Syokimau an opportunity to address land issues in kenya

When I saw the big mansions in Syokimau come down, I could not help but wonder what kind of a government would do that to its people. Every kenyan who is serious in investing in a home has known for the last 4 years that Syokimau is the place to look, so how come the government was blind to all the investment buzz around the area. But this is not just about Syokimau but also all the informal settlements that have year in year out faced the same predicament, the only difference this time round its the middle class that has been rattled by the government, something this government will regret for its remaining term.

I however want to look at the land saga from a different lens. Any kenyan will tell you that land is the cause of conflict in this country dating back to independence. The more we talk about land reforms the worse the situation gets and it makes you wonder if kenya is approaching this from the right angle. The current demolitions however give us an opportunity to approach this differently from how we have done in the past. When the Mau saga broke out, we all expected the reforms to hit the core of the problem but all we saw was poor kenyans who like Syokimau residents, had been duped into buying illegal property without protection from the government whatsoever. Since then we have been waiting for the big fish to be kicked out but instead what we got was a commission to investigate, something any kenyan will tell you has never worked in this country.

Like Mau, this is exactly what is going to happen to Syokimau. politics will be played at the cost of poor kenyans then the ruling class will retain the spoils when the dust settles down. The reason I compare the two is because, kenyans must wake up and smell the coffee, there is no such thing as land reforms, the political class is just playing politics with the issues. The solution can only come if kenyans demand justice dating back to 1963. the Ndugu report should be the starting point as it provides the history of land injustice in kenya. Kenyans should demand that the ruling class who benefited from land stolen from kenyans after independence be reverted back to government. The soon to be formed land commission (we can all hope) should then be tasked with the responsibility of handing the problem. Of course its easier said than done, but until we take that difficult path, innocent kenyans will continue to suffer at the hands of the politically correct leaders who have mastered the art of getting themselves out of any scandals. If we have learnt anything from Syokimau, its that the political class will stop at nothing to get what it wants.

Cancer foundation good but misses the point

Talk to many Kenyans about government performance on service delivery, and the response you get might not be too positive. Why is that you may ask? Because the government has left its mandate to the private sector and NGO’s. This however is a scenario that is likely to change if the likes of the “Unga Revolution” fellows keep up with their recent activities.

This week I was saddened by the statistics on cancer in Kenya. They say 80,000 are diagnosed with the disease every year. Now these are worrying numbers especially baring in mind that Kenya is not fully equipped to deal with this cases. It is therefore applaud able to see the institutions like the African Cancer Foundation coming up. My challenge is however directed at the Minister of Medical Services Prof Anyang Nyongo who is a survivor and the brains behind the foundation.

Prof Nyongo, you occupy a very special if not the most powerful position where policies related to healthcare are concerned. Truth be told, you have the power to change literary anything in this country related to healthcare. As much as many of us applaud your efforts to tackle the disease through the foundation, we wonder if your efforts would be more effective if they were targeted at the public facilities we already have and are more accessible to the citizens, e.g. Kenyatta National Hospital. The hospital is the biggest referral hospital in east and central Africa and so it would make sense that it is fully equipped to handle any cases including cancer.

I wonder how many cancer patients in Kenya alone know of the existence of your foundation and how to go about accessing the services offered by it. How many Kenyans walk into Kenyatta hospitals with cancer only for the doctors to send them back home because they are unable to diagnose the disease. Prof Nyongo, if your objective is to change the healthcare sector in Kenya to benefit its citizens, then use the powers at your disposal as the minister of medical services to change public institutions. Otherwise if you the appointed representative does not do it, who else will?

Popularity contest or not, just pay up

There has been alot of talk from the political quoters on whether MP's should pay their taxes as stipulated in the constitution. Of course there is no debate on the side of the Mwananchi because they all seem to resoundingly support John Njiraini. However, our leaders seem to have been caught completely off guard by this issues despite the fact this is not the first time that the tax man has brought this up. But knowing our MP's they never thought in their wildest dreams that this day shall come to pass. In the last two weeks we have seen it all, from threats to paralyze parliament, to cries of being broke.

