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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 12, 2006 19:08:45 GMT 3
FIRST DRAFT, UNEDITED, POSTED ONLINE Monday, June 12, 2006
Some Zany Observations from Onyango Oloo in Nairobi
1.0. On the Political Economy of International Soccer
A few lines on the unfolding World Cup gladiatorial face offs in Deutscheland:
The weekend opening match losses by Angola and Cote d'Ivoire belie their enormous actual and potential talent and exposes the middling abilities of their much vaunted temporary conquistadors who have exhibited nothing but over-hyped mediocrity on the pitch.
Capital driven globalization has transformed soccer into an international industry with players commodified, imported and exported across borders (at a time when Europe and North America are slamming the door shut on dark skinned immigrants and refugees) has leveled the playing field-a Didier Drogba is not only a team- mate of a Crespo but will face off against an E’too who is part of Ronaldinho’s attack force. The real masters of these souped up superstars are not their countries of origin but the professional clubs which pay their wages. Witness the imperious ripostes of Sir Alexander Ferguson over whether twenty year old Wayne Rooney is fit enough to don the jersey of the Three Lions. The Drogbas, Essiens, Ronaldinhos, Figos, E’toos, Rooneys, Mesis, Akwas and Toures of this world are nothing but human thoroughbreds champing at the bit to win the soccer sweepstakes for the jockey/coach/managers who drive them for advertising revenue, endorsements, shoe deals and other financial bonanzas.
The political economy of football has therefore done a lot to erase the huge deficits between continents and regions. Africa’s “national” teams still come up short largely because of the wiring of the neo-colonial set up at the government level which has seen the hemorrhaging of talent away from home-base. One can see what a focused, patriotic and consistent sports policy can do in terms of wonders on track and field by looking at the enduring prowess of the socialist- island nation of Cuba which has overcome almost a half century of a US led economic blockade to become one of the top ranking sports nations of the world.
The flip side of that coin is the flight of soccer players, boxers, basket ballers, sprinters, marathoners, tennis players, swimmers etc from Brazil, India, Ghana, Martinique, Jamaica, Algeria, Iran, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Zimbabwe to the American and European citadels of organized commercial sports.
To give a Kenyan and non-soccer illustration, we have seen not only the rebaptized Shaheen, but also the recently relocated super-athletic coach Mike Koskei follow the dollar signs luring them to Qatar, Bahrain and other oil-rich but talent poor Sheikdoms and Sultanates.
Supreme irony of incredible ironies, contemporary “European” teams like France are more African and Caribbean than they are Teutonic, “Aryan” or French. The transplanted Third World immigrant grand-children of orthodox Ulaya colonialism have taken over the soccer fields and television screens of their erstwhile imperialist Wazungu masters.
Go figure…
And with the foregoing I grab a virtual remote to brutally and suddenly silence the yabbering and jabbering of assorted idiot box commentators weighing in on the possible finalists a month hence.
Back to regular Kenyan political commentating programming here on the JUKWAA channel where it is “All Politics, All the Time” to paraphrase and hijack a slogan from a certain North American television outlet which used to bombard me with brain corroding, mind- addling, content free shows for close to twenty years in Canada.
