The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

[Onyango Oloo]

A Not So Short Digital Offering from Onyango Oloo…






216.17.145.92/uploads/2005/05/jivunie_ukenya-sinpare.mp3

PART ONE:

As was to be expected, the tribal factor has permeated this pugnacious face off between the NO and YES contingents with accusations flying high and low about dastardly plots and devious motives.

Speaking personally, I have been the target of specific attacks by known Yes supporters in the various online forums. Here are three samples:


OO,

Just tell Wananchi what realy lies behind all this ink that you are spreading so generously. So far, it is destroy, destroy, destroy, but you are silent about what to put in place after the destruction. Could it be that, like Goerge Bush in Iraq, all you know is how to destroy, but not how to build? If you had a viable development plan to share with the wananchi, I am sure you are quite capable of articulating it clearly. Admit it - you dont have one.

That one about throwing the old rascals out is 'the most important thing' is a tired one. We heard it during the run up to the NARC elections, only to discover it was a trojan horse for power hungry politician to achieve their selfish political ambitions.

One good thing about you and your ilk is that all that pseudointellectual adrenaline coursing through your vains makes you so overconfident that you begin to devine the future as though you were demi-gods. The problem with that is you have to be assuming that the opposition is blind, stupid, and completely lacking in strategy, because if they did they would be matching you empty propaganda sentense for empty propaganda sentense. They are not. Think about it!

And to demonstrate how realistic your sense of judgement is about Kenyan politics, you tried it once in 1982 and lost big time. Your methods have not changed one bit. The lawless methods you guys opt for, got you big thunderous headaches in the end. I can see that after the orange turns sour on the morning of Nov 22nd, you guys, instead of swallowing your lumps like men, will be in the streets with bad breath and rocks agitating of a coup of some sort. I know this because you have done it before. But this time around, you OO will be sitting comfortably in some sofa in Montreal, won't you, while those hapless Luos you are promising that kifua mbele will bring them glory face the full fury of the machinery of a legitimately elected government, operating according to the only legal constitution in the land.

And get this, the Luhyas are not with you on this one.

Some poeple in central and rift valley might be applauding loudly as you guys put your clown shows on the road, but how they will vote in the end is still a big mystery.


"Haki" posting on the Mambogani forum.

And the Nairobi- based "Kamale" after bashing the recently deceased Poxi Presha as a “criminal extortionist” said this in response to my protest at his cowardly attack on the dead Kenyan artiste:

"Unfortunately the Luo veneer is not hard to see in your hallucinating that I was trashing Poxi. You can no longer pull wool over our eyes on your tribalist leanings Oloo - and please do not give me stories of having slept with kikuyus et al to prove how less a tribalist you are!

You honestly should be ashamed of yourself!"

Of course as icing on this tribal cake, Onyango Oloo is now supposed to be in cahoots with the same dictator who sent him to a maximum security prison for five years:

"How much is Moi paying you, Onyango?
In response to 15 Biggest Banana Blunders... posted by Onyango Oloo
From: € blog-social democrat - african-fiesta.com Wed, Oct 12, 6:33 AM

I meant Raila but what's the difference anyway. They're both undemocratic with dictatorial traits stinking from a mile away and to add insult to injury they lie with straight faces just like you. In addition to the above, the trio of you’ve extremely big EGOS make me wonder how big is the moon's ego. "


When I did my list of the 15 Biggest Blunders of the Yes Campaign I listed the resort to Luophobia and the reliance on notorious cyber tribal-trash hecklers as two of the lowest points in that disastrous and futile effort to win new friends and influence new people to adopt the banana as their favourite Kenyan political fruit.

What goes on across the expanse of the internet is but an echo of the tribal cacophony and hateful bile that spills from the mandibles of the Nyachaes, Kombos, Kituyis, Murungarus, Karuas and other leading lights of the Yes team. Online hate speech just reinforces the Kenyan Interhamwe frenzy emanating from the Macharia chain of ethnic radio stations. Earlier today a Nairobi based Kenyan netter revealed that:


Backstabbing rocks Radio Citizen - New!
From: Kuka - as usual - Mwangi Ruguru Weekly Citizen Tue, Oct 18, 3:10 AM

A media house that takes sides on a contentious issue digs its own grave.

Citizen radio ratings have tumbled to an all time low in recent times.

Most listeners in Coast, Eastern, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley are switching to alternate radio & tv stations

Journalists at the station have become disgruntled. Last week they staged a go slow to protest interhamwe approach.

Greed and corruption by senior editors at the station. Jemimah Mungai ex KBC demoted from Managing Director replaced with Mutegi Njau ex Nation. She was giving "NO" side positive coverage. She received hefty bribes from "NO" She loves the shilling. Cash -for-news approach. Her former workmates at KBC now with CITIZEN include Kimeli arap Kimei & Hellen Wanjiru plus Latifah. Her opponent is a veteran with academic limitations, cannot be promoted.

Mutegi Njau cannot work with Bedan Mbugua or Waweru Mburu. iko tabu hapa.

Chairman S.K.Macharia is frequently visited by Kamau Kuria, Chris Kirubi, Rose Kimotho and Wilfred Kiboro among others to strategise "YES" campaign.

A popular programme Yaliotokea has become a rumbling banal discharge of ethnic tripe that has alienated listeners who are beyond the scope of the presenters myopia

Last week Kalonzo Musyoka warned S. K. Macharia he be arraigned in Netherlands Int Court of Justice Hague war criminal.


CITIZEN Radio & TV
From: Kuka - Mon, Oct 17, 11:31 AM

Since it chose the path of Rwanda Interhamwe, its listenership has declined drastically forcing advertisers to withdraw hence causing business concern amongst its shareholders namely the macharia family. True story.

It has repeatedly and nauseatically said YES to its listeners a majority of whom are NO! and they loved this station - the rural luhya, luo, kisii and kamba each with their own vernacular line.

In this connection, I have been more than a bit perplexed at news reports that the folks over at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights want to spend precious time and money PROSECUTING members of the respective Orange and Banana teams who deign to “distort the contents of the Wako Draft”- a very bizarre pursuit especially when one considers that this controversial document has a myriad conflicting interpretations not least of which is embedded in the Banana camp. For instance, will that outfit haul President Kibaki to court for basically LYING to PCs and chiefs that they will still have the very jobs that Wako took away in his draft? How about the conflicting assurances /threats given to past, present and future human rights culprits?

