Racist Assassins, Murderous Housewives, Greedy MPs

[Onyango Oloo]

A Digital Essay by Onyango Oloo in Mombasa

We have another serial killer on the loose in Kenya, judging by the breaking news from the Soysambu Farm of the notorious land grabbing Delamare mlowezi family.












breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=222849038&p=zzz8499xy

www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143952399

www.timesnews.co.ke/12may06/nwsstory/topstry.html

www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=72940

One fully expects the racist aristocratic twit to walk scot free once again, thanks to the slavish kow towing of the Kibaki-NARC neo-colonial regime. Last year I said my piece in a dramatic sketch:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2005/05/second-trial-of-so-called-lord.html


Leo sina na la ziada .

And speaking of events dominating Kenyan discussions around the country, I think that if Kenyan men want to know how many Kenyan women feel about the proposed sex offences bill, one should reflect on a news item coming from northern Kenya. I am talking of the news item which reported that a certain Turkana lady decided to drive her contrary point home by literally killing her own husband with whom she was arguing over the contentious Njoki Ndungu initiative. What is instructive to learn is NOT the fact that she decided to take the law into her own hands but rather, the incident happened in rural "remote" northern Kenya away from the petit-bourgeois talk shops, the infernal middle class pontification on prime time television and tit for tat opinion pieces in the country’s print media:

May 5, 2006
Posted to the web May 5, 2006
Nation Correspondents
Nairobi
A man was hacked to death by his wife during a heated argument over the Sexual Offences Bill being debated in Parliament.
The woman was so enraged when her 25-year-old husband dismissed her arguments, police said.
She grabbed a machete and attacked her husband at their home in Kanamkemer village in Turkana District on Wednesday night.
Area deputy police boss Daniel Wachana said the woman was annoyed when her husband tried to dismiss her arguments on the Bill. He said the two had taken an illicit brew.
The officer said the man was rushed to Lodwar District Hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.
The woman was arrested and locked up at Lodwar police station. She would be taken to court charged with murder.

Is it not a SHAME that Kenyan MPs think it is perfectly normal for a man to commit violence against his wife by raping her with impunity?

I would say more about this topic if I had NOT ranted and raved enough on these very issues for the last few years…

For the last two months I have been visiting different Kenyan locales. For instance ion May 1st I was in Naivasha attending a worker’s cultural festival; a few days before that, I was in Kisumu to help plan for an upcoming western regional social forum; on my way back, I passed through Nakuru; for the last week or so I have been in Mombasa attending to some personal matters. I have also spoken to Kenyans whose gicagis are in Lodwar; Malindi; Bungoma, Kajiado; Nyambane; Nyamira, Westlands, Ngomeni you name it.

You know what seems to be the NUMBER ONE ISSUE incensing Kenyans?

It is NOT the latest opinion polls on who is likely to be the next Kenyan president. It is not which party will win in the upcoming six by-elections.

It is not even the sexual offences bill or the ongoing IPU meeting at KICC.

Forget about the shock for investors of KENGEN who now have to make do with only a paltry 6,600 shares each.

OK. The guys are obsessed with Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Rooney, the young Walcott, Ronaldinho, Zinadine Zidane, E'too, Essien and Company Ltd while the wanawake are all a gaga about either Secreto de Amor or its other Mexican rival soap opera on the other channel.

NO.

The issue can be captured in the following two abbreviations:

1.CDF.
2. MPs.

Sure, everybody is yakking about the implications and ramifications of the sexual offences bill; who does not want to speculate about how long Najib Balala and Joseph Nyagah will hang out as significant decoys in the presidential rat race?

But you know what?

Whether it was a group of soccer spectators at an open field in Kisumu’s Kondele slum area or some politically addicted unemployed workers at a kahawa na mahamri kiosk in Bomu, Magongo, Mombasa, a twenty something Nairobi based Turkana community organizer or a Kwale environmentalist, not forgetting a member of MUHURI's community policing squad in Changamwe you cannot listen/talk for seven minutes without hearing the local MP being cursed and the CDF funds being trashed.

What is amazing is the detailed, technical knowledge of the local wananchi about the intricacies of the CDF operations to the point where some of them rival above average lawyers.

The Kenyans I have spoken to are unanimous on what the CDF stands for:

A pork barrel for Kenyan wabunge ; a war chest for incumbents and candy house for hangers on and other political charlatans.

