Post by Onyango Oloo on Oct 7, 2017 19:00:55 GMT 3
A Digital Essay by Onyango Oloo
Let me pause from talking about NASA or Jubilee for a few minutes.
Instead, allow me to segue into a related topic, which might not sound so for the first few minutes.
Over the last few days, I have been waxing about the urgent need for a United Democratic Front for this country-learning from the history of South Africa, India and other countries.
I have argued that the glue which holds the edifice together should be that seminal achievement-the 2010 Constitution promulgated to much fan fare in August of that same year. Together with the Constitution, every democratic minded Kenyan should equip herself or himself with the complete Final Report of the Truth and Justice Commission together with the dissenting comments from the three international commissioners- which some people try to suppress.
I am saying this because as I read all the agitation going on across the country, it is really not about Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, NASA or Jubilee.
No, there is an existential quest for something Kenyans have hankered for so many years.
That is the need to live in a country which respects human rights; where there is equality between women and men; where all regions of the country participate in national development; where the police, criminal gangs like Mungiki do not terrorize the populace; where Muslims feel that this country is theirs too; where the youth see a future; where businesspeople and entrepreneurs feel that there is room to strive for the best; where Kenyans can cease listening to boring lectures from envoys and the so called international community; where al Shabaab does not feel the urge to unleash terrorism to get the Kenya Defence Forces from out of Somalia; where we finally can start dealing with corruption, poverty and other ills like climate change and so forth.
That is why I am convinced that we in Kenya do not need a new flag or a new anthem or subdivide the country. We should pause and learn from the futility of those brothers and sisters down south of the continent who naively thought that if they renamed their country “Azania” and had “one bullet” for “one settler” nirvana would reign in post-apartheid South Africa.
We are not really killing each other over who should be the fifth president of Kenya.
No.
There is something more substantial.
That is why our grandmothers like Me Katilili and grandfathers like Kimani wa Waciuri fought the British imperialists. That is why our aunties like Chelegat Mutai and our uncles like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga fought dictator Moi. That is why so many of us when to jail, endured prison and exile facing off against Daniel arap Moi. If you examine our decades long quest for democracy and social justice you understand why the youth in Kibra and Kisumu are facing off against the heavily armed robocops.
We need to live in a peaceful, democratic country that respects human life and justice.
In summary, that is why we need to come together, millions of us, in a national quest for a new renewal.
Shorn of the propaganda and rhetoric, that is what is at the heart of the current contestations that some people have reduced to tribal campaigns for ethnic supremacy or the culmination of a decades long search for personal political power.
Kenya is crying urgently for a United Democratic Front.
With my usual boldness, I am going to jump into the water before the swimming pool is crowded.
Watch me as I make a few suggestions-complete with names, structures and timelines.
First of all, the Kenya United Democratic Front should have a Chair.
I suggest Professor Yash Pal Ghai.
That is a name unlikely to unleash a three week blood stained civil war.
Other members of the KUDF nucleus should be-and there is a whole list which is flowing from my tongue but please feel free to add and substract:
Abdullahi Boru, Julius Okara, Khalif Abdi, Gladwell Otieno, Raila Odinga, Mwandawiro Mghanga, Aisha Jumwa, Otsieno Namwaya, Kamoji Wachiira, Parselelo ole Kantai, Micere Mugo, Chitechi Osundwa, Gitobu Imanyara, Zarina Patel, Njoki Wamai, Patrick Ochieng, Willy Mutunga, Smokin Wanjala, Hussein Khalid, Mweupe Khalfan, Ngugi wa Thiongo,Moses Chekai, Paddy Onyango, Lorna Kiplagat, Alvin Mosioma, Gabriel Dolan, Yussuf Hassan,George Morara, Oduor Ongwen, Benedict Wachira, Tegla Loroupe, Davinder Lamba, Boaz Waruku,Abubakar, Zein, Paul Tergat, Awori Achoka, Boni Khalwale, Ali Hassan Joho,Okoth Osewe, Henry Maina, Maina Kiai, George Kegoro, Atieno Ndomo, Mishi Mohammed, Jacinta Mwatela,Mutemi Kiama,Janeth Kipsogei,Omondi K'Abir Maina wa Kinyatti,Patricia Nyaundi, Edward Oyugi, Musalia Mudavadi,Seth Odongo, Abdulqadir Nassir, Lupita Nyongo , Kathure Kebaara, Chris Owalla, Gachehe Gachihi,Akoko Akech,Jason Dunford, Larry Gumbe, Sam Anyona, Nelly Kiarie, Atieno Odenyo, Zahid Rajan, Abdilatif Abdalla,Kaari Murungi,Sultan Somjee, Mugambi Kiai, Muthoni Wanyeki, Kipchoge Keino, Robert Shaw, Makau Mutua,James Gondi,Sakwa Makanda, David Rudisha, Johnstone Muthama, Wavinya Ndeti, Esther Passaris, Kibisu Kabatesi, Miguna Miguna, Kwamchetsi Makoha, David Magara, Binyavanga Wainaina,Abubakar Said, Mwashengu wa Mwachofi, Shadrack Gutto, Bobby Mkangi, Sinpare Leopard,Paul Kelemba, Shiraz Durrani, Jill Cottrell, George Kegoro, Booker Ngesa, Rachael Mwikali, Sophie Dola,Firoze Manji, James Orengo,Boniface Mwangi,Salim,Ruth Mumbi, Donald Kipkorir, Farrah Maalim, Billow Kerrow, David Ndii, Anyang Nyongo,Wandia Njoya, Abduba Diba, Jaldessa Godana,Tom Maliti,Adhiambo Odhiambo, Tabu Osusa, Kasmall, Victor Wanyama, MC Kah, Ndungi Githuku, Sitawia Namwale, Eliud Kipchoge,Ndungu Wainana, Elkanah Odembo to name a mere handful. I will add half a dozen marathon runners, footballers, motorists and cyclists when I update this essay.
A mischievous grin is playing around my oval face as I rattle off that list.
Random names?
Hardly.
Take a closer look at their historical, political, ideological and cultural CVs.
Some are well known politicians.
Some are judges.
Some are former detainees.
Others are exiles and diaspora citizens.
Some are civil society mainstays.
There is even a political cartoonist and a puppeteer thrown in there.
I have added a hip hop rapper or two along with some writers and spoken word poets.
More than half are unknown to the general Kenyan public.
Most have spoken, tweeted or emailed Onyango Oloo-who conveniently “forgot” to include his own name in that litany.
I am grinning impishly because at this very moment, internally, I am enjoying a private joke that is perhaps shared by three or four people in the above list.
But there is a PUBLIC part to my “evil” grin that I will share right now.
Folks reading this, try this as an experiment.
Take out a blank piece of paper.
Whether it is ruled or not, number it from 1 to 46.
On this paper start a list-about ANYTHING, but it is better if it is about politics, sports or music.
Now proceed to write down some names.
Make sure that at least half of the names are known ONLY TO YOU AND YOU ALONE.
After you reach number 46, contact the people you know.
Wait a minute!
Why 46 and not 39 or 52?
Is there a subliminal message you are trying to pass along, maybe something to do with NUMEROLOGY?
Oh not really.
Make the number 65 or 76 if you want.
That was just an arbitrary number that I dreamed up.
Distribute the list to as many people as possible.
Now watch the hilarious results.
Now if you are a Kenyan like me, some of your compatriots will zero in on a name like mine, quickly noticing that Onyango Oloo has a total of NOT one but FOUR “O”s and will quickly start a meticulous audit comparing how many “N”s and how many “M”s have made the list.
Christians, Muslims, women, lesbians, vegans, vegetarians, left handed people, climate change activists will quickly follow suit.
Soon, if you had asked the people to submit their feedback on the list on a piece of paper, you will be deluged with a veritable sea of red ink full of underlines, footnotes, crosses,circles and question marks.
In fact, the very best way of making sure that the list is INTERACTIVE is to start it and populate it with strange names.
You are sure that people will rediscover all they ever learnt in primary school about basic arithmetic.
They will ADD.
And they will SUBTRACT.
They more go further to MULTIPLY and even go to the extent of DIVIDE.
That was just a joke folks.
Last night, as I was compiling these names on my French made smartphone, far removed from all these people, I noticed that it was way past midnight where I was silently chuckling from.
Sweet dreams were beckoning me to slumber.
So as Shakespeare could have muttered in his inimitable Elizabethan argot, I said to myself, not being from that era in Europe: “we speaketh on the morrow”.
And with that I turned off my foreign gadget which is more than a phone but comes with yellow notes, audio recorders and video players.
Well, here I am again, having gathered myself out of bed, the morning after having had my kifungwa kinyua and ready to proceed with this insha.
For the last few days, I have been studying an academic text titled Case Study Of Democratic Organisation, 1983-1987 by Gregory Frederick Houston which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science, University of Natal, Durban, 1998.
This work which runs to 539 pages, is a thorough investigation into the South African United Democratic Front which shook that country in the mid 1980s and helped usher in the historic breakthrough which eventually ensured that Nelson Mandela elected as the first President of that newly liberated nation.
It is divided into ten chapters with a postscript and three appendices. These are the first chapter which is the Introduction; chapter 2 is on the united front strategy and revolutionary strategy and tactics in South Africa; chapter 3 looks at popular struggles and the growth of community organisations, 1960 to 1987;chapter 4 talks about the formation, policies and aims, strategy and tactics of the United Democratic Front; chapter 5 covers membership of the united democratic front while chapter 6 is on student and youth organisations and chapter 7 covers democratic trade unions and the next chapter, chapter 8: deals with civic organisations; chapter 9 is focused on women's organisations and the final chapter 10 is a conclusion.
I strongly recommend this tome for everyone who aspires to be a Kenyan DEMOCRAT. For ease of reference I am including here the URL from where anyone who wishes to can go online and download a copy for themselves:
researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/.../Houston_Gregory_Frederick_1998.pdf
That is ALL I will say for now.
Let me pause from talking about NASA or Jubilee for a few minutes.
Instead, allow me to segue into a related topic, which might not sound so for the first few minutes.
Over the last few days, I have been waxing about the urgent need for a United Democratic Front for this country-learning from the history of South Africa, India and other countries.
I have argued that the glue which holds the edifice together should be that seminal achievement-the 2010 Constitution promulgated to much fan fare in August of that same year. Together with the Constitution, every democratic minded Kenyan should equip herself or himself with the complete Final Report of the Truth and Justice Commission together with the dissenting comments from the three international commissioners- which some people try to suppress.
I am saying this because as I read all the agitation going on across the country, it is really not about Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, NASA or Jubilee.
No, there is an existential quest for something Kenyans have hankered for so many years.
That is the need to live in a country which respects human rights; where there is equality between women and men; where all regions of the country participate in national development; where the police, criminal gangs like Mungiki do not terrorize the populace; where Muslims feel that this country is theirs too; where the youth see a future; where businesspeople and entrepreneurs feel that there is room to strive for the best; where Kenyans can cease listening to boring lectures from envoys and the so called international community; where al Shabaab does not feel the urge to unleash terrorism to get the Kenya Defence Forces from out of Somalia; where we finally can start dealing with corruption, poverty and other ills like climate change and so forth.
That is why I am convinced that we in Kenya do not need a new flag or a new anthem or subdivide the country. We should pause and learn from the futility of those brothers and sisters down south of the continent who naively thought that if they renamed their country “Azania” and had “one bullet” for “one settler” nirvana would reign in post-apartheid South Africa.
We are not really killing each other over who should be the fifth president of Kenya.
No.
There is something more substantial.
That is why our grandmothers like Me Katilili and grandfathers like Kimani wa Waciuri fought the British imperialists. That is why our aunties like Chelegat Mutai and our uncles like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga fought dictator Moi. That is why so many of us when to jail, endured prison and exile facing off against Daniel arap Moi. If you examine our decades long quest for democracy and social justice you understand why the youth in Kibra and Kisumu are facing off against the heavily armed robocops.
We need to live in a peaceful, democratic country that respects human life and justice.
In summary, that is why we need to come together, millions of us, in a national quest for a new renewal.
Shorn of the propaganda and rhetoric, that is what is at the heart of the current contestations that some people have reduced to tribal campaigns for ethnic supremacy or the culmination of a decades long search for personal political power.
Kenya is crying urgently for a United Democratic Front.
With my usual boldness, I am going to jump into the water before the swimming pool is crowded.
Watch me as I make a few suggestions-complete with names, structures and timelines.
First of all, the Kenya United Democratic Front should have a Chair.
I suggest Professor Yash Pal Ghai.
That is a name unlikely to unleash a three week blood stained civil war.
Other members of the KUDF nucleus should be-and there is a whole list which is flowing from my tongue but please feel free to add and substract:
Abdullahi Boru, Julius Okara, Khalif Abdi, Gladwell Otieno, Raila Odinga, Mwandawiro Mghanga, Aisha Jumwa, Otsieno Namwaya, Kamoji Wachiira, Parselelo ole Kantai, Micere Mugo, Chitechi Osundwa, Gitobu Imanyara, Zarina Patel, Njoki Wamai, Patrick Ochieng, Willy Mutunga, Smokin Wanjala, Hussein Khalid, Mweupe Khalfan, Ngugi wa Thiongo,Moses Chekai, Paddy Onyango, Lorna Kiplagat, Alvin Mosioma, Gabriel Dolan, Yussuf Hassan,George Morara, Oduor Ongwen, Benedict Wachira, Tegla Loroupe, Davinder Lamba, Boaz Waruku,Abubakar, Zein, Paul Tergat, Awori Achoka, Boni Khalwale, Ali Hassan Joho,Okoth Osewe, Henry Maina, Maina Kiai, George Kegoro, Atieno Ndomo, Mishi Mohammed, Jacinta Mwatela,Mutemi Kiama,Janeth Kipsogei,Omondi K'Abir Maina wa Kinyatti,Patricia Nyaundi, Edward Oyugi, Musalia Mudavadi,Seth Odongo, Abdulqadir Nassir, Lupita Nyongo , Kathure Kebaara, Chris Owalla, Gachehe Gachihi,Akoko Akech,Jason Dunford, Larry Gumbe, Sam Anyona, Nelly Kiarie, Atieno Odenyo, Zahid Rajan, Abdilatif Abdalla,Kaari Murungi,Sultan Somjee, Mugambi Kiai, Muthoni Wanyeki, Kipchoge Keino, Robert Shaw, Makau Mutua,James Gondi,Sakwa Makanda, David Rudisha, Johnstone Muthama, Wavinya Ndeti, Esther Passaris, Kibisu Kabatesi, Miguna Miguna, Kwamchetsi Makoha, David Magara, Binyavanga Wainaina,Abubakar Said, Mwashengu wa Mwachofi, Shadrack Gutto, Bobby Mkangi, Sinpare Leopard,Paul Kelemba, Shiraz Durrani, Jill Cottrell, George Kegoro, Booker Ngesa, Rachael Mwikali, Sophie Dola,Firoze Manji, James Orengo,Boniface Mwangi,Salim,Ruth Mumbi, Donald Kipkorir, Farrah Maalim, Billow Kerrow, David Ndii, Anyang Nyongo,Wandia Njoya, Abduba Diba, Jaldessa Godana,Tom Maliti,Adhiambo Odhiambo, Tabu Osusa, Kasmall, Victor Wanyama, MC Kah, Ndungi Githuku, Sitawia Namwale, Eliud Kipchoge,Ndungu Wainana, Elkanah Odembo to name a mere handful. I will add half a dozen marathon runners, footballers, motorists and cyclists when I update this essay.
A mischievous grin is playing around my oval face as I rattle off that list.
Random names?
Hardly.
Take a closer look at their historical, political, ideological and cultural CVs.