CONTINUED>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 12, 2006 19:10:05 GMT 3
2.0. Kumbe It is a REAL Mafia Lording Over Kenyans!You know, if I were to offer the NATION Group some unsolicited non solicitorial layperson’s legal advice, I would urge them to poke the current Kenyan El Presidente in the eye by calling his civil suit bluff. I mean, here you have Mheshimiwa Kibaki- one of the country’s most publicized Catholic figures- for the umpteenth time, publicly denouncing, completely disowning and frantically distancing himself from a young woman who many, many Kenyans believe not only has more than a passing resemblance to him but in addition, had a reproductive donation from our current head of state. Is it that difficult to collect DNA evidence and summon NARC Activist par excellence to come forward and give evidence linking the Othaya MP to the date of her daughter’s conception by fertilizing her eggs maybe thirty or so years ago? On a more serious note, somebody has decoded for me the cryptic revelations in yesterday’s papers. The Sunday Standard front page story said inter alia: I am told that the former minister is none other than Dr. Chris Murungaru. The "political activist" is President’s Kibaki’s alleged second wife Mary Wambui and the deals in question include drug smuggling. Her daughter Winnie Wangui, is rumoured  to be romantically linked to the taller, more flamboyant of the boisterous tacky "Armenians" (a local paper exposed her as one of the business partners of the two "brothers") and supposedly stayed over at the infamous Runda residence from time to time. At least those are the "wild, unsubstantiated allegations" I overheard in one of Nairobi’s streets this morning. Apparently Raila Odinga got it right the first time around- the two Mamlukis are part of a bunch of shady and shadowy RUSSIANS connected to the criminal underworld who are not only in the country as Wazungu wa Unga (Dar es Salaam patois for DRUG DEALERS) but on a more sinister note, as part of a Mafia connected hit squad imported into the country to carry out political assassinations targeting leaders of the Orange Democratic Movement. These allegations would explain very neatly WHY a "powerful political operative" within President Kibaki’s ruling clique made frantic efforts to stop the Kenyan police from deporting the suspected Armenian brothers; it would clear up the mystery of WHO gave the gangland like figures unrestricted access airport passes which not only allowed them to roam one of the country’s most fortified areas with impunity, but go further and brandish a gun at Customs officers, cart off unspecified goods without inspection and drive off safely to their Runda home; it would clarify HOW COME some AK 47s retrieved from the suspected hoodlums bore serial numbers belonging to the Presidential security unit; unlock the puzzle swirling around the presence of 13 vehicles some with GK and CD number plates at the swanky hideout of the "Armenians" and go a long way in explaining why the two had documents promoting them to the rank of Assistant Commissioners of the Kenyan police despite their undisputed foreign status in our country. These salacious possibilities notwithstanding, it is my view that we as a nation of Kenyans are facing even more ominous scenarios as we contemplate the bone-chilling and spine tingling likelihood that members of our very own, democratically elected NARC government are openly, cynically and assiduously colluding with a branch of the notorious and dreaded Russian MAFIA to subvert our country's laws, undermine our fledgling democratic institutions, push aside senior government bureaucrats and set up a political hit squad rehearsing how to eliminate a section of our country’s political leadership currently languishing in opposition. Won't it be ironic if it were to be revealed that cabinet ministers (past and present) charged with protecting this country from internal and external subversion are the chief plotters and executors of political sabotage? Won't it be stomach churning if Kenyans were to find out that one of the country's most public mothers is colluding with gangsters feeding Kenya's youth noxious narcotics? Won't it be mind-boggling if Christians of this nation were to be confronted with evidence linking some of Kenya's top notch "political Christians" to dastardly deeds breaking every one of the Ten Commandments?If we look at the current stage of world monopoly capitalism, we should not be surprised to see politicians cavorting with underworld ghouls or underworld ghouls becoming politicians. For the last twenty five years the crisis within international finance capital has helped unravel the welfare states of Europe and North America and engineered a squeeze in foreign aid commitments as right wing economic hawks peddle the Milton Friedman supply side voodoo economics that first enjoyed state largesse during the Reagan and Thatcher golden age of far right triumphalism and are currently being promoted by the pin-striped snake oil salesmen from the Bretton Woods twins. Over the last fifteen years, it has become untenable for the Mois, the Mobutus and other neo-colonial potentates to use the anti-communist debit card to download donor funds. Due to these "rationalized" bilateral realignments, we have seen Western governments shift their aid packages to project linked NGO supervised endeavours leaving little marupu rupu left over for state connected thieves, swindlers and other political conmen. That is why, in my opinion, Kenyans started witnessing multi-billionaires in Moi's cabinet grabbing toilets, privatizing primary school playgrounds, creating the Goldenbergs and other outright criminal networks that included the notorious "political banks" of the early to mid nineties. When former Vice- President Mwai Kibaki inherited former President Moi's State House bed he also inherited the empty coffers of the neo-colonial state and the tightened purse strings of the Western funders. The current scribe scribbling these lines was far from surprised when the Anglo- Leasing story broke because the Murungarus of this world were simply fuataring the nyayos of the Biwotts, the Saitotis and the Mois. Anglo-Leasing was simply the upgraded version of Goldenberg and as we have subsequently found out, just one of a series of NARC era corruption scandals. And speaking of corruption- the fact that a section of the NAK cabal led by former PS John Githongo decided to blow the whistle on their erstwhile colleagues spoke to a feeling within the British colonial overlords that not only were the corrupt ministers going too far, but more than that, they were veering too far East to embrace the oil thirsty and energy hungry Chinese economic boom makers. Internally, the blatant resort to outright gangsterism by the NAK cabal- a phenomenon best exemplified by the Michuki ordered midnight raid on the Standard/KTN offices- was but a culmination of what some of us saw in 2003 when we publicly cautioned against the rise of political gangsterism in NARC EVEN BEFORE Dr. Crispin Odhiambo Mbai was brutally slaughtered for the crime of being a close associate of Langata MP and LDP linchpin Raila Amolo Odinga: www.mashada.com/forums/index.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=24664&mesg_id=24664&listing_type=searchWhat we are facing as a country is a hellish reality already in place in many of the former Soviet republics where organized criminals have completed infiltrated many state organs. Kenyans therefore are faced with a stark choice: Will allow our country to become another narco-banana republic or will we push ahead to achieve the objectives which led to huge democratic victory over the Moi-led corrupt neo-colonial fascists of yesteryear? Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya
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Post by aeichener on Jun 12, 2006 21:16:32 GMT 3
FIRST DRAFT, UNEDITED, POSTED ONLINE Monday, June 12, 2006 The weekend opening match losses by Angola and Cote d'Ivoire belie their enormous actual and potential talent and exposes the middling abilities of their much vaunted temporary conquistadors who have exhibited nothing but over-hyped mediocrity on the pitch. Oh, piffle. Côte d'Ivoire displayed world-class football (much better than the Germany and English team so far), whereas Angola brought us some third-rank provincial league performance. Alexander |
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Post by mzee on Jun 12, 2006 22:48:28 GMT 3
When the United States was attacked by terrorist, President George Bush did not lay back and count his true family to the Americans. In his address to the congress and to the nation on the events of Sep/11 he had, partly, the following to say….I will not forget this wound to our country, or those who inflicted it. I will not yield--I will not rest--I will not relent in waging this struggle for the freedom and security of the American people”. Now that is what a leader is supposed to say when his country is under siege. Our president Emilio Kibaki has on the other hand decided to deal in pettiness and family related squabbles than do the job he was elected for. The streets of Nairobi are full of rumours that Lucy urged him to go live on TV and denounce his second wife. There is no problem in doing this, for it’s their headache, but we don’t want to hear it. However, since he decided to talk about it why not also tackle the Arturs problem who is clearly related to the “family” problem. The president has exhibited great arrogance by pretending that the terrorist issue does not exist. He has infact told Kenyans that he has sold them for “peni tatau”.
The government of Kenya is currently harbouring and abetting terrorist while the president is pretending that all is well. He seems to be reminding us that his family controversies are more important than Kenyans lives. I wonder not only what he is thinking but also how he is doing the thinking. He is presiding over a cabinet, whose members are completely engulfed in Mafia like wheeling and dealing. I am not talking MKM but the real costra nostra.
I, however, do not believe that the Arturs are a complicated Mafioso. They are at best errand boys to some tough criminal gang, perhaps with connections to the mafia. The way the Arturs have conducted themselves leaves a lot to be desired as far as top-notch mafia criminality is concerned. Real mafia do not go around town bragging. With a particular mission in mind, they try to avoid exposure and lavish lives, which might reveal their activities.
Criminal organizations keep illicit actions secret, and members communicate by word of mouth unlike the Arturs who were calling countless press conferences. Many organized crime operations have substantial legitimate businesses, such as licensed gambling, building construction etc which operate in parallel with and provide cover for drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, extortion, hijacking, fraud, and insider trading, among many other possible criminal activities. I do believe that Arturs wanted to venture into some of the above but were/are too amateurish.
The chest thunping associated with these two thugs do not fit into the plans of a Mafioso. In order for the mafioso to prosper, some degree of support is required from the society in which it lives. Arturs on the other hand stepped on every toe they came across. The only attempt to emulate a real organized gang was their attempt to infiltrate and corrupt some members of the government by bribery and most probably blackmail. I therefore submit that these were just but cheap go-between criminal from Eastern Europe who hade never tasted a good life and were completely mesmerized by living in Runda, driving nice cars and brushing shoulder with top government officials.
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Post by mzee on Jun 12, 2006 23:02:12 GMT 3
FOOTBALL
Africans have football skills but lack the psychological prowess to beat the Europeans. They always look psychologically defeated even before they start playing. Unless and untill they overome this barrier they will never come far.
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Post by aeichener on Jun 13, 2006 0:52:11 GMT 3
Mzee1:
I agree with your posting from 3:48 PM. Kenyans get the foreign criminals they deserve. Amateurish clowns.
Alexander
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Post by politicalmaniac on Jun 13, 2006 5:50:24 GMT 3
OO
If you are seeing what I am seeing, then it follows that kickbac1 is on his way out. Arent folks you interact with fed up or what?
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 13, 2006 10:32:44 GMT 3
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 13, 2006 10:35:54 GMT 3
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Post by eastman on Jun 13, 2006 11:09:29 GMT 3
There is nothing new or terribly surprising in Emilio's reaction to the matter around the deportation of the Armenians (if indeed they are Armenians). After the TV appearance dwelling on a secondary matter while evading the gist of public concern, it is clear that Mr. Kibaki's area of interest is , and has been all along, very narrow indeed. Many Kenyans are mistaken to think that Emilio goes to his (mahogany?) bed in State House every night thinking about their problems. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Mr. Kibaki's stand-offish style actually means that he does not view the presidency as a job in the strict sense. He views it as an opportunity to be the top dog manipulating events behind the scenes for his own good and for the good of those closest to him, either via family or tribal ties, friendship or common business interests. Kibaki's brief in State House has never been about Kenyans and their 'stupid' whining. Therefore, there is no sense in pleading with Kibaki to do something every time a crisis comes up. The chances are that he will do nothing, or he go through the motions Kenya style:- establish a commission of enquiry with no specific terms of reference to come up with a report that will gather dust on the shelves at best; or 'request' a friend to pretend he has been suspended from his duties while the dust settles etc etc. Then it will be business as usual, until another Kibaki-generated crisis comes along. It is time for the Kenyan people who care about their country to offer Kibaki a one-way corridor to Othaya from the State House lawns, by helicopter, without further negotiations. Does any one remember Argentina? Are Kenyans not passionate enough to stamp their feet down and pronounce 'enough is enough' ? Any opinions?
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 13, 2006 11:43:00 GMT 3
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 13, 2006 11:47:03 GMT 3
Do We Really Own Kenya?
Publication Date: 6/13/2006, Daily Nation
Who owns Kenya? Kenyans, of course, you would answer.
However, after the Artur brothers and their guests refused to open their airline luggage for routine inspection, drew guns, and threatened customs and security officers before leaving the Jomo Kenyatta International airport with the uninspected bags, Kenyans will be forgiven for thinking they are second class citizens in their own country.
The Artur brothers have been carrying on like they were above the law. Though Kenya has had its share of powerful people, none ever broke into the airport baggage hold and took out luggage at gun-point; drove cars with multiple number-plates and refused police entry into their premises – until the Arturs came along.
There was a time when Africa was so disorganised that a few dozen mercenaries could land at the airport and overthrow a government 12 hours later.
Kenya, fortunately, was spared the extreme cases of state crisis that has plagued many a Third World country. Yet, here we are, 25 years in the post-mercenary era, allowing two East Europeans to act with the audacity we shall not allow the most respected of our citizens, not even the President himself!
The actions of the Arturs were a blow to our pride and sovereignty as a nation. An attack on our sovereignty because the Government ceded power to two swaggering Armenians of dubious backgrounds.
