Kenyan Idiot

The conflict in the Tana Delta began almost a month ago over a struggle for land between two clans: The Orma and Pokomo it became a bloody battle between farmer and pastoralist a fight that is nothing new. The always dependable government stuck to their old and much rehearsed script: stay really quiet and hang back until things bad and several lives are lost, then send in the riot stopping squad, who do so by any means; including tear gas and live bullets, with these guys the government can be sure that the noisy riot will cease with immediate effect. These are the guys you send in when things are truly awful. And they are with mostly women and children losing their lives the word Massacre has aptly been used in describing the disaster.   Now almost a month into the fatal game retaliation and counter retaliation the government has come out of their silent, protective, cocoon imposing a curfew and talking tough. The police however seem to be reading from their own entirely blamel...

This is war: must have been the general consensus amongst the teachers around the country when they decided last week to take most drastic action that would push and press a government of elaborate promises and silver tongues into a tight corner and into submission and finally giving in to a 15 year old demand that has so far been delicately pushed aside or swept into the grave yard of forgotten promises. So the public school teachers did what all Kenyans do when they are not heard; down their chalk and step away from both blackboard and class room to take to the streets shouting and singing their displeasure for all to see, thus creating a crisis for the standard 8 and 4 th Form candidates who under normal circumstances would be preparing for these crucial exams. On their list of demands is a 300% salary hike. The teachers union have chosen mass action and disobedience of a court order to return to work while turning a stone deaf ear to a tough talking government- who continu...

Ones youth is a time like no other that bridge between child hood and irresponsibility and adulthood. Some may approach this time with maturity and common sense eager to make a smooth untroubled transition where as others see this time as one last chance and passport to lose the compass and life map one last time. This lot were perhaps the motley crew that took to the streets of an otherwise peaceful peace loving Mombasa City on Monday to protest the killing of Sheikh Aboud   Rogo Mohamed   over the weekend. Having no clues as to who sleighed the well known Al shabab sympathiser the mostly young mourners took to the streets to demonstrate their displeasure at the polices’ speed- lack their of- in solving the killing. Now there’s absolutely no problem with a group choosing to protest all that they see as wrong with the world they live in, in fact this mostly peaceful method of civil mass action has been a common and effective means to an end for many groups of disgruntled...

Cheap and illicit brews or- home made poison as they seem to prove themselves to be- are nothing new as are the dire consequences of downing these hazardous concoctions: blurred vision, severe pain, blindness and most likely death. All for a quick drink for a few hours of drunken bliss then endless hours/days of pain before death comes calling the apparent logic here in completely eludes me as I am sure many non drinkers or home brew fanatics. This must have been one of the reasons why phrases like if the deal is too good think twice or cheap is costly –or something along those lines- were coined. In the past week or so a more startling revelation was brought to the attention of those foolishly not in the know around the country when a shockingly informative investigative piece was beamed into living rooms country wide. The peace showed how a group of HIV positive women in Nairobi’s Korogocho slums use their life saving drugs to lace alcohol they brew within the slum then set loose on...

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the Olympic Games this year, all the joy and elation of winning a medal- preferably gold- and the disappointment of being so close but yet so far. I am a sports junkie and will on any given day most likely chose to watch a sport than anything else on offer add to that the fact that the games come once every 4 years and I was hooked. Everyone starts off on day one of this viewing adventure with every reason to be optimistic and hopeful that their country will triumph once more, hoping that they can replicate or surpass the –in this case- glowing and memorable performance of the last Games but if you like I had the good fortune of being Kenyan you were in for a recipe of shock and dismay with just a dash of pain and disbelief with a few cherry sized sweet moments thrown in just to keep you hoping that things would turn around. But as race after race went by and the shock of defeat after gut wrenching defeat became an all too...

The Integrity chapter of the constitution is one of those theoretical gems that if put into practice, followed, and adhered to in both letter and spirit our leaders would be forced to go clean, repent and abandon all side deals unbecoming of good leaders which would in turn cause a trickledown effect on the entire nation. Then we the people will surely follow their good example. You are probably rolling your eyes and murmuring ‘she’s dreaming ‘   But of course man and especially politicians will always find   ways to fidget, blur and smudge the very black and visible lines of the laws pounded out by the hammer that should be the constitution (if these very law maker would cease diluting it into near nothingness). By removing the ‘kuchuja’ or vetting clause where politicians are to be looked over by what should be a magnifying glass of law abiding organizations the police among others and given the’ green light’ so to speak as being clean and of a high standard of integrity. ...

RVP, where should I begin, he has been one of the most talked at Trended topics on and off since he made the announcement that broke many a red gunned heart around the world (whether they admit to it or not) and spurned more vitriol and anger since well to be honest I can’t really remember when a transfer of a single player caused this big an uproar. That he would be leaving the Gunners with whom he had stayed for 8 years in search of greener more trophy filled pastures- that in itself must have been a blow but then after what seemed to be an interminable period of teetering between stay and go and perhaps more importantly for the Dutch marksman- go where? With rumour and loud chatter rife and with both Manchester City and Juventus tossing their hats and mega millions into the ring for the services for the at that point Euro2012 horribly misfiring Arsenal forward- he probably had a lot on his 29 year olds mind as at the time- Van Persie had not made up his mind. At this junctu...