On this issue my activist/socialist/lawyer/comrade Ng’ang’a Thiong’o and I have clashed mildly with our dear comrade and favourite MP, Mwandawiro Mghanga who often appears to be straddling the political fence on this issue.

My task in this digital essay is NOT to rehash what many people including some incisive analysts have laid bare.

Rather it is to see the relationship between the CDFs, the fate of the MPs and an emerging alternative opposition bloc in mainstream Kenyan politics.

Let me at the outset be clear on one thing:

The Constituent Development Funds are a great leap forward in our struggle to consolidate parliamentary democracy in Kenya.

How many of us have forgotten those not so bygone days when a mere MP was capable of donating 300,000 shillings at harambee functions every other week- and not only in their own constituencies.

Where did they get such vast sums?

Certainly not from their then relatively paltry paychecks!

None other than my former lawyer Kiraitu Murung'i was quoted by a local daily sometimes in the late nineties observing that an ordinary MP could quickly get bankrupt and impoverished because of an expectation that said mbunge was a local Father Xmas all 52 weekends of the year.

To this extent, having tax payers' muthendi disbursed at the community level was a BRILLIANT idea. It was now theoretically possible to have local political empowerment to be entrenched and resources via the use of these funds.

It is roughly at this point in our day dream that harsh reality elbows us ruthlessly in the ribs.

Judging by the nationwide manunguniko, Kenyans know CDF to be nothing more than the slush funds gifted to greedy MPs hungry for reelection and personal aggrandizement, stacked with the relatives, friends, associates, bedmates, hangers-on and hired goons of this or that mjumbe.

It is clear that the majority of our compatriots see a direct correlation between the tripling of these CDF funds and the hike in salaries and increased perks for the MPs.

Despite contestations to the contrary, many incumbents are hara hararaing in their kaptulas, vikoi, masuruali ndefu and buktas because they know that they have blown their one and only chance in creating TRUST in the people who gave them their current jobs- the lowly and much disappointed VOTERS.
Kenyans are so pissed off at their MPs that if they had a chance, they would turf most of them out.

There is one problem:

These days, Kenyan elections are won and lost at the nominations stage.

Here is where party machines (if they exist) or big man clout determines the outcome of an election without a single vote being cast.

For instance, in my one week stay in the multi-ethnic Magongo working class neighbourhood on the western Mombasa mainland, I have heard rumbles that local MP Ramadhani Kajembe is busy canvassing for Luo, Kamba, Mijikenda, Swahili, Luhya and other votes from the strong LDP base. This last Sunday I was actually a reluctant observer at a furtively convened night meeting to galvanize wananchi to rally behind this or that local LDP linchpin.

When I was in Kisumu the other weekend I was told that one of the most unpopular politicians in Nyanza right now is Gor Sunguh. Yet I did not see him drenched with sweat knocking doors anxious with tummy-butterflies, desperate to get a second chance. I would presume that Gor Sunguh will wait for the LDP party barons to give him that much needed nod and that would be it. In my Gem constituency, word on the street is that the formidable front runner, at least as far as organization, visibility on the ground, clarity on issues etc has to be the drafter of the controversial NARC MOU, the lawyer Rachier. But will he get his party's nomination certificate?

One of my long term pals and comrades, Njeri Kabeberi- the Executive Director of the Center for Multi Party Democracy in Kenya- has been exhorting pro-democracy and progressive Kenyan activists to JOIN political parties and strengthen them from within. Her argument (made persuasively at a recent NCEC organized forum at the National Museum) is that the parliamentary politicians actually despise the very party organs which brought them to power. She has been meeting with a lot of quizzical looks, including from yours truly. But the point she is making is that if you want to get elected or have someone elected to parliament, you must be able to influence the power dynamics within the party that is going to nominate you or your favourite candidate.

Many activists, especially those on the Kenyan left argue that this is a gargantuan and almost quixotic task since these so called "parties" are nothing more than the personal electoral vehicles of the political heavyweights in the mainstream.

But Njeri’s argument is that this is PRECISELY why we must be engaged and involved in these parties.

Those sentiments are truly food for serious political thought...

