Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Its an overdose , again

It could only be me, but the Kenyan media especially TV are fond of overdosing us with programs. just a few years ago, every station worth its salt had to air latin american soaps with voice overs , beautiful people, nice houses and flowers and very poor acting. We were overdosed until we became sick then in came the oga movies. the story was the same. husband snatching and witchcraft, prayer and big money all going together. then fast followed 'local' production of home made movies and series and now i feel really overdosed with reality competitions, mara top this , best in that etc all at the same time. Does anyone ever do market surveys?

And as i relax at home for a well deserved vacation (not yet rich enough to go the mara) I cant help but watch live coverage of the EAC investor conference at the KICC. they started with 'light' entertainment. They cant be missed. if you were in Kenyan anywhere in the '80s the traditional dances and songs have remained largely the same with no value addition whatsoever. even mwana wa mberi (sp) was sung and danced to, then the pokomo dancers , kuria dancers and mamalaka choir. same script only younger performers. I saw these things when i was young i grew through them and now when am older than the performers they are the same. one thing i dread at being a politician is being bored with mediocre entertainment. But pray, what do our visitors think when they see the same entertainment year in year out?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

What(er) Problem!

If there is one thing I dread it is feeling helpless or knowing that am in a situation where I have little or no control. But since last week am finding myself in this particular situation due to acute shortage of water where I stay. What makes it more severe is the fact that I have very little or no control over how the water distribution or lack of it is done. Just last month, I went to the NWS offices to pay my bill and discovered that for the past 1 year I have been paying someone else's bill. The staff corrected the anomaly but did not offer even a simple sorry. This is what makes me angry. That am being served by people who are either hopelessly incompetent or sinfully corrupt. Worse is that I have no idea what to do about the situation.

Indeed every time any one shows me the water levels at ndakaini dam and tells me that if God doesn't send rain in the next 6 months things would get worse, I feel like smashing the telly (hasira hasara) It makes me feel very very desperate and helpless. That the CEO is there on TV telling me that in his old age, training and experience he knows no other way to get water to his customers other than from ndakaini which must be filled by the Almighty God. Where do they get water in Dubai, or Saudi Arabia, or even South Africa with no rivers nor ndakainis?

But when I was feeling helpless like that, my good friend Denis was already getting a solution to all the governmental failures. Denis tells me that he plans to create his own micro government and provide everything they have failed to provide to his family. How will he do it? Already started by acquiring 1 acre plot in Ngong hills (from someone who grabbed it from the forest!) He will then put up a wind mill so that his power will come whether it rains on not. He will also drill a bore hole so that Ndakaini doesn't control his life. Finally he plans to buy all the idle land around his home so that he can control development. His 'country' will have proper roads, trees grown and waste properly disposed.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Ni Mambo ya Siasa

A lot has been said about Obama's sudden disgust with Kenyans and their governance. Many people who love to hate themselves have hailed his bitter criticism and 'snub' of the country of his fathers birth and said he is right through and through. Some are hoping that he will provide to us the missing leadership that we ravenously yearn for.

Lets start by saying that Obama was actually right on most counts. its true that corruption, tribalism, nepotism and all the isms or capitalism have trully conspired to bring our great nation to its knees. But really thats not the issue. The real issue as i see it is that Obama just proved what i had secretly feared , that the man is as a politician as Kibaki and Raila. Its not lost to anyone that Obama never mentioned anything negative about his fathers country deep into the campaigns of last year. it was all praise and good will to the fatherland. to me it was a play into the political or cultural psyche of the american people. From the movies and stories and even music that comes from that land of opportunity, its clear that those people are obsessed with human triumph stories. stories of people who beat all the odds to emerge victorious. Obama's tight attachment to Kenya at that time was strategic to make Americans want to be part of his great achievement as an orphan of a poor african goat herder who beat all odds to assume the hieghest office in the land. yet on reading his story, one realises that thats very far from truth. he in fact was of the few silver spoon kids who went to some of the best schools in America and elsewhere. Harvard in fact is not a 2 bob college. very far from goat herding.

So why the change now? I would think that Kenya is no longer strategic. We are now a liability. This change is no different from the change of Raila or Kibaki after they assumed the coveted offices.

and like Gumo used to say, na hiyo yote ni mambo ya siasa!

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Excellent

We have blogged several times about our president and most times about the negative things that we hope he could change. But this past day, his returning 8 fuel guzzlers to the dealers because they were irregularly acquired is out of this world. That single action made me proud to be a Kenyan. I hope there will be a follow up disciplinary action on the people who wanted to con comfort the emperor!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Great waste of our time dear shepherds!

Each time i see our men and women of the pulpit call a press conference or invite the media to cover their blame of the political leaders for the problems we have, i simply switch off or change channels. Indeed each time i see these people am acutely reminded of everything that has gone wrong with our society. These men and women are the strongest reminder of the collective failure of our people to create a nation. They remind me everyday of my anger and hopelessness that even though almost each of the mainstream churches has celebrated a century of mission work in the country, they have failed to make our people see themselves as one and that our individual and collective difference in language, tradition and culture threaten us so much that we can never trust one another.

Yet every time its convenient, they come together and incite us to action. which action they know for sure that they are not ready to help us see to the end.

But my disdain of these people did not come yesterday, it did not even come last year when they burried their heads in the sand if not openly supporting their tribesmen and proding them to further negative action. it did not even come in 2007 when certain bishops openly took partisan or should we say tribal positions on every single issue.

my frustration started in 1997 when i first realised that all was lose talk. that at the bottom of it they teach us to love our neighbours but in reality they mean our selves and those who speak a language we understand.

These days they keep on blaming the politicians for not giving direction and not uniting the country. today they really do blame Raila and Kibaki for all the failures and they call all MPs to resign and seek fresh mandate. They conveniently forget that they have had longer time to unite the country, they have longer reach since they represent the most devine power. they even dont have our mandate but they have our unquestioning loyalty and faith. But how have they used all these opportunities? more than 100 years. they have failed on one single supreme law of the Lord they serve and vicar. that of loving the Lord with all your heart sould and mind and loving your neighbour as you love yourself.

The men of the pulpit have never approached me for my signature to complain about the govt. but for sure should any one of them bother, i will do them a great favor and tear into pieces even the papers which alread have other such wasted signatures.