Frankly I would have thought that Khalif Khelefa, Tirop Kitur and the rest of their colleagues on that state funded, arms-length human rights watch dog would be focusing their ire on the virulent tribal hate speech that has seen for example Uhuru Kenyatta vilified in Central Province as an ethnic traitor because he is one of the chief campaigners of the Orange Team and has witnessed Yes Supremo Mzee Nyachae bin Nyandusi go to a public meeting in his Kisii backyard to utter tribal gibberish against the presumably uncircumcised Raila (sometimes I wonder if these dirty minded, foul mouthed, grey haired Wazee lurk in Bunge urinals waiting for Luo politicians to take a leak before photographing the offending genitals of the “guilty” Ramogi descendants with a satisfied smirk:” Yes! Jackpot! I now have digital evidence that Omera Nyakwar Omera is really uncut!) Anyways, it is not really my place to tell the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights how to do their work or where to spend their money. If they want to be Vigilantes for the Politically Correct Interpretation of the Wako Draft, so be it...

In the last few days, the emphasis of the Yes Camp has shifted from attacking Raila Odinga and Luos in covert and overt ways to rallying the tribal troops to close ranks around their ethnic own. In Western Kenya notorious chauvinists like Mukhisa Kituyi and Kombo are openly telling members of the diverse Abaluhyia cluster to flush their critical minds down the choo and vote as an ethnic bloc in order to ensure that they are next in line or something really foolish like that. Speaking as a Kenyan who is not only from Western Province but moreover has THREE Luhya great grandmothers (my mother’s mother’s mother; my father’s mother’s mother; my father’s father’s mother) I keep wondering if these messages are meant for my ears as well- after all I am from Kisa; my constituency is Khwisero, my district is Butere-Mumias and my grandmother is from Emanyulia. Unlike other Luos I say, "adwaro khwarkha" instead of "adwaro keto pi da’kuon" and I call chicken shiit "osirigoho" instead of chi.eth gweno" and I know about “sikhokho” that I can get if I allow an old creepy passerby gaze at me for too long if I venture too close to Eshirotsa or Ikomero away from my Luanda Dudi village base.

(CONTINUED)

[Onyango Oloo]

PART TWO:

Speaking of Luos who are practically Luhyas here is what Raila Odinga was saying the other day at the "other Luanda", the one near Maseno that we in Luanda Dudi on the other side of the Yala River call "Luanda Siala":

Monday October 17, 2005

Don’t lean on tribe,

Raila tells Ford-K chairman
________________________________________
Anderson Ojwang’ and Peter Atsiaya, East African Standard


Roads minister Raila Odinga yesterday told Ford Kenya chairman Musikari Kombo to stop dreaming of being president.

Raila said Kombo should stop cheap politics that was likely to lead him nowhere.

"Let t be known to Kombo that he cannot be the president after joining the old guard and practising cheap politics bordered in tribal support," Raila said.

He said the younger generation had joined together to widen democratic space and wondered why Kombo would not read the signs of the times.

He said because of Kombo’s type of politics, his popularity was dwindling day by day.

Raila said the Local Government minister had been banking on a "false hope" of galvanising the Luhya community to support his presidential bid.

Speaking at Luanda market, Vihiga District, during an Orange rally, Raila said he had a closer lineage with the Luhya community than Kombo.

"My great grandfather came from the Wanga, my aunts are in Butere and Vihiga and my daughter is married in Luanda, while the grandmother of my wife comes from Khwisero. With this background is Kombo a more Luhya than me?" he asked.

He said wananchi should reject leaders who practice tribalism because they were likely to ruin the country.



Incidentally if I am not mistaken "Luanda" means "rock" in both Luo and some Luhya dialects like luNyore and luKisa. Here is a childhood confession: when I was a pre-teen kid growing up in Gem/Kisa in the late sixties and early seventies (to be precise, this surreal phase lasted from 1969 to 1970, then I GREW UP and started skimming through my father’s copies of Professors Ogot and Were’s histories of the two Kenyan soccer player factories) I used to fantasize that our immediate ancestors from the two Kenyan Luandas were probably ANGOLANS who had been kidnapped by the PORTUGUESE COLONIALISTS from that South West African capital and SOLD as SLAVES in Western Kenya to work as hewers of wood and drawers of water to our Luo and Luhyia conquistadors. This is because I always heard stories of fighting between the Angolan Independenistas and the Wareno Makaburu and wondered what the Portuguese did with all those Africans they captured in battle. It is interesting where young minds can fly to.

Back to that Raila anecdote. It helped unfurl a series of quaint and nostalgic anecdotes on the Kenyaonline discussion forum.

Take a whiff:

From: kuriajmwangi@...
Date: Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:43 pm
Subject: Re: [kca_main] Don’t lean on tribe, Raila tells Ford-K chairman
Mzee Otwoma:

Kumbe Raila ni Muluyia. He sounds more Luyia than either you or Kombo.

in luo tradition, there is something known in our parlance as "dhoch." now, for one to be able to reverse this "dhoch" or rather "loko dhoch," he has to be a true descendant of ramogi ajwan`g. be afraid, nyikwa ramogi, be very afraid joka nya nam!

n`otiya

From: "otwomad" <Otwomad@...>
Date: Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:09 am
Subject: Re: [kca_main] Don't lean on tribe, Raila tells Ford-K chairman
Rev,

From Yala to Luanda to

Maseno on Busia-Kisumu road is very interesting. Like the colonialists before the neocolonialists present said one side of the road is Luo Nyanza (Siaya district) and the other side Luhya Western (Vihiga/Mumias districts). So you have people like me (mama Luo na baba Luhya) at Luanda. We speak both languages (Luo & Luhya dialect in this case luNyore,luKisa, luMarama or luWanga). On market days at Luanda, my fathers' village, a shopkeeper will chide you in luNyore (why do you go and buy from that Luo's shop and leave me your fellow muNyore) and the next customer the same shopkeeper will reprimand in Luo (why do you go and buy in that muNyore shop and leave me your fellow Luo).

So Rev you can call me Luo or Luhya. Both fit the bill. One time one brother was in Gor Mahia and another in AFC Leopards.

Otwoma


From: "Onyango Oloo" <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:57 am
Subject:

Whether it is on Kisumu-Butere railway route or Going further on that Kisumu-Busia Road...