The other emerging scenario is one that I am very familiar with since I am among several Kenyans- including compatriots and comrades like Orina Nyamwamu- have been advocating for some YEARS now:

Flip the script. Organize a broad based national democratic movement from below. If necessary, try and register alternative parties; if not, take over shell, paper or moribund parties and strengthen them into national powerhouses for social change.

Now as you know, this is easier said than done.

The good news is that one or two seedlings have been planted.

While we worry about the endemic drought/flood environmental cycle in our country, we still love the warmth of the optimistic sun kissing us every asubuhi …

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

[aeichener]

I am moderately underwhelmed that you spew with (class, not racial) prejudice when a case could very well be self-defence, but that I have not seen you ever write with equal outrage about the common and wholesome Kenyan social pastime of wanton lynching.

Oh, I forgot, that is a pastime not so typical among Indian and white Kenyans, is it?

Alexander

[Onyango Oloo]

Alexander, this is For Your Information:

In December 1994 one of my younger brothers died in a police cell after being brutalized by cops. They were just finishing a job that had been started by an irate mob who had been mistaken him for a fleeing pick pocket suspect. Later on I heard that it was the actual suspect who had diverted the mob's attention by pointing at my brother who was immediately ahead. I could give you other examples. By the way, try using the search engines more efficiently and see if you can actually back up your claim that I have never gone on the record about mob justice.

It is interesting that little barb at the end- imputing that Oloo is a closet racist.

Please go back to Mashada and pull up the anti-racist threads where where I have defended South Asians against made in Kenya racial bigotry.

Then perhaps we can go back to the topic at hand.

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa

[aeichener]

The prejudice which you displayed here was class prejudice (a rich man shoots a poor one), not racial. If Tom Cholmondely had been a rich black landgrabber (the more frequent and "normal" case so to speak), he would have his lackeys and askaris beat up or kill any real or presumed "criminal" on his possessions, and nobody would care, as you perfectly well know. Neither would Tom Kamau (etc.) call the police to inculpate himself after the fact, mind you. He would pay them to work for him. See the rates which I have posted.

However, my observation above that Kenyans in general (you may duly exempt yourself) care little for lynchings, but get their knickers all in a twist in cases like that of Tom Cholmondeley, is accurate. And I shall gladly take back herewith my wrong impression that you would not have gone on the record against mob injustice - sorry and apologies !

I have pulled up your posting on Mashada, from 16th Feb 2003:

"all this to say that at one point i had the same sanctimonious, holier than thou dismissive attitude that your average kenyan has towards people in prison.
(...)
perhaps there are people here who have gleefully even participated in that kenyan bloodsport- mob justice where a hapless "suspect" is stoned and clubbed to death by a strange frenzied mob who simply respond to shouts of mwizi huyo.

well let me finish with a story.

i used to have three brothers. now i have only one. joseph ochieng was the third born in our family. in december 1994 he happened to be at the kisumu bus stand strolling around, minding his own business. all of a sudden, there was a hot pursuit- a young thief and his accomplices were taking to their heels after being caught red handed trying to steal something. they saw my brother in front of them and THEY immediately started shouting "MWIZI HUYO!!" pointing in the direction of my shocked brother. Before you could say, whats-happening- i- am-innocent- the irate mob was raining blows, huge rocks and everything they could get their hands on on my kid brother. the cops arrived on the scene to "rescue" my brother. but this was just a brief respite before they resumed the beatings at the local police station. my three sisters and two other brothers had no clue what was going on, did not know that he had been arrested and when he did not come home the next day started looking for him- not in the police cell, but in the hospitals and the morgues. imagine their shock when they discovered that my brother was on his way to be arraigned for robbery with violence- with a broken jaw, several caved in ribs and all kinds of bruises. outraged, they demanded that he be taken to hospital..... where there was negligence, gross malpractice etc... ochieng died from a combination of the mob justice beatings, the police brutality and the sheer neglect by the doctors and nurses at the hospital..

and who are some of the people who have my kid brother's blood on their hands?

very well meaning kenyans who thought they were performing their civic duty by trying to lynch a stranger they did not know simply because an actual thief shouted "mwizi huyo"."

Source:
www.mashada.com/forums/index/show_topic/22/15818/index.php

Sincerely,
Alexander

[mossad]

Oloo

Sorry about your brother and i feel sad that someone like Alexander would try to create an issue out of it.

Back to the topic, i found your article about what the real pple all over the country are saying about their MPs and CDF funds to be quite interesting. Then from what you've observed, i suspect most MPs will not go back to parliament and i think that will be a lesson well learned.

