 acres —
approximately the size of Nyanza Province — according to estimates by
independent surveyors and Ministry of Lands officials who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

The Kibaki and Moi families also own large tracts of land though most of the
Moi family land is held in the names of his sons and daughters and other close
family members.

Most of the holders of the huge parcels of land are concentrated within the
17.2 per cent part of the country that is arable. The remaining 80 per cent is
mostly arid and semi arid land.

In fact, according to the Kenya Land Alliance, more than a half of the arable
land in the country is in the hands of only 20 per cent of the 30 million
Kenyans. That has left up to 13 per cent of the population absolutely landless
while another 67 per cent on average own less than an acre per person.

The building land crises in the country, experts say, will be difficult to
solve because the most powerful people in the country are also among its
biggest landowners.

The tracts of land under the Kenyatta family are so widely distributed within
the numerous members in various parts of the country that it is an almost
impossible task to locate all of them and establish their exact sizes.

During Kenyatta’s 15-year tenure in State House, there was an elaborate scheme
funded by the World Bank and the British Government, the Settlement Transfer
Fund Scheme, under which the family legally acquired large pieces of land all
over the country.

Among the best-known parcels owned by Kenyatta’s family, for instance, are the
24, 000 acres in Taveta sub-district adjacent to the 74, 000 acres owned by
former MP Basil Criticos.

Others are 50, 000 acres in Taita that is currently under Mrs Beth Mugo, an
Assistant minister of Education and niece of the first President, 29, 000 acres
in Kahawa Sukari along the Nairobi—Thika highway, the 10, 000 acre Gichea Farm
in Gatundu, 5, 000 acres in Thika, 9,000 acres in Kasarani and the 5, 000-acre
Muthaita Farm. These are beside others such as Brookside Farm, Green Lee
Estate, Njagu Farm in Juja, a quarry in Dandora in Nairobi and a 10, 000-acre
ranch in Naivasha.

The acreage quoted in this report is not extracted from official government
records — there are none and those that exist are scattered and some cases
incomplete — but are estimates based on close to a year of interviews with farm
staff, independent surveyors, Ministry of Lands experts and land rights NGOs.

Other pieces of land owned by the Kenyatta family include the 52,000-acre farm
in Nakuru and a 20,000-acre one, also known as Gichea Farm, in Bahati under
Kenyatta’s daughter, Margaret. Besides, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, widow of the
former President, owns another 10, 000 acres in Rumuruti while a close relative
of the Kenyatta family, a Mrs Kamau, has 40,000 acres in Endebes in the Rift
Valley Province.

It is understood that in the late 1990s, the Kenyatta family started
considering the possibility of disposing of parts of the land in Nairobi.

In the lead-up to the 2002 general elections, for instance, there were
indications that the family was considering selling the 100-acre piece of land
in Karen. But even with that, the Kenyatta family would still own a sizeable
part of Nairobi, such as the 1,000-acre farm in Dagoretti owned by Kenyatta’s
first wife Wahu.

It is also understood that part of the land on which Kenyatta and Jomo Kenyatta
Universities are constructed initially belonged the Criticos family. The
government bought the land from him in 1972 under the Settlement Transfer Fund
Scheme.

It is alleged, though there is little compelling evidence, that the land was
transferred to the Kenyatta family the same day Criticos sold it to the
government.

Neither is it clear how much the family paid for it.

Land for the two universities was subsequently donated by the family.

Under President Kenyatta, most of the power wielders either formed or were
associated with land buying companies through which they acquired huge chunks
of land around the country, especially at the Coast and in Rift Valley.

They took most of the land previously owned by the former white settlers, which
had initially been earmarked for resettling those who had been turned into
squatters by the colonial land policies.

One of the most famous land buying companies was Gema Holdings.

Most of the people — including retired President Moi and his former Vice
President, Mwai Kibaki — who had considerable political influence in the
Kenyatta regime, were given the opportunity to buy as much land as they could.

One of President Kibaki’s earliest acquisitions is the 1,200-acre Gingalily Farm
along the Nakuru-Solai road. He bought it in the late 1960s.

And in the 1970s, Kibaki, who was then the minister for Finance under Kenyatta,
bought 10, 000 acres in Bahati from the then Agriculture minister Bruce
Mckenzie. Kibaki also owns another 10, 000 acres at Igwamiti in Laikipia and
10, 000 acres in Rumuruti in Naivasha.

These are in addition to the 1,600 acre Ruare Ranch that came to the limelight
when it caught fire last year.

Just next to Kibaki’s Bahati land are Moi’s 20, 000 acres although his best
known piece of land is the 1,600 Kabarak Farm on which he has retired. It is
one of the most well utilised farms in the area, with wheat, maize and dairy
cattle.

The former President owns another 20, 000 acres in Olenguruoni in Rift Valley,
on which he is growing tea and has also built the Kiptakich Tea Factory. He
also has some 20, 000 acres in Molo.