Past Yala, you snake your way westwards zipping past Nyamninia and Muhanda and avoid the turn to Nyawara and until you reach the Dudi shopping centre where you alight. You then cross the road. On your right is the open air market and in front of you are the ancient rusting dukas. Walking past these decrepit dwellings you approach the posho mill in front of which you hit the laterite murramed serpent that will take you north west past Ukhoware, Ujimbe until you reach the fork on the road at the junction where Prof. Ogot's old 1960s rural mansion still squats (almost two decades after the Prof & the Missus moved to Yala township to be eligible for running in the Gem elections). Now just like Otwoma said, on one side of this laterite road is Siaya District and the other one is Butere-Mumias. At Ujimbe you find the homes of two legendary musicians from Western Kenya- on the left is the old home of the late Okach Biggy and on the right, almost directly opposite Prof. Ogot's dala is the home of Richard Odongo, Kitoyi and Opiyo- all deceased members of the much beloved Gem Lucky Band which was a minor hit in the early to mid 1970s. Now if you go further north along the left fork of the road from Dudi you will end up in Got Regea and Got Kokwiri-in Nyanza- but you will have to by pass our home in Luanda Dudi (or Luanda Doho) which is in Kisa West location of the old Kakamega District.Again to echo Otwoma, there is considerable flux- I have plugged my Luhya grandmother to death...But almost everybody else is of the same mchuzi mix. In fact some so called "Luo" clans like Jo-Ujimbe and Jo-Umina were Luhya clans as late as the mid 19th century according to some sources. Raila's wife, Ida, comes from Maliera- again another area where it is all jumbled up ethnically...

And of course, back in Nyamninia I forgot to tell you to cross the tarmacked Yala-Busia road and make your way to Rawalo where you will find my mother's people. She was part of a group of transplanted Ugenya people who moved to Gem in the early 20th century. Her father had two wives- my mother's mother also from Ugenya but with a "pure Luhya" for a mother. When I attended my great grandmother's funeral on November 10-12 1972 I found out that she NEVER SPOKE ANY DHOLUO. My maternal grandfather's second wife was referred to affectionately as "NyaKawango" because of her Wanga origins.

There you go.

Onyango Oloo
Toronto



(CONTINUED)

[Onyango Oloo]

PART THREE:

Here is my theory about so called “Pure” Ethnic Identities in Kenya:

By and large, these are historically determined, socially constructed CONVENIENT community MYTHS.

The other day over here in the west end of Toronto, I ran into a middle aged Southern Sudanese who happened to be a Dinka. He had also lived in Kenya for over a decade and he told me his version of how the Southern Luos ended up in Kenya. He said that in Sudan they have another name for the Luos which means that this appellation came later in the history of this community. My uncle Prof. Ogot has documented in his seminal text on the Southern Luos how many Luhyia clans in Gem were assimilated as Luos. And he should know- this grandson of Agina the son of Paulo Opiche and grandson of Ayieko. His grandfather is my father’s grandfather and my father told me this polygamous ancestor of Onyango Oloo had both Luo and Luhyia wives. Ogot’s grandmother was a co-wife of my father’s paternal grandmother (who I was told by my own paternal grandmother was another Luhyia who did not speak a word of Luo. Interestingly enough my own “Luhyia” grandmother from Emanyulia- who spoke BETTER Dholuo than her sons and daughters- in law from Karachuonyo, Oyugis and Seme- startled me when she revealed to me sometime in 1972 or 1973 that her folks had actually been “Luos from Alego” who had resettled in Emanyulia near the Butere-Yala train tracks. Quite frankly I never believed her- until over thirty years later, a Kenyan woman born and raised in Emanyulia writing online from southern France repeated this story in a certain Kenyan forum almost word for word- yes, indeed there was actually a Luhyia clan in Emanyulia who were originally Luos from Alego! She herself was quite conversant with the Luo language and had relatives from Anyiko on the outskirts of Yala Township.

The other day, when I said that many Kisiis are former Luos and many Luos are ex-Kisiis I could almost feel the tribal static gearing up to electrocute me via email remote control. But I was right: the Luos know it and the Kisiis know it. It is just that our accumulated, largely mythological creation stories have encouraged us to imagine the "ethnic jirani other" as the enemy who stole our land, raped our grandmothers and placed a multi-generational pox on us. I should have added that there are similar kinship ties among the Luos and the neighbouring Kalenjin communities. For instance, one of my sisters has a kid whose name is Samoei- even though the kid’s father is a Luo. But guess what, his grandmother is a Nandi. Back in my Luanda Dudi village there was this old pint sized cattle-herd who never ever married. And he used to tell us that he was a Meru. Again, how far fetched that story is I am not sure- perhaps one day a murume from Imenti will reveal all in JUKWAA about a little known Meru- Luo connection.

What I am saying about Luos can be extended to the Agikuyu and the Maasai; the Akamba and Meru; the Waswahili na Mijikenda and even many Kenyans who imagine they are pure Wahindis. How many people know for instance that Kenya’s SECOND Vice President Joseph Murumbi was part Mhindi and part Maasai? How many people know that Najib Balala is part Mhindi and part Mwarabu (with probably some Mijikenda relatives somewhere down his lineage)? How many people know that John Keen’s father was of European descent? How about Kariuki Chotara? His last name is often a pejorative equivalent to the equally derogatory “Point Five” slur used to describe Kenyans of mixed race. In my own immediate family I have cousins who have Swedish mothers; nephews who have Tanzanian fathers; in laws who are from Nanyuki. My own son has two Meru grandparents on one side- apart from the whole mchuzi mix on his father’s side. And of course who has not heard of my Kirinyaga fiancée (we have been engaged for a long time I hear some cynics mutter. Get a life already is what I tell you).

Who knows what Kenyan communities and the attendant ethnic identities would have emerged had the British colonialists not invaded and occupied our lands?

Is it possible that over time, the Luos, the Luhyias and the Abagusii would have merged into a synthesized ethnic group called the Abagusiluohyias? Think of the stranglehold they would have on the Soccer Championships!

Could we be talking about the Maagikumerumbians?

Or the Akamboranas?

Or perhaps the Turkopokotomarkweiyo?

How about the Gujarasomalis or the Arabogiriamas?

The possibilities are just endless.

(CONTINUED)

[Onyango Oloo]

PART FOUR:

What happened in Kenya instead is the REALITY of historical colonial oppression.