Mossad.

[Onyango Oloo]

RE: Racist Killers, Murderous Housewives, Greedy MPs
Posted 1147357298 by Jukwa faithful aka zz aka old handle back starting

Salaamu ndugu OO,

It's great pleasure and relish to read through one of your as usual most edifying pieces, touching so many issues that I personally , like many wananchi within and without feel concerned about. We're also happy to see you back in here, after several weeks of silence and thanks for sharing with us what you have been upto. Many of us have always wondered what it feels like to go back and run militant activities back home, and just how effective and effecient this is. For instance, we were truly irked by the cheek the wajumbe had to demand for the increase in their allowances. We were further astounded to learn that his Excellency Amwai wa Shivachi, earns more than the head of the 4th GDP in the world. We toyed with a few possibilites of curtailing this, but as usual, it died the natural cyber politicking death. All this to say, that there's the sheerest possibility that one can probably make themselves more heard, when on the ground. You'll tell us with time how much truth there is in this affirmation.

This said, 2 political issues drew my attention in your exposé.

First is concerning the grassroot elections on party level. 2 years ago when I visited Kenya, and again last year, I had a chat with several aspiring candidates on this issue. It emerged indeed that for one to have an inkling hope of going beyond these grassroots, you have to be in the "who is who"'s books, of the big wheels. So is it that some men , the villagers only vaguely knew their grandparents got imposed as mostly NARC candidates. Today, these unkowns are now drawing huge checks for services not delivered as after all, their goals weren't the same as those of a real militant political aspirant. All they wanted was climbing stone, to a quick buck, which in Kenya is much more than a buck. Swali, why can't we have the equivalent of candidat indépendant in Kenya, in other words, candidates who don't belong to a political party? 2nd best option is of course as you say, creating as many parties as deemed necessary. My fear though is that any Tom Dick Harry will create a "stepping stone party".

Second issue is concerning the CDF. From what I saw around Emanyulia last summer, the CDF is putting to use many "retrenched" men and women who are still at an age where they should be working. The last time I spoke to ingo, I was told the Muhanda- Manyala water project had been revived courtesy to CDF and there was water running in taps as we spoke. On top of these, the Emanyulia people who'd always thought the closest they'd come to having high voltage light was via the pressure lamps aka Optimus have got soemthing to smile about. (This despite having had Martin Shikuku for many years as their mjumbe ) Thanks to CDF, this mwangaza dream has been emebellished and all they need is apply for extention from the market into their homes. As we speak, Namasoli health centre (only hospital if it can be termed as one, within 40km perimetre), has got electricity and God knows if power is essential in these life saving institutions.The kids of nearby Namasoli secondary school no longer have to do their evening prep na taa ya mkebe or candle light. All this to say, the CDF to me, might just be the Messiah Kenyans have been waiting for , for 40 years. I'd be keen on it being given a chance. Systems are never hatched perfect. All we need is to share notes within different districts. See what's working in Kiambu and transfer the same idea to Maralal. Learn from mistakes in Mombasa, and quickly tell Kisumu rural people not to make same mistake . I was impressed by Anyang' Nyong'os Kisumu rural CDF website. This to me, is the begining of trasparency and accountability. You give the people the rod, and tell them now fish. Let's just see how each of them will go about it. If the ship capsizes, they'll have themselves to blame. So let's watch and wait and share.

On lighter and last note:

Vive la taza del mundo ! Vive la coupe du monde!

Like wananchi back home, we, who are even closer to the venue, and who in a way "have a home team", can't wait for the 9th of June. In la Republique here, the national coach will be unveileing the list of the 23 selected players on Sunday 21st May at 12.00 noon GMT.

There's all manner of speculation and intimidation going on. It's even whispered that one Ribery, born of Italian parents, like Platini, is a better number ten than Zizou. This of course is hogwash as Ribery, who plays for Marseilles, is not a number ten for starters! Goes to tell you how much man can have an opinion on issues they know nothing much about.

Anyway, let the Latin Americans cross the Atlantic and come over. Let the Africans come with their isukuti. May Rooney wa England be back on his two feet in time for that first England match around the 11th of June. In a nutshell, "que la fête commence, et que les meilieurs gagnent."

