Post by Onyango Oloo on Nov 20, 2005 12:22:45 GMT 3
A Sunday Epistle from Mombasa by Onyango Oloo
This is a follow up to my Saturday off the cuff take on the monster rallies in Nairobi:
jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1132417599
The Kiswahili word Gunia from the English word "gunnysack" which in turn is derived from Hindi from the original Sanskrit. Today I am changing its meaning within a new Kenyan political context to refer to the term the Waswahili call "kupigwa kalamu" or "kufutwa kazi"- or to revert back to the vernacular of the Angles and the Saxons- to be fired; to lose one's job; to be involuntarily and suddenly unemployed.
The first thing I did this morning after having my breakfast was to walk down the street looking for the nearest newspaper vendor.
Because of its superb cross country networks and internal distribution network, the Nation Group has for decades been the first to reach the residents of Mombasa with its morning papers- Daily Nation and Taifa Leo. I remember back in the 1970s how I used to dash to the Jomo Kenyatta Avenue bus stop near the Saba Saba Bar and Restaurant to be the very first buyer of the very first copy peeled from the kifurishi that the vendor we all called "China" on account of his unique South East Asian features even though he was a Mswahili on both sides.
That is why I read the Sunday Nation almost two hours ahead of all its rivals today. Their coverage of yesterday's rally is quite commendable. They make much of the fact that the twin rallies managed to take place without a hitch-linking this to the calls of the Orange and Banana leaders appeal to their supporters to be disciplined.
I think there is a simple reason why the rallies were successful:
The chief instigator of violence at the rallies, namely the Kenyan police decided to keep the peace and maintain law and order rather than act as deranged hooligans shooting innocent school children with live bullets. Perhaps the cops decided enough was enough, they too were tired of being used and abused by the Yes Men with hands on the instruments of state coercion.
The Sunday Nation informs its readers of the notable NO Shows at the Yes Rally- Charity Ngilu, Danson Mungatana and the bulk of the Ford-Kenya and Ford-People MPs. To me there are only two credible explanations: hopeful the absentees are vigorously present in their respective constituencies or they are sitting on their toilet seats unleashing a steady stream of fretful mharo as they contemplate the final reckoning on Monday...
As I write these lines I have four editions of Kenya's Sunday papers spread out in front of me- the Sunday Standard, the Sunday Times, the Sunday Nation and the People on Sunday.The last named has a side shot of Raila Odinga speaking to the Orange multitude at Nyayo Stadium and another picture of thousands of Yes supporters hoisting a huge facisimile of a banana over at Uhuru Park.
The Sunday Times has visuals of Moody Awori addressing his faithful juxtaposed against another shot of Raila doing his political soccer commentary.
By far the most thorough and analytically satisfying coverage is contained in the Sunday Standard who have taken off the gloves to paste their political hearts on their sleeves:
eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=32456
Interestingly, on the hard copy version, the above story is simply signed "The Editor" while the online version IDs Chaacha Mwita as the author. Someone should nominate Mr Mwita for an award based on this piece of rare, and fine political commentary. Kudos!
The whole paper is chock full of similar stellar writings from both sides of the referendum divide. Since I am NOT in such a generous mood, I will deliberately ignore the strong op-eds by the Yes apologists and concentrate on the even stronger arguments from the No side that flows from the pens of Acting Executive Director of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, Njeri Kabeberi-Kanene( rechristened via a typo as "Jean" in the online version):
eastandard.net/hm_news/news_s.php?articleid=32442
Prof. Yash Pal Ghai, Ababu Namwamba and others.
I wanted to comment briefly on the infernal, incessant and infantile yodelling from Kimunya and Company Limited who have been, ala Herod of Biblical yore, agitating for the heads of Kalonzo, Balala, Raila, Anyang Nyongo, Jebii Kilimo, William Ole Ntimama and other so called "rebels".
You know what I think?