About ten years ago I read a book called

The Swahili: Idiom and Identity of an African People by

author/activist/scholar Alamin Mazrui and Ibrahim Noor Shariff . Somewhere in the pages of that book I recall a passage about a 1917 letter from some colonial DC instructing other functionaries to do everything they can to foster tribal identities among the Kenyan nationalities as a way of thwarting the growth of a collective national consciousness. This is one of the reasons why the first nationalist organizations had names like the Kikuyu Central Association, the Taita Hills Association; the Kavirondo Tax Payers Association, the Ukambani Members Association and so on and so forth. It is not that Kenyans back then were so tribal that they could only form “tribal bodies”- on the contrary- they wanted to form nationwide patriotic formations but this was considered a grave threat to the colonial status quo. For evidence, you will find out that all these organizations collaborated and worked together and had a common anti-imperialist objective of fighting for Kenyan independence. As early as 1923 Kenyans of Indian descent defied the attempt to segregate them from their African brothers and sisters by leading the fight which led to the defeat of the White Paper which wanted to transform Kenya into an apartheid state like South Africa or the former Rhodesia. Throughout the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s Kenyan communities continued to work together as Kenyans in fighting for a better Kenya. For more background about this, revisit the histories of Wazalendo like

Me Katilili and Mzee Wanje who were the first Kenyan political detainees and internal exiles- way back in 1913 when they were “deported” to Kisii land for leading the Giriama of Kilifi to resist forced labour and compulsory taxation; Harry Thuku’s 1922 protest outside the Central Police Station and his later detention near Lamu; Makhan Singh forming the very first non-racial working class organization with the 1935 launch of the Labour Trade Union of Kenya; Chege Kibacia organizing the African Workers Federation in Mombasa to spearhead the 1939 Mombasa General Strike; Makhan Singh, Fred Kubai, Bildad Kaggia and other patriots forming the giant and militant East African Trade Union Congress in 1947( or was it ’49?) that coordinated the boycott in 1950 of Nairobi being declared a “White City” and later on the crippling General Strike of that year- which earned Makhan Singh a ten year stint in the coolers as the first Kenyan to ever declare publicly that he was in fact, a Communist; Pio Gama Pinto, the Sharda and Vidyarthi families working behind the scenes as the “Indian” conduit to the Mau Mau guerrillas; liberal White Kenyans working with the Fenner Brockways to coordinate the international campaign to free Jomo Kenyatta and the rest of the Kapenguria Six( itself a very multi-ethnic sextuplet of Luos, Gikuyus, Kambas etc);Argwings Kodhek, Tom Mboya having their social base in urban communities where the majority ethnic group was the Agikuyu; Jaramogi Oginga Odinga sacrificing his political ambitions to ensure that Jomo Kenyatta was released to head Kenya’s first independent government; Jomo Kenyatta emerging from prison on August 14, 1961 to galvanize Kenyans under the leadership of the then quite militant and progressive KANU which won a landslide in the 1963 elections precisely because it was the NATIONAL party that most Kenyans gravitated towards; Munyua Waiyaki, Bildad Kaggia, JD Kali, T.M. Chokwe, Msanifu Kombo, Abdilatif Abdalla, Oyangi Mbajah being prominent non-Luos in the opposition KPU; Ngugi wa Thiongo resigning in protest from the University of Nairobi in 1969 to protest the detention of Jaramogi and his KPU comrades; in the 1970s J.M. Kariuki as the most popular politician in Nyanza after Oginga Odinga; Chelagat Mutai, George Anyona, Mark Mwithaga, Jean Marie Seroney and Martin Shikuku being revered household names all over Kenya because of their courageous and patriotic parliamentary contributions in the mid 1970s; this patriotic Wabunge passing the torch to the Seven Bearded Sisters: Lawrence Sifuna, Chibule wa Tsuma, Koigi wa Wamwere, Abuya Abuya, James Orengo, Mwashengu wa Mwachofi and.. Who was the 7th Sister? Oh. The only woman in the group- Chelagat Mutai. Although she later did a Ngilu and compromised with the Moi dictatorship, in her heyday, Chelagat Mutai was probably the most courageous MP in Kenya. She had earned her stripes as a militant student leader (along with James Orengo, the late Ooko Ombaka, Wanyiri Kihoro and the late Jembe Mwakalu) at the University of Nairobi in the immediate aftermath of the JM assassination. And very few people know that Koigi wa Wamwere who is these days an OPEN Gikuyu chauvinist was first detained by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in 1975 because of his MILITANT opposition to the Kiambu Mafia. Koigi told me when he visited us in Dar es Salaam in 1988 that they were on the verge of launching an opposition party in 1975 (it was legal back then) when he was nabbed and whisked off to detention. His biggest nemesis was Moi’s foe the late Kihika Kimani. Another little known fact is that Daniel arap Moi actively campaigned ( I am not sure if he actually bankrolled ) Koigi’s ultimately successful run for the Nakuru North seat in 1979 in order to turf out Kihika- a rabid tribalist who had spared no efforts to humiliate Moi when he was Mzee’s deputy. Of course the same Daniel arap Moi turned around and detained the same Koigi wa Wamwere in 1982 in the aftermath of the abortive coup-more because Koigi was linked with the radical Marxist lecturers like Maina wa Kinyatti rather than any involvement in the coup. Of course Raila Odinga’s first stint in detention is dated the same year. Taken together, Koigi and Raila are the longest serving political prisoners in Kenya’s history. Not to be confused with the longest serving Kenyan prisoner period- Mzee Kisilu Mutua who spent 36 years behind bars after being falsely accused of killing the Kenyan socialist patriot Pio Gama Pinto in February 1965.

When we pick up this multi-ethnic patriotic thread in 1990 when Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia and to a certain extent the Reverend Timothy Njoya went public with their agitation for multiparty democracy we should not forget the very important 1981 to 1990 chunk of underground anti-imperialist organizing featuring patriotic and again multi-ethnic formations like Second of March Movement, Cheche Kenya, the December Twelve Movement, the Kenya Anti-Imperialist Front, Harakati ya Kupambania Demokrasia Kenya, Upande Mwingine, the Kenya Socialist Alliance, Chama Cha Ukombozi, the Kenya National Front, the Kenya Revolutionary Movement, Ukenya, Umoja, Mwakenya, the Me Katilili Revolutionary Movement, the Kenya Patriotic Front, the Muungano wa Kupambania Demokrasia Kenya, the Organization for Democracy in Kenya, UWAKE, the Februray 18th Movement and many others that have slipped my mind. As a rule all of the above formations were multi-ethnic, multi-racial NATIONAL progressive and patriotic formations something that can be gauged by some of the insiders and foot soldiers- Ngugi wa Thiongo, Koigi wa Wamwere, Willy Mutunga, Alamin Mazrui, Abdilatif Abdalla, Shadrack Gutto, Micere Mugo, Edward Oyugi, John Munuve, Rubiik, Odindo Opiata, Adanje, Shadrack Mwarigha, Kathini Maloba, Maina wa Kinyatti, Ngugi wa Mirii, Kaara wa Macharia, Omondi K'Abir, Njuguna Mutahi, Wahu Kaara, Wang'ondu wa Kariuki, Mwandawiro Mghangha, Wafula Buke, John Odongo, Zarina Patel, Shiraz Durrani, Sultan Somji, Irung'u Houghton, Njeri Kabeberi, Jembe Mwakalu, Oduor Ongwen, Odenda Lumumba, the Mungai Brothers, Tirop arap Kitur, Onyango Oloo, Adongo Ogony, Kishushe Mzirai, Mwangi wa Githinji, Chitechi Osundwa, Karimi Nduthu, Yusuf Hassan, the late Mwakdua wa Mwachofi, and a whole bunch of other people some of whom are alive and some who have passed away.

Ironically, some of the “Young Turks” of the 1990s were decades older than some of the underground veterans that I have name-checked in the preceding paragraph. But again, you see them continuing the very same multi-ethnic NON-TRIBAL national tradition of political mobilization- FORD’s founders like the late Jaramogi and the late Mzee Muliro and Martin Shikuku, Jaduong’ George Nthenge, Kenneth Matiba and Shahib Bamhariz liaised with younger firebrands like Wamalwa Kijana, Raila Odinga, Paul Muite, Gitobu Imanyara, Anyang Nyongo, James Orengo, Murtaza Jaffer, Kiraitu Murungi and other patriots to create the massive opposition that would have surely toppled Moi in 1992-were it not for the artificially created schisms imported from without.

The period between 1992 and 1997 again exhibited yet another multi-ethnic phase of popular mobilization with the likes of Dr. Willy Mutunga, Njeri Kabeberi, Kivutha Kibwana, Timothy Njoya and Davinder Lamba forging the NCEC into the most militant and progressive political machine agitating for democratic reforms and constitutional change.

The period between 1998 and 2002 we saw the faith communities led by stalwarts like Ndingi Mwana Nzeki, David Gitari, Timothy Njoya and Reverend Mutava Musyimi picking up the thread from fiery clerics of an earlier era like Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge and Henry Okullu to lead the fight for democratic reforms.

And of course we see the Unbwogable Eruption of 2002 leading to this massive anti-KANU pan Kenyan coalition umbrella group bringing together Charity Ngilu, Mwai Kibaki, Anyang Nyongo, Wamalwa Kijana, Raila Odinga, Najib Balala, Kipruto Kirwa, Mukhisa Kituyi, Kivutha Kibwana etc to confront and defeat the Moi-KANU dictatorship. Again we see that Kenyans coming together as Kenyans- not as Luos, Gikuyus, Kalenjins etc.

In 2005, we see another massive upsurge- and if we look at the Orange Democratic Movement- which is still fairly mainstream and top down- you see Akamba, Gikuyus, Kalenjins, Luos, Waswahili, Mijikenda, Luhyas, Kisiis, Maasai, Somalis all coming together to confront an increasingly tribal cabal. Some of us think it is time to also launch an even more militant and revolutionary Red Movement- but that is outside the scope of this essay tonight.

So we are back in mid October 2005 shaking our heads at the abysmally backward tribal statements of the Nyachaes, Karuas, Kombos, Mungatanas, Mirugis and so on and WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE GOING AGAINST THE PATRIOTIC GRAIN and are therefore PRACTICALLY DOOMED because if Kenyan history teaches us anything- UKABILA has no place in the present or future of Kenya because it has HISTORICALLY FAILED TIME and TIME again throughout our ONE HUNDRED YEARS of anti-imperialist struggle for Kenyan independence and social liberation.

By the way, if we are to be really "strict" about pure ethnicities, I am made to understand that Musikari Kombo is more of a Zambian than a Kenyan.

Is that true?

I hear he has at least two Southern African grandparents.

You see, as a Pan Africanist and Internationalist, I think that his presumed Zambian heritage makes him a culturally richer person, but when he begins gauging political leadership based on such arcane yardsticks such as the features of the male genitalia, then I think it is time to call in the DNA experts and strap the Ford-Kenya head honcho to a Lie Detector machine zapping him every fifteen seconds with electrodes to make him reveal all he knows about his Zambian ancestors.

Onyango Oloo
Toronto.

[aeichener]

admin said:

PART THREE:
Here is my theory about so called “Pure” Ethnic Identities in Kenya:

By and large, these are historically determined, socially constructed CONVENIENT community MYTHS.

Ah. Finally, finally one who has understood it. Maybe helped and shaped by gender studies, which certainly contribute a lot to understanding how identity is shaped and constructed, but also how fluid it can be...

Indeed, the history of Kenyan tribes is a history of movement and invasion, conquest, exchange, exogamy, genocide, land robbery, intermarriage, voluntary submission, forced expulsion, cultural exchange and assimilation again.

Why do so few Kenyan realize this ?

Take the Maasai who so conveniently weep crocodile tears when claiming "their ancestral" (hah!) land back from present farm owners, some of them white. Yet they preceded the British only by a few decades, and were themselves violent robbers of the highest order - that is, if one *were* to measure historical migration movements by narrow penal law standards of today....

Who knows what Kenyan communities and the attendant ethnic identities would have emerged had the British colonialists not invaded and occupied our lands?

Quite an intriguing and valid question...

Alexander

[Onyango Oloo]

Replies:
Posted By: njathe
Date Posted: 18/10/2005 at 7:04am

OO,

Much as I take issue with your suggestion that Kisiis and luhyas were former l.uos, I enjoy reading your articles. Very enlightening. I know you walk a thin line writing the 'credits' for democratic reform in Kenya. But sometimes you should also name yourself among the number. Afterall, you could be doing any number of other things in the West, instead of being concerned about Kenya. But there you are, always fretting about Kenya's future. She's a big gal now...


Posted By: bakhoki
Date Posted: 18/10/2005 at 10:09am

Onyango Oloo,

Simply excellent reading. I knew some of this stuff that you just shared.

I have travelled all over those areas all the way into Busia. It is interesting that in Busia you will find Luhyas with names like Oduor, Otieno, Ojiambo/Ajiambo(Odhiambo or Adhiambo). In fact, the noted journalist, Dominic Odipo has a Lwo name but is supposedly Luhya!

The other point that I find very disturbing is how people like Mukhisa or even Kombo could suddenly turn out to be such rabid tribal chauvinists. Simply amazing. I happened to have been in touch with NO people who were organizing the Orange Rally at Bungoma on October 8, 2005, who told me how much tribal hatred(read anti-Lwo) the Mukhisas and Kombos were spreading all over Bukusu and Luhyaland.