It was a violation of our national pride because it seemed to confirm the stereotype that the African becomes timid and gullible when confronted by a European or American.
Take, by contrast, the example of the USA. In its war on terror, the US passed several sweeping laws that, among other things, allowed the government to hold people indefinitely without trial, and denied them the right to be tried in a civilian court.
But even in the hardline environment that evolved in the US after the September 11 attacks, these laws still specifically exempted American citizens from this treatment.
That is what smart countries do: If they have to, they give more rights to their citizens than to foreigners. Our Government, however, has done it the other way around – given two Europeans the prerogatives that it denies its own people. For whom, then, does the Government exist?
Thirdly, it has been shocking to see that apart from a few guarded comments, no one in Government was willing to stand up for Kenya's honour.
Many airlines have resumed flights
In fact, some ministers – even after the two were deported – spent more time trying to justify the actions of the Arturs than in asserting the case for the law to be unleashed on them.
Fourthly, the Government is guilty of economic sabotage. For years, the JKIA struggled to re-establish its image as an international airport that was not vulnerable to terrorism. Indeed, barely two years ago, the airport was blacklisted as unsafe in several travel alerts, which led to the suspension of British Airways flights.
Kenya Airways – and other airlines – couldn’t fly directly to and from the USA because our Government was considered too incompetent to provide the necessary security. In recent times, arrivals at JKIA have risen to record levels as many airlines have resumed flights.
This has been a huge boost to tourism, the conference trade, and export businesses.
But the freedom with which the Arturs moved around the airport waving guns, and the laughable ease with which they acquired security passes, has already thrown a new dark cloud over JKIA.
It remains inconceivable that in the era of heightened concerns over drug-trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism and similar threats, any Kenyan in his right mind would succumb to this level of criminal recklessness – even issuing passports to people officially acknowledged to be non-citizens – that would jeopardise such a massive national investment.
It's tragic for our country that this has come to pass. And it is a disaster of unimaginable proportions that Government leaders aren’t even ashamed of it.
If being Kenyan means anything, the people must insist that this national disgrace doesn't befall us again.
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 13, 2006 11:56:12 GMT 3
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Post by politicalmaniac on Jun 13, 2006 22:10:06 GMT 3
THIS SAGA IS STAIN ON OUR NATIONALISM AND PRIDE
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Post by adongo12345 on Jun 13, 2006 23:07:39 GMT 3
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Post by mossad on Jun 14, 2006 5:14:13 GMT 3
About the Armenians, many of you have said all that was in my mind and there's no need in adding any more to it except the fact that kenyans will get angry and do nothing about it as Kibaki once said.
About soccer, Oloo, if you dont love the game, please stop demonising the players.
Note that, the experince those africans teams get for playing in europe has put them where they are today and defeated the rest of us notably Kenyans.
By these guys, Etoo, drogba, essein etc playing for europeans club, i just look at it as a way of making a living. Dont be too hursh on them bana, you are scaring the hell out of us.
Mossad.
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Post by mzee on Jun 17, 2006 13:04:07 GMT 3
#ONE
Its not surprising that Emilio Kibaki is behaving the way he is. The man has never struggled for anything. He has had opportunity after opportunity on a silver platter, therefore never seen the need to work hard. He is a survivor who will do anything to reach his goal. I really do not know why Moi fired him as VP. I have begun to believe that it must have been because of incompetence. Emilio has made so many mistakes that Kenyans have begun loosing count. We do not have to repeat that he supported the one party state to the helm. He kept mum while the likes of Raila were fighting to free the nation from Mois iron grips.
#TWO
On the day Emilio Kibaki was inaugurated he sounded like a man with a mission. He gave hope to the country. According to what he said, the era of incompetence and corruption had come to an end. He was to help put Kenya on its way to prosperity. With his vast experience, we all believed him. However, things started going wrong the moment he moved to state house. From then on, he seemed to have lost touch with reality. He has since been making one mistake after the other as far as firm decision-making is concerned .When he had crisis in the Narc coalition, before the departure of LDP, he was repeatedly told to try bringing the warring parties to the table and settle their differences, but that was not to be. When he finally acted, it was too little to late. When the coalition finally failed, he embarked on patchwork rehabilitation, which saw him from a very weak government composed of election losers.