Mwai Kibaki should listen to these golf playing, arrogant and intolerant political opportunists and actuall sack all those ministers who have been exercising their democratic rights.
Who ultimately got the gunia in 2002 when basically the Railas and Kalonzos left the Moi-KANU cabinet?
That was a rhetorical question.
The NAK camp are not only ostriches with their collective heads buried in the sand- they are also blind birds who cannot see a single political thing even if someone yanked their necks from those sandy graves.
I mean when I read of Kimunya, and increasingly a very strident Koigi wa Wamwere pleading with Kibaki to sack the Orange crusaders, I am more and more convinced that all this talk we have been hearing of shady handshakes on sinister deals between the Kombos and Nyachaes on the one hand and the Murungarus and Kiraitus on the other hand have some credence ama?
In my opinion, getting rid of Raila et al has less to do with party discipline( NARC is NOT even a party to begin with) but more to do with reconfiguring the contemporary Kenyan neo-colonial state to GUARANTEE that future Anglo-Leasing masterminds can thrive and prosper in the den of corruption that will be a NAK dominated serikali ya Kenya.
Amos Kimunya should remember that no Kenyan knew who he was during his stint as the head of the same golfing club that Kibaki frequents. The power that he, Ndwiga, Muthaura, Mwiraria, Michuki, Nyachae, Karume, Karua, Githae, Kiraitu and the rest of the NAK power vampires boast of is a power that comes from a source very far removed from those cloistered confines of comprador bourgeois Kenyan power politcs.
Their power is derived from the Kenyan people. With all their trappings of office, they often forget this basic truth.
Firing the Orange crusaders is long overdue.
As someone who is outside these camps, I think it will also be a litmus test for the NO camp as well. Will they speak the same language when the ministerial flags disappear from their SUV gas guzzlers.
By the way did I mention that the Bananiacs are going down to a humiliating defeat on Monday, November 21, 2005?
If I did, then let me reiterate that.
I could write three more pages, but a very impatient Kenyan woman aka my mshikaji is pulling me from this computer terminal by my ears.
Ouch!
Onyango Oloo
Mombasa
This is a follow up to my Saturday off the cuff take on the monster rallies in Nairobi:
jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1132417599
The Kiswahili word Gunia from the English word "gunnysack" which in turn is derived from Hindi from the original Sanskrit. Today I am changing its meaning within a new Kenyan political context to refer to the term the Waswahili call "kupigwa kalamu" or "kufutwa kazi"- or to revert back to the vernacular of the Angles and the Saxons- to be fired; to lose one's job; to be involuntarily and suddenly unemployed.
The first thing I did this morning after having my breakfast was to walk down the street looking for the nearest newspaper vendor.
Because of its superb cross country networks and internal distribution network, the Nation Group has for decades been the first to reach the residents of Mombasa with its morning papers- Daily Nation and Taifa Leo. I remember back in the 1970s how I used to dash to the Jomo Kenyatta Avenue bus stop near the Saba Saba Bar and Restaurant to be the very first buyer of the very first copy peeled from the kifurishi that the vendor we all called "China" on account of his unique South East Asian features even though he was a Mswahili on both sides.
That is why I read the Sunday Nation almost two hours ahead of all its rivals today. Their coverage of yesterday's rally is quite commendable. They make much of the fact that the twin rallies managed to take place without a hitch-linking this to the calls of the Orange and Banana leaders appeal to their supporters to be disciplined.
I think there is a simple reason why the rallies were successful:
The chief instigator of violence at the rallies, namely the Kenyan police decided to keep the peace and maintain law and order rather than act as deranged hooligans shooting innocent school children with live bullets. Perhaps the cops decided enough was enough, they too were tired of being used and abused by the Yes Men with hands on the instruments of state coercion.
The Sunday Nation informs its readers of the notable NO Shows at the Yes Rally- Charity Ngilu, Danson Mungatana and the bulk of the Ford-Kenya and Ford-People MPs. To me there are only two credible explanations: hopeful the absentees are vigorously present in their respective constituencies or they are sitting on their toilet seats unleashing a steady stream of fretful mharo as they contemplate the final reckoning on Monday...