Some are well known politicians.
Some are judges.
Some are former detainees.
Others are exiles and diaspora citizens.
Some are civil society mainstays.
There is even a political cartoonist and a puppeteer thrown in there.
I have added a hip hop rapper or two along with some writers and spoken word poets.
More than half are unknown to the general Kenyan public.
Most have spoken, tweeted or emailed Onyango Oloo-who conveniently “forgot” to include his own name in that litany.
I am grinning impishly because at this very moment, internally, I am enjoying a private joke that is perhaps shared by three or four people in the above list.
But there is a PUBLIC part to my “evil” grin that I will share right now.
Folks reading this, try this as an experiment.
Take out a blank piece of paper.
Whether it is ruled or not, number it from 1 to 46.
On this paper start a list-about ANYTHING, but it is better if it is about politics, sports or music.
Now proceed to write down some names.
Make sure that at least half of the names are known ONLY TO YOU AND YOU ALONE.
After you reach number 46, contact the people you know.
Wait a minute!
Why 46 and not 39 or 52?
Is there a subliminal message you are trying to pass along, maybe something to do with NUMEROLOGY?
Oh not really.
Make the number 65 or 76 if you want.
That was just an arbitrary number that I dreamed up.
Distribute the list to as many people as possible.
Now watch the hilarious results.
Now if you are a Kenyan like me, some of your compatriots will zero in on a name like mine, quickly noticing that Onyango Oloo has a total of NOT one but FOUR “O”s and will quickly start a meticulous audit comparing how many “N”s and how many “M”s have made the list.
Christians, Muslims, women, lesbians, vegans, vegetarians, left handed people, climate change activists will quickly follow suit.
Soon, if you had asked the people to submit their feedback on the list on a piece of paper, you will be deluged with a veritable sea of red ink full of underlines, footnotes, crosses,circles and question marks.
In fact, the very best way of making sure that the list is INTERACTIVE is to start it and populate it with strange names.
You are sure that people will rediscover all they ever learnt in primary school about basic arithmetic.
They will ADD.
And they will SUBTRACT.
They more go further to MULTIPLY and even go to the extent of DIVIDE.
That was just a joke folks.
Last night, as I was compiling these names on my French made smartphone, far removed from all these people, I noticed that it was way past midnight where I was silently chuckling from.
Sweet dreams were beckoning me to slumber.
So as Shakespeare could have muttered in his inimitable Elizabethan argot, I said to myself, not being from that era in Europe: “we speaketh on the morrow”.
And with that I turned off my foreign gadget which is more than a phone but comes with yellow notes, audio recorders and video players.
Well, here I am again, having gathered myself out of bed, the morning after having had my kifungwa kinyua and ready to proceed with this insha.
For the last few days, I have been studying an academic text titled Case Study Of Democratic Organisation, 1983-1987 by Gregory Frederick Houston which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science, University of Natal, Durban, 1998.
This work which runs to 539 pages, is a thorough investigation into the South African United Democratic Front which shook that country in the mid 1980s and helped usher in the historic breakthrough which eventually ensured that Nelson Mandela elected as the first President of that newly liberated nation.
It is divided into ten chapters with a postscript and three appendices. These are the first chapter which is the Introduction; chapter 2 is on the united front strategy and revolutionary strategy and tactics in South Africa; chapter 3 looks at popular struggles and the growth of community organisations, 1960 to 1987;chapter 4 talks about the formation, policies and aims, strategy and tactics of the United Democratic Front; chapter 5 covers membership of the united democratic front while chapter 6 is on student and youth organisations and chapter 7 covers democratic trade unions and the next chapter, chapter 8: deals with civic organisations; chapter 9 is focused on women's organisations and the final chapter 10 is a conclusion.
I strongly recommend this tome for everyone who aspires to be a Kenyan DEMOCRAT. For ease of reference I am including here the URL from where anyone who wishes to can go online and download a copy for themselves:
researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/.../Houston_Gregory_Frederick_1998.pdf
That is ALL I will say for now.