#THREE
He was told repeatedly to act on the Anglo-leasing thieves, but in keeping with his trademark of see no evil, hear no evil he never acted until the thievery almost brought the government down. He was warned that he would loose the referendum badly if he did not give the people the Bomas draft (the peoples choice). He did not disappoint here either, he never listened to anybody but himself and the tribal cabal around him. Realising too late that he had lost, he turned his anger and frustration on LDP, not only did he throw them out of the government but also most parliamentary committees. His worst mistake was, however, calling Kenyans wa pumbavu. Word on the street is that he will pay big come 2007. The wanainchi will show him who the real pumbavu is.
#FOUR
Then came the Arturs who have been threatening national security for five months. The commander in chief kept quite. Only to realise too late that the thugs were up to no good. Moreover, that his sloppiness was putting the country’s pride in disrepute, and that Kenya was becoming a laughing stalk. When he finally acted, it was toooooo late.
In keeping with tradition, he has appointed Shadrack Kiruki (to head the inquiry into the activities of the Artur brothers), with disregard to the fact that Kiruki was fired from the police force due to misconduct. Emilio has taken the saying “set a thief to catch a thief” too literally. Kiruki`s first statement is really telling, he has begun by calling for “any person with information should present them as evidence". This rings a bell about the Anlo_leasing. The government insisted before Githongs revelation that “any person with information” regarding the scandal was welcome to present them to the police. Now, “anybody” cannot investigate and gather evidence for Karuki. What resources does this “anybody” have which Karuki lacks? Can we really expect good results if the evidence is to be gathered by “anybody” while he Karuki chills and wait? No good will come out of the investigation. Only junior officers will be made to pay for the sins of Michuki and co.
COMING SOON
Cases of paedophilia and child prostitution by wazungus have been gathering momentum in the coast province. The government is yet to take action regarding the wazungus. Emilio is still waiting for the problem to get out of hand. Could be that it is his” own men” protecting these cruel criminals? Could they too be having state house and police connections?
Emilio is simply incompetent.
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jul 4, 2006 14:47:47 GMT 3
Posted by: Observer Jun 22 2006, 07:01 PM
Indeed OO. We have a situation where members off the government have colluded in the disappearance of $72 milliion worth of cocaine, the hiring and use of mercenaries, the funding and arming of private militia, the repression of the press, the dissolution of our border protection regime and as of yesterday, a sneaky bill in parliament that will legalise the removal of parastatal companies from the jurisdiction of the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor General so that these companies can be looted.
What we have on our Kenyan hands is a rogue government that realises it will be removed from power next year. Given this horizon, the rogue, out of control hijacked government has embarked on a calculated policy to strip the place bare. They are shameless in this project - it is open for all to see.
It is incumbent upon patriotic Kenyans to take note.
We Kenyans will be demaanding accountability and investigations of the previous government from the next government. Should the next government find that gross crimes have been committed, the law should take its course. We Kenyans must insist upon this.
We may have rogue hijackers in charge of our democratic aeroplane.
Time and memory is our secret weapon against them.
Posted by: Da_illest Jun 24 2006, 11:52 AM
Powerful and inspiring words.
One problem.
Not enough people feel this way. there are too many who dont care. a normal working class kenyan has more to worry abut than what's going on in the political game. There are too many ignorant people out there. maybe some figures will be held accountable, but not all.
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Post by abdulmote on Jul 4, 2006 16:05:34 GMT 3
I am beginning to feel that all these noises about bringing accountability to bear against the criminals of yesterday is just a wishful thinking. Have you not noticed the repeated pledges by Kalonzo to "protect the wazee" if elected, meaning there will be no "accountability" expected if he takes over? And should we not be concerned that Kalonzo is somekind of "chanda na pete" with Raila but for their presidential ambition?
OHoo, why am I bothering at all?!!
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