He also has another 3, 000-acre farm in Bahati on both sides of the
Nakuru/Nyahururu road where he grows coffee and some 400 acres in Nakuru on which
he was initially growing coffee.

The former President also owns the controversy ridden 50, 000 acre Ol Pajeta
Farm—part of which has Ol Pajeta ranch in Rumuruti, Laikipia. Last year, the
family put out an advert in the press warning the public that some unknown
people were sub-dividing and selling it.

Land transactions are ongoing and some of these farms may have changed hands.

Breaking news.

A third force in Kenyan politics has been formed. The membership of the force is made up of 15 registered political parties not allied to the current government allies. The aim is to bring about a new order of politics in Kenya come 2012 elections. The members of the Force have disclosed that they will be fielding their own candidates including the president and county governors.

The group that met at undisclosed location in Nairobi says it will take the day in Kenyan politics because the political field will be without the discredited ICC suspects. The left behind would have been ICC suspects will be rejected by the Kenyan youth whose future is at stake.

The group says the  support it has comes from the youth angered by the greedy old leaders’ untamed corruption and negative ethnicity the old leaders propagate to divide the nation. The already registered group of parties calling itself PPF – POLITICAL PARTIES FORUM says it will issue its National address in a near future and hold rallies allover the country to mobilise the already ready youths. 

The group is calling on Kenyans to reject the manipulation and negative propaganda aimed at ethinically dividing them. The group says when it takes power all corrupt current and former politicians will be shot dead in public and their loot recovered back to the public coffers. The group is also opposed to break-way politics propagated by some Coast provice politicians terming the campaings distructive  whose aim is creating a civil war similar to that waged by the Alshabab of Somalia.

The group says it is for one kenya one people and one destiny and that nothing will stop them from achieving this feat. The group claims to have already registered 1,000,000 members 90 percent being youths aged from 20 to 35 years. Its immediate spokesman said the manner in which the youth support their mission is very encouranging and interesting. The group expects to win the lections of 2012 by over 70 percent.

by ccm

By Alex Ndegwa

Facing accusations of lukewarm support for the Proposed Constitution and lack of a clear Kibaki succession strategy, Central Kenya leaders united under Gema to chart a way forward. Top on the agenda of caucus — dubbed Central Kenya Referendum Forum — was charting a new political course for the electorate during the August 4 referendum and subsequently the 2012 presidential elections.

Majority MPs from the Mt Kenya region attended the Limuru meeting, which was chaired by the meeting’s co-conveners, retired Arch-bishop David Gitari and the Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (Gema) chairman Lawi Imathiu. Also in attendance were Rift Valley and Nairobi MPs who trace their roots to the region.

Leaders agreed to support and rally support for the proposed constitution as it “favoured” them politically and economically. Speakers cautioned the region’s leaders against gambling with the region’s political future by creating disharmony and disunity through competing interests.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who was put to task over his flagging leadership, told the meeting that they should unite and strive to gain parliamentary majority in 2012 to avoid the challenges President Kibaki faced “when he won the 2007 election”.

He said Kibaki won the Presidential poll, which was challenged because his Party of National Unity (PNU) performed miserably in the parliamentary poll. The Central Kenya MPs admitted that the ‘Yes’ campaign had failed to pick momentum in the region because of lack of proper leadership from Uhuru.

And the DPM took the challenge positively and promised to lead the Yes campaign “from the front” during the meeting at which the ambivalence of Central Kenya’s top leadership on the Proposed Constitution came under scrutiny.

The question of who takes over when President Kibaki’s term ends in two years has dogged political leaders, even as opinion polls show Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the favourite. Uhuru, whose first attempt for the Presidency as a Kanu project failed, is seeking to reposition himself, and the question has been: will he be second time lucky?

Also gunning for the presidency from the region is Gichugu MP Martha Karua who skipped the forum.

Yesterday, the leaders unanimously agreed that the region could no longer afford the discordant voices at a defining moment for the country.

But from the outset, the more than 1,500 delegates confronted the elephant in the room: Suspicion that some of their leaders were preaching ‘Yes’ by day but ‘No’ by night.

Initial speakers told the audience — which included ministers, Assistant ministers, MPs, civic leaders, religious leaders and top businessmen — that before settling down to business, it was important to assure that the so-called “watermelons” were not in their midst. In a no-holds-barred address, Tourism Assistant minister Cecily Mbarire said the failure by the region’s leaders to provide leadership was to blame for the unenthusiastic reception of the ‘Yes’ campaign in Central Kenya.

“I will speak frankly as a woman. You have failed us. You must now start leading from the front,” Mbarire told Uhuru, who sat at the front alongside Cabinet ministers Kiraitu Murungi and Amos Kimunya. Absent at the meeting without apology were Jamleck Kamau (Kigumo), Peter Mwathi (Limuru) and Mithika Linturi (Igembe) who are in the ‘No’ camp, Mutava Musyimi and Environment Minister John Michuki.