Last, but not least, how does someone hold on to the tenets of Socialism for two-thirds of their lives and then suddenly realizes that tribal chauvinism supercedes humanism? I am addressing this with reference to the new uber-tribalists like Koigi and Mukhisa.

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "n`otiya" <nyakwarotiya@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:53 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

>By the way, if we are to be really "strict" about pure ethnicities, I am made to understand that Musikari Kombo is more of a Zambian than a Kenyan.
Is that true? I hear he has at least two Southern African grandparents.<


Wuod Gem,

You damage it! You damage it brother! The Biblical Romans says that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God`s glory. Even those waxing lyrical about their not being tribal have their fair share of the tribal bug. You need not look any further to understand this. What you need to do, is look at the series of appointments they influenced in senior government positions after the consumation of their marriage with the ancien regime. You will notice that all those appointments assumed a distinctly geographical
preference. Do we call it nepotism? You need to take a quick look at the employees of the East Africa Spectrum Company in Kisumu and notice that the Kowak clan is heavily present there. I do not want to get into the very inner details of the circumstances sorrounding this firm, so I have yet to be through with the feasibility study of
Mr Francis C Shaffer of FC Schaffer and Associates; the contribution by Kiseru Global Union- a now defunct oasis of the high brow- and the Kisumu Development Trust Fund. I digress David, I digress.

>Argwings Kodhek, Tom Mboya having their social base in urban communities where the majority ethnic group was the Agikuyu>

The ability of Tom Mboya and Chiedo More Gem Argwings Kodhek- the first Kenyan African barrister returning from Wales to set up practice in African Nairobi- to survive in cosmopolitan Nairobi may yet prove to be a lesson to our political leaders that despite our tribal bases, we can be able to smooth over these tribal differences.

Again I digress, if you permit me. The murder of Kodhek disguised as a car crash, and the subsequent by-election in Central Nyanza in 1969- in which the Kanu candidate was heavily defeated- and in which a disturbed Mboya refused to take part in election campaigns- formed the proverbial stroke that broke the camel`s back. It is this refusal by Mboya to be used as Kanu's Mr Fix it, while at the same time being cut down to size- that hardened Kiambu mafia's inner core final resolve to eliminate Mboya, or so historians think.

You eloquently capture the perils of negative tribalism- underline negative- in our political process with smart, I think very smart historical parallels, but fall short of providing your readership with solutions. My position is that as long as negative tribalism remains a daily recipe of our political process,it is increasingly likely that our prosperity as a nation looks far less bright.( i have used nation symbolically).

In most instances, it is our leaders in society and elders in online discussions lists whom we look forward to for inspiration , who always get us bogged down with heavy ethnic overtones. I was taken with disbelief when a netter, in an informal private chit chat, informed me that in the lead up to the last general election, someone intimated to this fellow that whichever way the election
went, that person was the least worried because anyhow, the President had to be a Kikuyu.

I happen to believe that having a belief in and even pride of one's tribe is not necessarily a bad idea. It becomes distasteul, if and only if, we use it to spread hatred and hit each other very hard below the belt!

Like I have said before, why can`t we use the entrepreneurship skills of the Gikuyu, the pursuit for excellence of the Luo, the loyalty of the Kamba, the simplicity of the Maasai, the hard work of the Gusii, the excuberance of the Nandi, the hospitality of the
MijiKenda and all other positive attributes of all tribes to
inculcate a beautiful cultural mosaic in this great land! But there is hope in the youthful generation. Most of the times I go to University of Nairobi during weekends to hang around with friends, you see young men from different tribes chatting happily together! You find your friend is not immediately around, and hey, his colleagues from different tribes pick you up, entertain you and you debate forever!

Until such a time that we will be able to say to negative tribalism, like the catholics: mea culpa! mea culpa! mea maxime! mea culpa!- we shall not go far.

Perhaps, When I eventually tie the knot, and bear a baby boy, as a first step, I should divorce him of a tribal name and call him Microsoft Google Search Engine.

Wuod Nyasuba.

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "mrbob_k" <mrbob_k@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 7:57 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

Jared

Where do you stand?

Yesterday you wrote about loko dhoch which in political parlance meant Raila cannot be a Luo leader because he was not a real Luo.

What has caused your change of heart?

Bob-K

[Onyango Oloo]

Is the title of a related essay that I penned several moons ago:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2004/12/ujinga-of-ethnic-particularism.html

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "n`otiya" <nyakwarotiya@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:36 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum


Nd Bob,

Good morning my brother!

Confessedly, yesterday I borrowed from the rich Luo culture and put forward a proverb which has more meaning than it may appear on the face of it. But to say that it meant "Raila cannot be a Luo leader because he was not a real Luo," is taking the joke a little too far.

Surely, the Honorable Raila is a national public figure with a national following. To reduce him to a Luo leader would do his image
no good.

Be blessed.

N`Otiya

[adongo12345]

Good piece Oloo



May be I should check out on my ancestors. Anyhow I am glad we are Kenyans. The inter-tribal/racial thing is fun and it always starts with two humble folks minding their own business.

Something I picked on when Raila said this.

"My great grandfather came from the Wanga, my aunts are in Butere and Vihiga and my daughter is married in Luanda, while the grandmother of my wife comes from Khwisero. With this background is Kombo a more Luhya than me?" he asked.


What did I pick up?

No. it is not about Raila being A Luhya. It is the story telling ability of Raila that really compensates for his lack of the oratory skills of the likes of James Orengo or Martin Shikuku.

Raila can connect with the public in very amazing ways. I have only listened to him once talking to the citizens. July 2003 in Bondo.

Incidentally the first time I saw Raila was 1981 at the Main Hall next to Gandhi Library at the University of Nairobi. It was one of those Public Forum Series when the university invited leading public figures to come and talk to the students and have a debate on national issues. Guess who was the key speaker at that event? Koigi wa Wamwere. My first time to see him too.

We had a problem at the beginning. Usually when the University invited guests someone from the Administration side of things will be there to intriduce the event. It so hapenned that the guy who was asigned this task couldn't get it done. The hall was full and people had climbed the rafters in the roof of the hall. Every time this guy(Admin honcho) rose to speak the crowd demanded that he addresses them as "comrades" not "ladies and gentlemen".

Every thing was getting out of control when Micere Mugo who was the co-host grabbed the microphone and uttered these historic words:

"Comrades, friends and others" and the crowd roared back in approval and finally the discussion started. I wouldn't go into that today.

