Post by Onyango Oloo on Dec 31, 2005 11:59:43 GMT 3
Reflecting on a Dramatic Year for Kenyans
By Onyango Oloo in Nairobi
What is one to make of this soon to expire year?
By the way, I noticed recently that Mwai Kibaki is still very alive and kicking- contrary to the dire projections of some Montreal-based Kenyan Sangomas….
Now, now, where was I?
Why, right here in Nairobi wondering about 2005.
It was a very interesting year and yesterday I penned a piece for a Kenyan daily that I do not want to rehash.
Instead I am going to present a list of the 14 Most Significant Things I noticed this year as far as Kenya is concerned:
1. The Referendum Triumph. This was not a victory for Raila Odinga over Mwai Kibaki or a payback for Kalonzo Musyoka against Charity Ngilu or sweet revenge for Julia Ojiambo over Moody Awori. It was a victory for democratic and peace-loving Kenyans over the sinister shenanigans of an increasingly tribalized, corrupt and violent state. Being the third consecutive Ushindi for the wananchi vis a vis the state- the Unbwogable Defeat of KANU by NARC in 2002; the successful passage conclusion of the national constitutional conference in Bomas and of course the November referendum- it put Kenyans on a more optimistic footing to continue the search for a new democratic constitutional order.
2.The Kibaki-NAK Civilian Coup. In an unprecedented East African first, Mwai Kibaki overthrew his own coalition government to install a tribal cabal full of nitwits, nepotists, sycophants and unconvicted white collar criminals. By doing so, the Kenyan incumbent head of state completed a cycle of chicanery, betrayal and duplicity that started with the abrogation of the MOU, continued with the importation of double-dealing two fork tongued serpents from KANU and FORD-People and culminated with the obscene spectacle of Musikari Kombo and Charity Ngilu using tribalism to twist the arms of the hapless political Santa Claus dishing out string-attached goodies to any toadies who took the trouble to land on the State House lawns. The illegal usurpation of power and destruction of the popularly elected NARC coalition is a harbinger of the comeuppance of the NAK parvenu schemers- sooner, rather than later.
3.The Devastating Famine This was the starkest reality check to the government blather trying to hoodwink Kenyans that were living in prosperity. The images of emaciated bodies in the media contrasted with the distended tumbos of the overfed and pampered fat cats from Kibaki to his most loyal assistant minister. It spoke volumes about the tenacity of neo-colonial uneven development and was a pointer that the pro-capitalist snake oil poured down our collective throats was more venomous than nutritious.
4. Lucy Kibaki’s Reign of Terror and Error. Before somebody had the presence of mind to somehow restrain the pugnacious First Lady, Mrs. Kibaki had cut a swathe of stinging invective, resounding face slapping and shrieking admonishments targeting the media, her neighbours and any other moving target.
www.timesnews.co.ke/25sep05/nwsstory/opinion.html
5. David Ochami’s Plain Speaking Truth to Power. His brief incarceration only served to fire him up further judging by his always readable weekly column. Apart from thumbing his defiant nose at the political establishment, David Ochami also appeared to be challenging his own journalist colleagues not to give in to self-censorship or censorship of any kind.
6.The Sports Prowess of Paul Tergat, Conjestina Achieng’, the Kenyan Volley Ball team, Dennis Oliech and other ambassadors from track and field, boxing, football and other sports endeavours. In a year solely lacking on tangible things to write home about, the above sports heroes and sheroes kept the Kenyan flag flying high locally and internationally.
7.The Chris Murungaru National Embarrassment. The former Transport minister’s travel ban reminded Kenyans that political crooks were not confined to the Moi-KANU era.
8. The Dumping of Gladwell Otieno from Transparency-Kenya. Made a travesty of the alleged hands off, arms-length posture of the anti-corruption watch dog as it emerged that its local board was stacked with government insiders.
9. Awaaz’s Tribute to Pio Gama Pinto The Kenyan South Asian magazine paid a glowing tribute to one of Kenya’s most patriotic, militant and revolutionary sons.
10. The Emancipation of the Killer Lord. The refusal of the state to prosecute a self confessed killer showed that the might of the Delamares and other Kaburus was still very much intact.