[Onyango Oloo]

" Hapa hakuna kesi. Hawa walikuwa wezi. Huyu Mzungu ataachiliwa..."

Translation:

" There is no case here. These (intruders to Lord Tom's farm) were thieves. This White man will be set free."

I was doing something else in my little corner at the back of this digital hub so I did not tell them what I wanted to blurt out, which is the following:

Actually there is a case here.

First of all, it is not up to Lord Tom to arrest, try and sentence these alleged thieves. What is the difference between his actions and those of the frenzied urban and rural mobs who necklace petty suspects all over Kenya every day?

Secondly, in the aftermath of the grisly killing we are hearing one version- the other party is conveniently stashed away in a Nakuru morgue proving that " dead men tell no tales". From today's press reports, the late Robert Njoya was shot from behind...

Thirdly, Lord Tom's gun was taken away from him last year. Whose weapon was he wielding?

Fourthly, if I had escaped so narrowly from the hangman's noose after shooting to death another "intruder", I would do my utmost to restrain myself from going on another shooting spree- unless I thought that I was a Safari Cowboy battling it out with ignorant and obnoxious African savages in a death duel between the allegedly "civilized" and the apparently "uncouth".

Fifthly, who is the real intruder, the real thief on that expansive farm land? Is it the indigenous Kenyan reportedly surprised in the act of skinning a wild animal or the scion of a notoriously racist settler land grabbing family who fought throughout the colonial period to buttress the illegal interest of a bunch of European invaders who expropriated and privatized hundreds of thousands of hectares which should have properly belonged to the Ole Sisinas and Robert Njoyas of Kenya?

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

[pharlap]

OO, you speak well.. i hope they finally extent electricity to places like ekitale market where by residents have even erected the poles already.

[aeichener]

admin said:

or the scion of a notoriously racist settler land grabbing family who fought throughout the colonial period to buttress the illegal interest of a bunch of European invaders who expropriated and privatized hundreds of thousands of hectares which should have properly belonged to the Ole Sisinas and Robert Njoyas of Kenya?

1. Who is the RACIST talking now?

If you don't even know *who* of the Delameres and their peers are racists and who are notoriously not, why not avoid showing your ignorance ?!

2. Who is the land grabber here ?

Yeah, right. One bunch of murderous aggressive thieves with an Übermenschen delusion, being displaced by the next one. Poetic injustice. Spare your crocodile tears if you don't know about Maasai history.

3. Who was the gun-toting violent criminal last year ?

Yeah, right, Samson ole Sisina. A goon who had been brought up on killing, and who got his deserved share when he met a citizen willing to oppose him. Well done. The case was not swept under the carpet because Tom was white or rich. The case was buried because of the many half-decomposed corpses lingering in the closets. That's why KWS immediately - panicking - did whisk out the main "witness" (the accomplice and gang leader of the KWS raiding party) to Uganda before the court could summon her, lest she would tell the truth and inculpate everybody.

Alexander

[wuodnyagang]

I am new on this forum but I'll leave you writers a little advice, if you want your opinions to be taken seriously and to stand you should use your real name. Oloo is the only legitimate contributor here. He dares use his real name. This is the true manifestation of Luo courage. We always stand up to be counted.

Janam Wuodnyagang

[mossad]

Alexander,

You need a mental checkup. U are really sucking up to these whites coz i suspect you are one of them. If not, then u must be a self hating black man. I've seen many like you.

Mossad.

[Onyango Oloo]

aeichener said:

1. Who is the RACIST talking now?

If you don't even know *who* of the Delameres and their peers are racists and who are notoriously not, why not avoid showing your ignorance ?!

2. Who is the land grabber here ?

Yeah, right. One bunch of murderous aggressive thieves with an Übermenschen delusion, being displaced by the next one. Poetic injustice. Spare your crocodile tears if you don't know about Maasai history.

3. Who was the gun-toting violent criminal last year ?

Yeah, right, Samson ole Sisina. A goon who had been brought up on killing, and who got his deserved share when he met a citizen willing to oppose him. Well done. The case was not swept under the carpet because Tom was white or rich. The case was buried because of the many half-decomposed corpses lingering in the closets. That's why KWS immediately - panicking - did whisk out the main "witness" (the accomplice and gang leader of the KWS raiding party) to Uganda before the court could summon her, lest she would tell the truth and inculpate everybody.