At the Bondo Rally, which actually is one of the events I hate the most, it was the "homecomng party" for Oburu Odinga, the Bondo MP. It was full house at the Bondo Teachers Training College, a very remarkable facility if you ask me.

To cut along story short. You probably know already that Moody Awori was booed out of that meeting. That was my first lesson in the "Art of Not Being Booed". Awori who was very well recieved at first said something that people didn't like and the crowd kind of let him know. He said it again and people yelled back. He said it the third time and the folks told him "you are out of here". They had to call security for him. To me it was just another form of political discourse. Nobody threw stones. But the folks told Awori to get lost. That is their right.

When Raila finally came up to speak, he had actually been overshadowed. Kivutha Kibwana gave a very decent speech there by the way. The crowd liked him.

The thing I found intruguing with Raila was his conversation with the public. The man barely whispers sometimes. But he can ask questions. And they always answer him back. He asked them how hard it was to remove Kanu from power and they said "very hard". He asked them, "how about now"? And they laughed like it was a joke compared to the battles of the past. People started to move closer to the microphone and all of a sudden the man was having a conversation with the wananchi. I liked that.

The other thing that really bothers me is the tribal desparation game. Murungaru, a close Kibaki insider the other day asked Kikuyus to jump out of their hospital beds on referendum day and vote to save the "Kikuyu Presidency". Betwen you and me, these folks would be better off with some medication between now and the referendum day, so they would be safely at home and ready to vote.

I think 2002 and 2005 will go down as landmarks in Kenyan history. If you noticed I didn't say a thing about 2007.

Adongo Ogony.

[politicalmaniac]

OO

wonderful piece

I am so glad that my kids are of mixed kenyan heritage and are profiecient in both tongues.

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "mrbob_k" <mrbob_k@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:11 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum

Jared:

I will take your word. You would notice I did not want to put words in your mouth when Wuod Gem ask me the political concept of it. Let me walk you through the meaning of Loko Dhoch and the political implication. Loko Dhoch is Loko Chira. It means reversing the curse.

To reverse a curse you need the son of the household to do it and not the outsider. In other words only Onyango Oloo can loko dhoch in the Oloo's family and not an outsider. In Politics, Raila cannot hold the ceremonial leadership spear. Being a self-confessed outsider he cannot assume Luo leadership just like an outsider
cannot assume leadership in Oloo's family. If a curse is to be removed only Oloo can do it as opposed to an outsider. In the larger politics it means Raila cannot remove the curse hence cannot be a leader unless he is a true Ramogi Ajwang's grandson. I hope you now understand the political implication of loko dhoch.

Now back to Raila and his Luhya connection, he was trying to flush out the hypocricy of Kombo's claim to be a true Luhya leader and claiming Raila is a Luo who has no business connection playing politics in Luhya land. Go back to Wamalwa and Saboat, and Keen and Ntimama in Maasai. Nyachae may be having some connection in Gusii
and Luo. This is a good case where people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Ong'e wach wuod Nyasuba.

Bob-K

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "asego2002" <asego2002@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:41 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum


> You need to take a quick look at
> the employees of the East Africa Spectrum Company in Kisumu and notice that the Kowak clan is heavily present there.

jared, let your hatred for the odinga family not blind you. east african spectre is a family owned company. like all companies owned privately (not publicly traded) the world over, employment is usually dominated by family relations. i could name the fiat, bmw, hoffman-la- roche etc as some multinationals with very strong family presence in management and employment. have a look at matiba's, nyachae's, moi's or any family owned company near you and you will notice that what you accuse spectre of is what is normal practice the world over.

of asego bay

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "s_maina" <s_maina@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:12 pm
Subject: Cofficients?? Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

Quotable quote--"By and large, these are historically determined, socially constructed CONVENIENT community MYTHS" (Oloo wa Canada).

OO political theory of Ukabila theory (NSMC's model version):

X Banana/Orange =Region of origin1 Obsession to control the minds of wanachi1 blind leading the blind1+ I don't quite understand the function of a constitution and I am gonna shout about it 2 its my people versus others"2 + Don't dare mess with my .5 Ksh. salary and other benefits/Don't touch my unga3 I have to be SURE that government of 2007 and after will guarantee me what I want3 + Prior position during Moi governmet 4 MOU proponent 4 + Shauri la Wanjiku na taabu zake5, shauri za "wapumbavu" bila msimamo 5 + shauri ya nchi ya Kenya 6 !


NSMC

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "otwomad" <Otwomad@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 6:07 pm
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient/Jared/Bob/Tom et al Ahsanteni!

OO,

When you write very fast as you confessed you give lots of accolades to your sources.

I wish to confirm that oLuanda means rock in my father's luNyore.

That aside, as I keep harping, October is the Black History Month in Britain. The New African monthly magazine has dedicated the October issue to Black History month and its headline is `How Africa Developed Europe and USA'. Its sister magazine is African Business and among the prime letters published in its October issue is the one dealing with how we need a Africans to set our priorities right so as to develop.

Returning to Black History Month stories in New African there is one by Rotimi Sankore, which examines the partition of Africa and explains why Africans must appreciate its historical significance. The 120th anniversary of the partition of Africa by the Berlin Conference (of November 1884 to February 1885) passed largely unmarked last year. Yet by not appreciating the historical significance of the partition, present and future generations of Africans risk not understanding how the unification of Africa is vital to its development. By cynically formalizing the scramble for Africa and its resources by Europeans and North American powers, the Berlin conference consolidated the balkanization of Africa for imperialist exploitation and cemented the basis for Africa being the most atomized, exploited and economically underdeveloped continent on the planet. These artificial constructs with the imposition of minority and majority `regimes' set the tone for the policy of `divide and conquer' and unending conflict in Africa– with negative consequences for development.

So focusing on Kenya when we see the compradors trying very hard to balkanize us further into Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Kisii etc. enclaves while they (MPs) live similar lifestyles as opposed to the majority of their constituents we need to be more vigilant. That path they want us to follow is not the way to prosperity for the majority but it will surely guarantee the MPs return tickets to opulence come November 21st, pass 2007 and beyond.

Sikate tamaa.

Otwoma

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "bobawuor" <bobawuor@...>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005 4:36 pm
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign
--- In [e-mail], "mrbob_k" <mrbob_k@y...> wrote:
>
> Jared

> Onge wach wuod Nyasuba.
> Bob-K


Namesake,

Let me get the arithmetics rght:

If Raila (both of whose parents are Luos) is not a 'proper Luo' (therefore doesn't qualify for Luo leadership) because he has 'grand-ancestry' from Luhyia land ..., in the same terms how could Jared be a proper Luo, if not his 'grand', but 'immediate' ancestry lies in Subaland (who insist that they are not Luos?).