11.The nurses and civil servants’ strike- exposed the Kibaki regime as a vicious anti-worker regime.
12. The Articulate Affirmation of Identity by the Ogieks, Yaaku and other Kenyan marginalized and endangered peoples. People like Charles Saina Sena and Jennifer Koinante helped to put the plight of the Ogieks and Yiaku peoples on the world map.
13. Assault on Children’s Rights. Away from the national political contestations for supremacy an alarming trend revolving around violence against children kept cropping up in the headlines of the dailies: early in the year, a 10 year old girl who had been raped by a policeman in Kericho gave birth; at the height of the referendum campaign an innocent 13 year old schoolboy was shot to death by trigger happy cops detailed by the state to repress peaceful pro-democracy activists in Kisumu; sometime in late November or early December a brand new infant was flung into a pit latrine by a young mother desperate to meet the job requirements for a Nairobi based middle-class woman who wanted an ayah with no child; the case of a mother from Mt. Elgon who beat her small child to death because the kid could not count up to five; around the Christmas festivities, sadness in Butere/Mumias as a mother mourns her five young daughters throttled savagely by human brutes- with the shocking possibility that their own father may have supervised the slaughter.
14. The Death of Poxi Presha The untimely demise of the fire-spitting rapper and social commentator not only robbed Kenyans of a prodigious musical talent but shone a light on the continued exploitation of Kenyan artistes by unscrupulous agents and pirates.
This was very much a Kenyan list, but let me mention in passing that Hurricane Katrina did more to expose the South/North, Black/White Divide in America than all the combined speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson and Malcolm X; the triumph of Eva Morales in Bolivia is a global victory for the “wretched of the earth”; the resilience of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is a source of international optimism among Leftists everywhere; the defiant opposition of Kiiza Besigye and the FDC in Uganda should embolden Kenyan democrats; the brutal suppression of CUF supporters in Zanzibar should outrage every African…
Finally, the fact that Cuba is celebrating the 47th anniversary of their Revolution in a matter of hours for now should bring a broad smile to socialists in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi
By Onyango Oloo in Nairobi
What is one to make of this soon to expire year?
By the way, I noticed recently that Mwai Kibaki is still very alive and kicking- contrary to the dire projections of some Montreal-based Kenyan Sangomas….
Now, now, where was I?
Why, right here in Nairobi wondering about 2005.
It was a very interesting year and yesterday I penned a piece for a Kenyan daily that I do not want to rehash.
Instead I am going to present a list of the 14 Most Significant Things I noticed this year as far as Kenya is concerned:
1. The Referendum Triumph. This was not a victory for Raila Odinga over Mwai Kibaki or a payback for Kalonzo Musyoka against Charity Ngilu or sweet revenge for Julia Ojiambo over Moody Awori. It was a victory for democratic and peace-loving Kenyans over the sinister shenanigans of an increasingly tribalized, corrupt and violent state. Being the third consecutive Ushindi for the wananchi vis a vis the state- the Unbwogable Defeat of KANU by NARC in 2002; the successful passage conclusion of the national constitutional conference in Bomas and of course the November referendum- it put Kenyans on a more optimistic footing to continue the search for a new democratic constitutional order.
2.The Kibaki-NAK Civilian Coup. In an unprecedented East African first, Mwai Kibaki overthrew his own coalition government to install a tribal cabal full of nitwits, nepotists, sycophants and unconvicted white collar criminals. By doing so, the Kenyan incumbent head of state completed a cycle of chicanery, betrayal and duplicity that started with the abrogation of the MOU, continued with the importation of double-dealing two fork tongued serpents from KANU and FORD-People and culminated with the obscene spectacle of Musikari Kombo and Charity Ngilu using tribalism to twist the arms of the hapless political Santa Claus dishing out string-attached goodies to any toadies who took the trouble to land on the State House lawns. The illegal usurpation of power and destruction of the popularly elected NARC coalition is a harbinger of the comeuppance of the NAK parvenu schemers- sooner, rather than later.