Alexander

Alex:

Thanks for pointing out my ignorance and once again, my alleged racism.

For the record, I am neither Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung nor Erich Fromm. I do not recall playing psychoanalyst to any European descended Kenyan settlers lately. That is why I am not going to go into the respective psyches of the assorted Delamare brood to determine which of them was an overt bigot.

Right off the bat, we seem to have very different understandings of what racism is all about.

You seem to think that it is an individual thing- as in: "so and so is a racist because he mouths pejorative epithets and so and so is not because he or she may speak the Maa, Dholuo or Gikuyu languages and may even have gone a step further and actually married a black skinned native to boot." I draw this inference from your comment about who of the Delamares was "notoriously not a racist" yada yada yada blah blah blah.

On the other hand, I share the analysis of racism which locates it within a historically given context of social construction.

If you take Kenyan history from the 1870s at least, but going much further than that- where you appear to be an expert angling to give pithy lessons to nincoompoops like Oloo- you see the identity of our tortured nation being stamped repeatedly by the forces of imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism, with the attendant tensions and fissures wrought by class, gender, ethnicity, religion and regional disparities.

The arrival and eventual taking up of Kenyan residence by European settlers from the UK, South Africa and elsewhere is hardly a mystery, even to Kenyan school children. It was preceded, accompanied and bolstered by "pacification campaigns"- a euphemism for the rape and plunder of our people and our resources. One cannot wish away the history of the Delamare land-grabbing family. They may not have done so because in their heart of hearts they hated and despised African indigenous communities. They did this because the colonial state gave them undue privileges, rights, wealth etc simply because they were white, middle class and sharing the same profile as the people who controlled the state. Whether they were church going do gooders or notorious reclusive alchoholics, they all benefited enormously from white skin privilege which was later codified as the "colour bar". All the Delamares without exception benefited from institutionalized racism in Kenya- in a manner not very different from their apartheid and separatist colleagues in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola or Algeria. In this context, it is patently ridiculous to separate the "racist" Delamares from the "non-prejudiced" Delamares- they all benefited from systemic racism- I did not see any of them sharing the dock with the Kapenguria Six for resisting colonialism in Kenya.

About Samson Ole Sisina. His widow has been making one insistent plea- take the matter to court and let the courts determine. Certainly a more rational approach than the trigger- happy knee jerk reaction of a Safari Cowboy who thinks he is the judge, jury and executioner.

Shower me with more pearls of wisdom Alex.

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

[Onyango Oloo]

wuodnyagang said:

I am new on this forum but I'll leave you writers a little advice, if you want your opinions to be taken seriously and to stand you should use your real name. Oloo is the only legitimate contributor here. He dares use his real name. This is the true manifestation of Luo courage. We always stand up to be counted.

Janam Wuodnyagang

Dear "Janam":

Welcome to JUKWAA. I notice you are copping a handle while calibrating on who is and who is not a "legitimate" contributor. For the record, everybody who has been registered as a member on this board is considered a legitimate contributor.

As for praising me- I suggest that you pause and lick off the butter melting all over your mouth. Sycophancy is simply nauseating. In the future I hope it becomes a crime punishable by no less than a custodial sentence of 13 and half years behind bars.

I will delete your account if you persist in unnecessary provocation.

There are other ways of seeking attention my fellow Kenyan.

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

[aeichener]

admin said:

They may not have done so because in their heart of hearts they hated and despised African indigenous communities. They did this because the colonial state gave them undue privileges, rights, wealth etc simply because they were white, middle class and sharing the same profile as the people who controlled the state.

Shower me with more pearls of wisdom Alex.

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

Gladly so.

1. Racism is more than an individual attitude. In situations of systemic injustice, one may be part and benefactor of a system of incorporated racism, regardless of what one's individual conscience and attitude is. In many parts of the world, this is called "white privilege", parallel to what we know as "male privilege" (as to keep patriarchy and its ramifications in mind).

Of course, neither of the two is "privilege" at all (strictly speaking, these are even the exact contraries of a privilege), but it is clear enough that the word denotes systemic advantage and benefit from exploitation.

Insofar, I am in vehement agreement with you.

2. Samson ole Sisina. With good reasons, Kenyans have been angered over and complained about the massive injustice apparent in the handling of the case last year. The massive injustice was not that Cholmondeley was released rapidly and that the charge was dropped via a nolle prosequi. That was good and fair.
The salient point was that only a rich and influential (and in this case: white) Kenyan gets fair justice and a correct treatment. Any (presumably black) mwananchi would have vanished in remand for years, and would eventually have been convicted on flimsy evidence. Or, more likely in the given case, he would have been summarily executed upon arrest, and the proverbial "pistol with three cartridges" would have been found at his body (I wonder whether they always use the same pistol in these cases, to be recycled again and again).

3. Once again, Kenyan media have striven to misinform the gullible public with slanted tidbits. Look at the Nation Forum, Tupambao and Sakiarie have given knowledgeable information of what very likely may have *really* happened. So did I (unsurprisingly).

And if you look at media abroad, you'll see that another source fully gave what is indeed the most likely course of events. Incidentally, I am handling a rather similarly case here. Only that the victim of that one was hit 1300 metes away, not 25 metres. What happened here was uncommon, but not at all surprising.

Alexander

[emmo]

It is sad Alex that I am not allowed to refute your arguments, and that everyone allows you a field day.

[maina]

I know that some of you chose to negate as racist, the matter of a Christian radio station being raided and bombed, with its staff being killed! I am eagerly waiting to see the "outrage" and demonstrations on this one! Anhow, please read on:

www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=73025

Maina

-unedited-

[Onyango Oloo]

maina said:

I know that some of you chose to negate as racist, the matter of a Christian radio station being raided and bombed, with its staff being killed! I am eagerly waiting to see the "outrage" and demonstrations on this one! Anhow, please read on:

www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=73025

Maina

-unedited-

Instead of engaging in aimless mind reading pursuits and shameless hijacking of this topic.

Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya

[pharlap]

Could someone start a new topic on "media assault?" Some of us who are looking foward to establishing our own similar media houses are quite disturbed by this trend of raiding broadcast houses, and now even killing people. Why would i want to invest in a place where i know some hooded thugs might pay us an uninvited visit? Why would anyone blame our "Racist" white friend for defending himself against such hearless, ruthless goons? I say we need to relax gun ownership laws in kenya so that people with prime property can have the facilty to protect themselves and their property.

Since michuki took that internal securty docket, it seems like the government is the one doing the harrasing now. I am not blaming the rattle snake govt. for this particular incident but i can say with a clear conscience that they inspired whoever did this. Our media is being hijacked slowly and come next year, all the stations, from KTN to Nation to Family FM will be singing one song.

[aeichener]

I will go back to the second of the three topics. OO mused:
"Is it not a SHAME that Kenyan MPs think it is perfectly normal for a man to commit violence against his wife by raping her with impunity?"

That is a shame.
But an expectable shame.

It is far more shameful that Njoki Ndung'u and her minions thought so too. *Before* the parliamentary committee headed by Paul Muite.

Alexander

[pharlap]

admin said:

wuodnyagang said:

I am new on this forum but I'll leave you writers a little advice, if you want your opinions to be taken seriously and to stand you should use your real name. Oloo is the only legitimate contributor here. He dares use his real name. This is the true manifestation of Luo courage. We always stand up to be counted.

Janam Wuodnyagang

Dear "Janam":

Welcome to JUKWAA. I notice you are copping a handle while calibrating on who is and who is not a "legitimate" contributor. For the record, everybody who has been registered as a member on this board is considered a legitimate contributor.

As for praising me- I suggest that you pause and lick off the butter melting all over your mouth. Sycophancy is simply nauseating. In the future I hope it becomes a crime punishable by no less than a custodial sentence of 13 and half years behind bars.

I will delete your account if you persist in unnecessary provocation.

There are other ways of seeking attention my fellow Kenyan.

Onyango Oloo
Mombasa, Kenya

Heheheh ;D ;D i missed this one..lol Kwani huyu jamaa anamvisha OO kilemba cha ukoka? I read somewhere on mashada, similar comments- that OO uses his real name because he writes sense, lol. Smells like the same character, hehehehe ;D At this rate, we will be having a lot of ex-mashadites cum jukwaa wannabees sneaking in once in a while because here, we have "sensible" contributors" Lol. Ama stretching a green leaf for whatever.... ;D

Ok, now my real name is...... lets say.....Goodenough Mchunu- must be some real kiff contribution.

Nice one... i mean the response. ;D