ButI am not concerned about those who purport not to have the money to pay the taxes, I am more concerned about those who think that by painting those who have paid the taxes as political skimmers, they might get public support or in the least bit buy themselves more time till their terms come to an end. Well I have news for you, kenyans dont care if Raila, Kalonzo and all the others are trying to buy love from the public by paying the taxes. All we care about is that the money is paid. After all arent all the MP's the likes of Jirongo with their village cafeterias doing the same anyway? The only difference is, we are tired of running after the MP's and are more than happy to sort it out with the tax man and the state.

I also want the MP's to think of all those times billions have been stolen from the public. By paying taxes, we will no-longer hope that you can empathize with the public, but feel the pitch in equal measures. So as the likes of Aden Dwale walk around trashing the MP's who have payed their dues saying they are playing public relations games, let this be a wake up call, Kenyans dont really care, all we care about is the end result so PAY UP

THUGTATORS VS DICTATORS AND D***KDATERS

THUGTATORS VS DICTATORS AND D***KDATERS
(18/03/11)

BY DENNIS DANCAN MOSIERE

After invasion and conquests
Mother Afrika was left
With despots and dictators
As leaders become the worst
dick daters

Afrika,they love behind the mask
Pan African haters
My heart skips a bit
When I remember myself
In chains of discomfort
Torture in my heart and soul,
crest-fallen but tied to decks
Nights and days I did not see
Swirling sounds of high seas
Smells of rotten and decaying
Brothers and sisters fed to sharks
throwing up,defecating in my static position
Under or beside my own life
raping,against my wishes
Lost wealth and blood,lost energy

But what was my real value
Cigarettes and rum
guns and ammunitions
A mish mash of tribal chieftains
Humanity was long smoked out of their brains
bargains for bayonets
Beaten but up and rising again
Like the sand dunes of Sahel
I wish I could kill Israel once and for all
Silence the bombs dropping in Palestina
Like a genius shuttle poet,
Drop bombs of words
And destroy A Merry Car,I cant drive
It is not christmas in Madagascar
If I was a global Lord
I would declare independence
to the islands suffocating under the ass of Zarkozzy
All the islands traumatized by the queen's menopause

If I could pray

Oh great Engoro,Oh Great Enkai,
Overseer of the mad poets
grand master poets and griots
and great magicians,marticians
with asses like the three peaks of mount Kerenyaga
O lord,you whose head is covered with snow for hair
YOU whose brain has a bond of wisdom
Like the crator lakes
OH Great lord
If I must pray

Good lord,
May you sink the terrible virgin islands
drop them under the sea
In a great heap like the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Lord,may the sweat of my words
kill the African despots and dictators
Don't spare the Dick daters
Spare NONE,OOHHHH GREAT WERE
Obong'o Nyakaragaaaaaa

Ban and burn all the K alliances in Kenya
Even the Ku Klux Klan
Ban the ass hole crusades
And the Jihads of fundamentalism
Rape the prospects of globalisation
kill the democracies and democrazies
Like the sons of Afrika killed in bondage
Bungle and chain the Rhodes scholars
and the International Mother fcuker,sic suckers
in weird wild skunk
Propagating new weird orders
Persecuting with scientific poverty
Intellectual infidelity,transparent promiscuity
Yet we are non-vigilant
genetically modified political transplants

We shall maim with words
The remnants of historical despots
and all the merchants of wreck
We shall create new and another world,NOW
or not






Dennis Dancan Mosiere is a Nairobi based performance Poet.Fahamu Pan African Fellow.

What is the Unga Revolution!!!

I am sure many kenyans have noticed the group of youth that congregate on Harambee Avenue (Now rebranded Unga Avenue) everyday at 1pm with empty plates. I have heard a lot of criticism about this brave young people from several quoters. Some claim that the youth have been paid by foreign organizations to cause trouble, others think the youth are just lazy, plain and simple. When I look at my monthly budget, I am tempted to think that the people who feel that this group is a waste of time and space must be living in an entirely different kenya from the rest of us.