3.The Devastating Famine This was the starkest reality check to the government blather trying to hoodwink Kenyans that were living in prosperity. The images of emaciated bodies in the media contrasted with the distended tumbos of the overfed and pampered fat cats from Kibaki to his most loyal assistant minister. It spoke volumes about the tenacity of neo-colonial uneven development and was a pointer that the pro-capitalist snake oil poured down our collective throats was more venomous than nutritious.
4. Lucy Kibaki’s Reign of Terror and Error. Before somebody had the presence of mind to somehow restrain the pugnacious First Lady, Mrs. Kibaki had cut a swathe of stinging invective, resounding face slapping and shrieking admonishments targeting the media, her neighbours and any other moving target.
www.timesnews.co.ke/25sep05/nwsstory/opinion.html
5. David Ochami’s Plain Speaking Truth to Power. His brief incarceration only served to fire him up further judging by his always readable weekly column. Apart from thumbing his defiant nose at the political establishment, David Ochami also appeared to be challenging his own journalist colleagues not to give in to self-censorship or censorship of any kind.
6.The Sports Prowess of Paul Tergat, Conjestina Achieng’, the Kenyan Volley Ball team, Dennis Oliech and other ambassadors from track and field, boxing, football and other sports endeavours. In a year solely lacking on tangible things to write home about, the above sports heroes and sheroes kept the Kenyan flag flying high locally and internationally.
7.The Chris Murungaru National Embarrassment. The former Transport minister’s travel ban reminded Kenyans that political crooks were not confined to the Moi-KANU era.
8. The Dumping of Gladwell Otieno from Transparency-Kenya. Made a travesty of the alleged hands off, arms-length posture of the anti-corruption watch dog as it emerged that its local board was stacked with government insiders.
9. Awaaz’s Tribute to Pio Gama Pinto The Kenyan South Asian magazine paid a glowing tribute to one of Kenya’s most patriotic, militant and revolutionary sons.
10. The Emancipation of the Killer Lord. The refusal of the state to prosecute a self confessed killer showed that the might of the Delamares and other Kaburus was still very much intact.
11.The nurses and civil servants’ strike- exposed the Kibaki regime as a vicious anti-worker regime.
12. The Articulate Affirmation of Identity by the Ogieks, Yaaku and other Kenyan marginalized and endangered peoples. People like Charles Saina Sena and Jennifer Koinante helped to put the plight of the Ogieks and Yiaku peoples on the world map.
13. Assault on Children’s Rights. Away from the national political contestations for supremacy an alarming trend revolving around violence against children kept cropping up in the headlines of the dailies: early in the year, a 10 year old girl who had been raped by a policeman in Kericho gave birth; at the height of the referendum campaign an innocent 13 year old schoolboy was shot to death by trigger happy cops detailed by the state to repress peaceful pro-democracy activists in Kisumu; sometime in late November or early December a brand new infant was flung into a pit latrine by a young mother desperate to meet the job requirements for a Nairobi based middle-class woman who wanted an ayah with no child; the case of a mother from Mt. Elgon who beat her small child to death because the kid could not count up to five; around the Christmas festivities, sadness in Butere/Mumias as a mother mourns her five young daughters throttled savagely by human brutes- with the shocking possibility that their own father may have supervised the slaughter.
14. The Death of Poxi Presha The untimely demise of the fire-spitting rapper and social commentator not only robbed Kenyans of a prodigious musical talent but shone a light on the continued exploitation of Kenyan artistes by unscrupulous agents and pirates.
This was very much a Kenyan list, but let me mention in passing that Hurricane Katrina did more to expose the South/North, Black/White Divide in America than all the combined speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson and Malcolm X; the triumph of Eva Morales in Bolivia is a global victory for the “wretched of the earth”; the resilience of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is a source of international optimism among Leftists everywhere; the defiant opposition of Kiiza Besigye and the FDC in Uganda should embolden Kenyan democrats; the brutal suppression of CUF supporters in Zanzibar should outrage every African…
Finally, the fact that Cuba is celebrating the 47th anniversary of their Revolution in a matter of hours for now should bring a broad smile to socialists in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi