I attended a vision and ambition launch at the panafric last night. It was being done by a young man from Marakwet West. the man is hoping to take over the mantle and free the marakwets from all their trials and tribulations. i learnt yesterday that marakwet is a place in kenya where mangoes and oranges still grow wild. or maybe lets say grow without anyone laying claim to them. yet i was told again that the people in this rich land live in abject poverty. one thing that struck me from the crowd was that it was quite diverse. there were very few marakwets in the evening. another interesting thing was that two other brothers in this family have ever tried to capture that seat but failed. so this third one is the proverbial David who was anointed by Samuel. incidentally he was called samwel himself. Many people showered him with praises and words of encouragement. it looks like the people from these area are rather polite if the tone of the night is anything to go by. they talk so gently almost to a whisper. its a wonder then that marakwet is so known more for the insecurity than for mangoes growing and falling off in the wild. in fact the 'MP' promised to sort out the security issue once elected.
and talking of security or lack of it. i agree with comments in my recent post that economic growth when insecurity is at this high level is nothing. bloggers commented that we should never talk of wealth creation and economic growth if the security of that wealth cannot be guaranteed. Agreed.
but still on security, the mungiki rage that is threatening to paralyze the center of the country where also the power sits is not as easy as the media puts it. i met this guy who told me that indeed business men are being invited to join the gang after paying 300,000/= membership fees. the conditions were the same as the ones of Julius Ceasar, if you join we will protect you from all your enemies and cover you in gold else we will throw you to the circus maximus! today mungiki has indicated that they will expect residents of muranga to pay 200 bob per day for each matatu, 50 bob per day for each homestead (pay for living in muranga) and 100 bob per day for each kiosk or shop.
who was the aspirant?
ReplyDeleteThe guy is called Kandie
ReplyDeleteOn the mungiki issue, these goons must be destroyed by hook or crook. If they are not annihilated they will overshadow the Mafia, even at the height of their notoriety. They will move from their traditional sources of revenue, i.e. Matatu industry and parallel taxation in the slums to the more formal aspects of our lives. Soon to engage in any economic activity we might need to seek their approval and pay them. And for those who see it as a Kikuyu problem, unless they lose they will manifest themselves in all areas of this country
ReplyDelete