Of course the Economist are telling us that this is the situation all over the world and that blaming our government will not change anything. We all know that the cost of fuel affects the cost of everything else and thus the price of basic needs keeps increasing as a result. However what they dont tell us is that the government has the power to regulate anything they want. So that brings us to the question of priorities. The government has always had a choice when it comes to price control. When the prices go up, the government can choose to absorb the extra cost and that means reduce the percentage that goes to them. How about taxing the luxury goods like the cost of a 4x4 vehicle, or the cost of a television set? one way or another, the government has a choice. This is what the young men and women are protesting. The fact that our government does not seem to notice the increase in the price of this basic products. It seems that the only way they will take cognizant of that is if MP's salaries are reduced to cater for the budget deficit resulting from the decrease in the government percentages from petroleum products.

So when you see the young people outside the president's and prime ministers' office, know that they are brave enough to confront the problem on behalf of the rest of us. We have always been told that kenyans are a tolerant and resilient lot and I have always wondered how many of us take that as a compliment. Simply put, we can over come anything. If I was a corrupt public servant, I would take that to mean that no matter how much i took from the public coffers, kenyans would find a way of getting over the damage i cause. Now do you still think that is a compliment? We need to exercise our civic duty more often; that is what the Unga revolution fellows have taught me. We need not give up just because we can survive on what we have today, tomorrow might be a different ball game all together.

It has always been about party politics, never leadership

Bonny Khalwale is quite a fascinating man. Look at any active MP and chances are he/she has a legal background. And by active i mean someone who seems to understand what it is they are doing in parliament, not this mediocre of Sonko like leaders we completely have refuse to let go. Khalwale is a medical doctor by profession but he certainly seems to have done his home work when it comes to what kenyans require of him. It cant be easy mastering all the italian legal jargon that our lawyers seem to be too proud to throw around without thinking that half the kenyans dont really care. The man still has time to participate in the bull fighting events and that kind of balance to me makes him a political genius. However, this is not about Khalwale's prowess in politics, its about the failure of many in the political arena to differentiate between when to play party politics and when to act as good leaders.

Khalwale is the most vocal leader in parliament, and i mean in a relevant way. That should make every political party want to have him on their camp and if not, at least back him as we saw Martha Karua do. Instead what we saw as usual are the same power politics with the competition now focusing on Ford Kenya and ODM: Basically Mudavadi and Eugene Wamalwa. Now that Khalwale has won, the debate is not on how kenyans will benefit from Khalwale's victory but more on what this means for Musalia Mudavadi and ODM. Mudavadi even seems to be blaming some elements within his party who supposedly funded/supported the Ford Kenya Candidate. The issue is now whether Mudavadi will have his people's support if he ditches Raila and runs for the presidency or otherwise risk loosing to Eugene. why cant it just be that Ikolomani people voted for Bonny the man and not Ford Kenya?

I always thought Raila was an astute politician. He has always known how to lie with a straight face and that takes practice. he always seemed to know which lie to tell for each scenario. however this is the one time where truth would have really worked for him. in my opinion, ODM already knew that Ikolomani was a near impossible win and that should have prompted them to swallow their pride and support the best man for the job. An act of bravery like that would not have gone unnoticed by kenyans and may b, just may be, this would have bought mudavadi an extra lifeline in 2012. in 2002 Raila stepped aside for Kibaki, Kenyans saw that as a sign of good leadership and as many of you will bare me witness, Raila has played that card many times for the last 9 years. so why not do the same for Mudavadi in the of case Ikolomani.

Anyway, enough of politics, Im sure all kenyans look forward to having Khalwale back in parliament. I wonder what he will say about the CJ earring issue?? All said and done, it has been a good week for Kenyan politics.

Open letter to William Ruto By Peter N. Ngure

An Honest Open letter to Honorable William Ruto

I have watched you in the last few weeks transverse the country urging the people to re- look at the ICC list of six and you have somehow caught my eye. . In a way, I agree with you; the Six plus others should face Trials and be prosecuted My problem comes when you try to win sympathy from us by bringing in the issues of your family (By the way, Kiraitu tried the same early and it failed miserably). I watched you talk about how your child is having a hard time in school being asked by fellow children if their father indeed torched a church (or is it facilitated the displacement of hundreds of thousands). I indeed felt the pain of your children who have no ready answers (Unlike you) on the events of 2007/08. I actually agree with you that your child should be kept out of this; just like we should have kept the children of the IDP’s and by extension their parents who had no ill role in voting for their preferred candidate in 2007. (By the way, have you ever thought that some of the people who were displaced were highly supportive of ODM? Their only crime was their ethnic background which is God given and they can do nothing about???). This is similar to those who died or were displaced in Kisumu, Kibera, Kikuyu town, Limuru and Naivasha.
I was impressed when you said that your child’s teacher advised you not to leave your child to watch news (the impression I got is that the things you guys are saying on TV are too ridiculous for a child to handle; think about that critically before you go to address a crowd next time).
Three things caught my eye; one is that your child goes to school – this is History for IDP children as their education was disrupted long ago by the PEV and they will have to restart the same in the future. Second; you can afford to have your children watch TV, the IDP children have no idea what that is; its still history since 2007/8 PEV. I was of the opinion that your children need to watch the burning of the Kiambaa church just to get a feel of what the IDPs children saw of their homes but a friend of mine told me two wrongs don’t make a right. Thirdly; one of your children insisted to go with you to The Hague (Even if the IDP kids insisted to go to the Hague, and their parents were willing, they can’t afford) but most importantly, how I wish that the IDP children had the choice in 2007/08 to go with their parents to the camps or to be left at their maternal homes; Ohhhh sorry, I had forgotten, the homes had already been burnt!
**********
The right and just thing to do now is for you and the others in the Ocampo list is to come together and make a joint pact; that the Rift Valley and Central provinces, towns like Naivasha, Kisumu and even Kibera are all part of Kenya, anyone can live there; peace can, will and should prevail. And Ohhhh, Kiplagat’s commission is out there; go and tell them your truth; alternatively, the Hague offers a better and wider audience (lots of TV coverage too) GO FOR IT! JUST KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AND THE IDP CHILDREN OUT OF IT!

(Complied by Peter N. Ngure – A social worker with a Heart for the IDPs)

Why Ocampo Six matter more than 38m ‘stupid’ Kenyan

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/1106234/-/o69p3mz/-/index.html

Why Ocampo Six matter more than 38m ‘stupid’ Kenyans...
By Patrick Gathara


On my way to work last week, I had an epiphany.

As I sat in one of the unending traffic jams that have become part of the daily ritual of trying to get to work, fuming as matatus “overlapped” the queue, it occurred to me that it wasn’t they who were the stupid ones.

The rule of law, whether we’re talking about the highway code, commercial law or criminal statutes, assumes a universal application.

So, when I agree to religiously abide by it when others consider it only as a guideline, to be discarded whenever it is convenient to do so, then it is me who is refusing to see the reality as it truly is.

This notion was reinforced when I finally got to my office and read in the papers that Rift Valley MPs were planning to ditch the National Accord in a bid to replace Raila Odinga as the prime minister with William Ruto.

According to the Standard, the plot is an attempt to shield Ruto from potentially facing charges at the International Criminal Court relating to the 2008 post-election violence.

“If it means repealing the Accord, then we will act and move with speed to replace the PM,” the paper quotes the chairman of the Rift Valley Parliamentary Group, Dr Julius Kones, as saying.

Putting aside for one minute the questionable wisdom of the move (after all, Omar al-Bashir’s position as president of Sudan didn’t save him from similar indictments), the statements simply emphasise the fact that there is one law for some and another for the rest.

Just like the enlightened matatu drivers, our politicians believe that the rules do not apply to them and can be discarded whenever one of them gets into trouble.

Our whole system of governance aids and abets this logic. So when Cabinet ministers are forced out of office after being caught with their hands in the till, the government creates a new taxonomy in which those who “step aside” are allowed to keep their fat salaries and allowances without actually having to work for them.

That, they tell us, is how we will win the war on corruption!

I now believe that it is the ordinary, hardworking, tax-paying, law-abiding Kenyan who is stupid.

We agree to faithfully pay our taxes, even celebrating when the government exceeds its revenue collection charges, while those who actually pass our tax laws do not feel obliged to live under the same regime.

We pay salaries to policemen and civil servants and then agree to supplement these with bribes.

We accept that the leaders of the same government supposed to ensure roads are properly built to cater for the booming numbers of vehicles and that traffic rules are obeyed, should not themselves be inconvenienced when they fail to do their jobs.
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