Mbarire blamed the wishy-washy attitude by the top leadership for the apparent failure of the ‘Yes’ campaigns to gain a foothold in Central Kenya. She claimed MPs Jamleck Kamau, Peter Mwathi and Mithika Linturi had moved to the ‘No’ camp because of the apparent lack of leadership.

Own enemies

The Runyenjes MP asked Uhuru to talk to them so that they return to the fold. Mbarire said she was disappointed that Agriculture Minister William, Ruto of the ‘No’ camp, appeared to have made inroads in championing the rejection of the draft.

Mathira MP Ephraim Maina, in an apparent reference to the headway made by Ruto, said the Eldoret North MP should not be blamed because he had rallied his people behind the ‘No’ cause.

“We are our own enemies. We should not blame him. He has rallied his people behind him while we are still divided,” said Maina, the chairman of the Central Kenya Parliamentary Association. He alluded that some people appeared to have taken a back seat in the referendum campaigns, motivated by the 2012 succession politics calculations, but he warned that “if you are not with us now don’t expect us to back you then.”

Prompted by the persistent demands that the region was crying for leadership, the master of ceremonies Dr Stephen Karau explained that the programme would be adjusted so Uhuru responds to the calls first, before a scheduled civic education session.

The hall erupted in rapturous applause and waving of green miniature flags branded ‘Yes’ when Uhuru said: “The unity of our people is important and equally important is that of the leaders. Kiraitu and I will now lead from the front and not from behind as it has been claimed.”

During a media briefing at the close of the meeting, Karau told journalists that the forum had mandated Uhuru to lead the region’s push for the Proposed Constitution.

Uhuru had recalled the tough Naivasha PSC retreat during which a pure presidential system, scrapping of regions and inclusion of a fair system of representation was arrived at.

He said these demands were at the heart of the PNU negotiating team, which was concerned with provisions of a parliamentary system and regional governments contained in the initial Committee of Experts (CoE) draft. The delegates had wondered how Raila’s ODM, which had lost out on its demands in Naivasha, had embraced the Proposed Constitution while PNU, that apparently got its way, extended lukewarm support.

Uhuru said the Limuru meeting marked a beginning of other similar consultations, adding that it was unfair that Gema meetings raised eyebrows.

“We should be proud of ourselves. Why is it that when Central Kenya people meet it causes ripples yet others meet freely? This is just the beginning we will be holding many more meetings,” Uhuru said to loud cheers. Kiraitu likened the push for the proposed constitution to the struggle for freedom and land.

Also in attendance were the Njuri Ncheke Meru council of elders. Its chairman addressed the gathering.

After the meeting, former Kiambaa MP Karume, who is also the Gema patron, said the ‘Yes’ secretariat should be re-energised.

Gitari and Imathiu emphasised the need for the region to wholeheartedly support the Proposed Constitution. In a communiquÈ read to the media, Gitari said the meeting had resolved that all leaders work together to champion the region’s interests.

Another resolution called for the intensification of ‘Yes’ campaigns through regional rallies to complement the national campaigns.

Updated 11 hr(s) 59 min(s) ago
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By Martin Mutua
Presidential guards at State House, Nairobi clashed with Secret Service agents prior to US Vice-President Joe Biden’s arrival for a meeting with President Kibaki.
Impeccable sources told The Standard the presidential guards battled with two Secret Service agents who attempted to enter State House armed, contrary to standard security practice.
Even bodyguards of Cabinet ministers deposit their firearms at the entrance and collect them once they leave with their bosses.
State House is under the protection and surveillance of the elite Recce security team from the para-military General Service Unit. Recce officers are assigned to guard the President, Prime Minister, the Vice-President, and other visiting dignitaries.
Sources said the two Secret Service agents had showed up with members of the international press team that is accompanying Biden and on being frisked they were found in possession of the arms.
“They identified themselves as Secret Service agents but they were told it was standard practice nobody enters State House with guns,” added our sources.
They were then ordered to deposit their firearms with the guards who assured them the guns would be returned to them upon leaving.
The Secret Service agents are said to have argued that their job was to protect the US Vice-President and declined to surrender their arms.
“But the presidential guards told them their work was to protect the President of Kenya and therefore anybody who enters State House was safe and under their protection,” added the sources.
A brief stand off ensued but the presidential guards stood their ground and disarmed the two.
However, following consultations with top security officials, the two, one of them of Chinese descent, were given back their guns and they continued with their work.
Later Biden arrived in a convoy of seven cars, two of them armoured, and donning two flags each one of the US and another for Biden.
The two four wheel vehicles which seem to have marvelled the Kenyan team, including President Kibaki, were all inscribed with the insignia of the Vice-President of the United States on both sides of the rear doors