In the words of the Australians, 'two Wongs don't make a white':this thing doesn't add up.


+Fr Awr
========

[haki]

OO,

You should shift the full exchange that took place on Mambogani between you and me and others on the topic in questiion titled, "Banana Splits?" instead of selectively quoting in order to embelish your perspective. Also tell the public the whoe truth, that although Haki is not afraid to discuss tribal issues, he nevertheless is very enthusiastic about progressive parties such as the PPP who are more focused on regional and national development rather than on the same old same old political gladiatoralism that the wananchi have been getting from their leaders all these years, with nothing to show for it.

You also try to allege that Haki demonstrates tribalism by attacking Raila and the LDP wing of NARC that 'does no wrong in your eyes', and yet you cannot explain where the tribalism goes when he turns around and supports PPP which is regionally a Luo party. If you think hard, you might see the problem in your logic here!

That is my side of the story. Now, you can go ahead and tell people that you know better what Haki is thinking than Haki himself.

And since we are on this subject, it is interesting that just by coincidence you happen to be a Luo who worships at the alter of Raila and the LDP, which just happens to be a Luo outfit. In politics appearances tell most of the story, and in this case your story is more or less told. This is the best position from which to start explaining tribalism. As some famous philosopher once said, in order to see fault first use a mirror before you pick up the telescope.

[Onyango Oloo]

Haki:

Thanks for your feedback and rejoinder. Let me say this:

I have not doctored a single word you uttered- leaving your typos intact because i was anticipating exactly this response from you.

That whole exchange from Mambogani is already included here as one of the responses to the Banana Splits? essay.

But I will oblige you no problem:

www.mambogani.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4451

Haki:

As far as this particular Coefficient of Ukabila digital is concerned, you rate as a pretty minor FOOTNOTE because the focus was never on you.

Contrary to your overpersonalized venom, I do not know you- don't know whether you are a man or a woman, young or old in Kenya or outside Kenya.

Strangers like you trash me every single hour of every single day so I consider your vile ethnic hate speech as an occupational hazzard.

This the last I am going to say about that ping pong cyberverbal joust...

Onyango Oloo
Toronto

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "n`otiya" <nyakwarotiya@...>
Date: Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:40 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

> jared, let your hatred for the odinga family not blind you. <

Surely, how can one hate a person who exemplifies sobriety andmaturity in Kenya`s political process? A man whose utterance of two swahili words while the opposition was fretting ,delivered us from the bondage of oppression to, it must be said, benevolent dictatorship?

Surely, you jest Wuon Ojanga, you jest.

Best,

N`Otiya

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "asego2002" <asego2002@...>
Date: Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:46 am
Subject: Re: The Ukabila Coefficient in the Referendum Campaign

bob,

in 1997, some cllr from luhyaland went around kakamega campaigning for raila. his argument (and this infront of wamalwa) was that raila is more luhya than luo. it sounded like a big joke then.

the guy repeated the same thing again in 2002 (was actually reported in either kenya times or standard newspapers).

they say where there is smoke there is/must have been fire...

but again if you look at it more keenly, as luos entered the region called kenya today, there was a lot of inter-marriage between the luos and luhyas. where my mother comes from (ugenya kanyamuot), i guess almost everyone has some luhya-blood.

do you know why luo men prefer luhya women ? or why they prefer okwaro lando (light skinned ones) from the house of mumbi or taita taveta ? ... and do you know why kisii women prefer luo men ? do you also know why kikuyu men prefer luo women ?

we shall make time to find out why if only this could influence the referendum...<g>


of asego bay

[kamalet]

According to Okemo, their is no ukabila in the referendum campaign. Why? Because they have followers from each and every corner of the country and the leaders are a similar cross section!

...excerpt from the Big Debate last night!

[haki]

OO,

Here is my response from Mambogani forum
---------------------------------

I am a real Kenyan man, born in Kenya and raised on uji, ugali na kunde, and boiled green bananas. I can also prepare ngege, just like the way they do it on the shores of Lake Victoria.

One thing you are right about, though - I will always respond.

No, I am not creating a feud between you and me.

I am simply questioning some of your viewpoints. Period.

I know you feel that everything you say is 100% the true reality, but that can never be. Stop trying to behave like George Bush - he too gets all his facts straight from God.

And, by the way, you did not answer my question below about tribalism:

"And since we are on this subject, it is interesting that just by coincidence you happen to be a Luo who worships at the alter of Raila and the LDP, which just so happens to be a Luo outfit. In politics appearances tell most of the story, and in this case your story is more or less told, my friend. This is the best position from which you should start explaining tribalism. As some famous philosopher once said, in order to see fault first use a mirror before you pick up the telescope."

You can jump around and say whatever you want about what you perceive as other people's tribalism, but the fact above still stands.

And quit this constant arrogant "last time" stuff. Tribalism is one of your favorite subjects, and you will bring it up again whenever you want to hide behind that sanctimonious, 'everybody who criticizes my stuff is a tribalist' crap. I recall, for example, when you recently pompously announced your exit from the Mambogani forums, only to slither back like you never said a thing of the sort.

And, by the way, even if it is a footnote in one of your colorful tomes that is misrepresenting Haki, I will come out and correct it. It is my prerogative to respond whenever what I say is misrepresented by being dragged into a different editorial context that is slanted to your liking.

Get used to it!

Do not let the occasional typos fool you: I have and continue to author technical books and publish peer-reviewed papers. Where do you think I usually disappear to when you are busy pumping out your stuff on the internet? Those typos would disappear in a second, and the english would tighten up, if there was a reason for it. The stuff I publish, I get paid for.



--------------------

Haki

[Onyango Oloo]

Wow, Haki, wow.

I hope that sneering, strutting and preening has made you feel better.

Onyango Oloo
Toronto.

[njoroge]

Onyango Oloo,

Great piece on the history of mapambano ya kidemocrasia in Kenya and how it has largely comprised of Nationalists instead of the tribalists we have in govt today.

Pity these tribalists whom I shall not name (Murungaru, Karua, Mungatana & Nyachae - he who lurks in Men's bathrooms with a camera to catch the uncircumcised) will not read it and will hence continue to dishonor the memories of great Nationalists with their silly, petty tribal utterances.

Pity indeed!

Good job!

Njoroge