As I write these lines I have four editions of Kenya's Sunday papers spread out in front of me- the Sunday Standard, the Sunday Times, the Sunday Nation and the People on Sunday.The last named has a side shot of Raila Odinga speaking to the Orange multitude at Nyayo Stadium and another picture of thousands of Yes supporters hoisting a huge facisimile of a banana over at Uhuru Park.
The Sunday Times has visuals of Moody Awori addressing his faithful juxtaposed against another shot of Raila doing his political soccer commentary.
By far the most thorough and analytically satisfying coverage is contained in the Sunday Standard who have taken off the gloves to paste their political hearts on their sleeves:
eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=32456
Interestingly, on the hard copy version, the above story is simply signed "The Editor" while the online version IDs Chaacha Mwita as the author. Someone should nominate Mr Mwita for an award based on this piece of rare, and fine political commentary. Kudos!
The whole paper is chock full of similar stellar writings from both sides of the referendum divide. Since I am NOT in such a generous mood, I will deliberately ignore the strong op-eds by the Yes apologists and concentrate on the even stronger arguments from the No side that flows from the pens of Acting Executive Director of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, Njeri Kabeberi-Kanene( rechristened via a typo as "Jean" in the online version):
eastandard.net/hm_news/news_s.php?articleid=32442
Prof. Yash Pal Ghai, Ababu Namwamba and others.
I wanted to comment briefly on the infernal, incessant and infantile yodelling from Kimunya and Company Limited who have been, ala Herod of Biblical yore, agitating for the heads of Kalonzo, Balala, Raila, Anyang Nyongo, Jebii Kilimo, William Ole Ntimama and other so called "rebels".
You know what I think?
Mwai Kibaki should listen to these golf playing, arrogant and intolerant political opportunists and actuall sack all those ministers who have been exercising their democratic rights.
Who ultimately got the gunia in 2002 when basically the Railas and Kalonzos left the Moi-KANU cabinet?
That was a rhetorical question.
The NAK camp are not only ostriches with their collective heads buried in the sand- they are also blind birds who cannot see a single political thing even if someone yanked their necks from those sandy graves.
I mean when I read of Kimunya, and increasingly a very strident Koigi wa Wamwere pleading with Kibaki to sack the Orange crusaders, I am more and more convinced that all this talk we have been hearing of shady handshakes on sinister deals between the Kombos and Nyachaes on the one hand and the Murungarus and Kiraitus on the other hand have some credence ama?
In my opinion, getting rid of Raila et al has less to do with party discipline( NARC is NOT even a party to begin with) but more to do with reconfiguring the contemporary Kenyan neo-colonial state to GUARANTEE that future Anglo-Leasing masterminds can thrive and prosper in the den of corruption that will be a NAK dominated serikali ya Kenya.
Amos Kimunya should remember that no Kenyan knew who he was during his stint as the head of the same golfing club that Kibaki frequents. The power that he, Ndwiga, Muthaura, Mwiraria, Michuki, Nyachae, Karume, Karua, Githae, Kiraitu and the rest of the NAK power vampires boast of is a power that comes from a source very far removed from those cloistered confines of comprador bourgeois Kenyan power politcs.
Their power is derived from the Kenyan people. With all their trappings of office, they often forget this basic truth.
Firing the Orange crusaders is long overdue.
As someone who is outside these camps, I think it will also be a litmus test for the NO camp as well. Will they speak the same language when the ministerial flags disappear from their SUV gas guzzlers.
By the way did I mention that the Bananiacs are going down to a humiliating defeat on Monday, November 21, 2005?
If I did, then let me reiterate that.
I could write three more pages, but a very impatient Kenyan woman aka my mshikaji is pulling me from this computer terminal by my ears.
Ouch!
Onyango Oloo
Mombasa
