Post by jakaswanga on May 7, 2019 20:59:05 GMT 3
BONIFACE MWANGI ON FAILED REFORMS: ENTER REVOLUTION AS THE NEXT OPTION
And
Kenyan culture is playing tricks. It is slowly but determinedly introducing new frontiers into the debate. That is the debate on the scala of options to ---seriously---- deal with the fundamental crisis within which the nation, today, finds itself embroiled and unable to shirk. As far as I can see it, Ouru Kenyatta for all his Handshake porojo's, is a version of what these days they call 'necrocracies'. (This term has achieved currency after an Algerian demonstrator used it to denounce the Boureflika regime. The rule of the mentally dead!
Drunkenness, I can argue, is next to mental death when mental exertion is acutely required, as in making important decisions!
Anyway the cultural prods are all still very gently. Like an experienced one initiating a virgin, taking their time. The prompts are happening in mischievous, jocular and even a touch dismissible fashion, but, the grimness of the land taken into consideration, these mental pricks wreak feelings of discomfort, such as that wrought by that child who pointed out the nakedness of the emperor whilst every adult, and their majesty's retinue, admired the royal fashion show.
See there the narrative of our economic might: we are clocking close to 6.5% growth rate per annum. See there the spectacular investments from China ---the SGR for instance, and beside it, the 6-carriage double way to be built next to it by America's Bechtel, Mombasa to Nairobi. And our democratic credentials are impeccable, elections and all, and all without any military moron interfering with the civilians. It is a regional success story. No competition. Kibaki and now Ouru K. have had a great run, and more of the same is in store. Corruption is a tiny problem, really, and soon solved. With the Handshake, credibility and social cohesion is back and high. An investor's paradise.
That is the fashion show, the dazzling peacock dance served by our bandits; and it should just be about enough to send many a good mind to sleep.
But Culture wont have that! It tugs, just one more thing.
Those mentally alert are aware of the many kids pointing to the nakedness of the political elite. Externally, Martin Ngatia of the Kenyan red alliance has always been the inheritor of the radical tradition which hacks back to MWAKENYA, and earlier on, MAU MAU. Internally, after the declaration of the second liberation and the success of devolution, a period of calm has reigned which submerged various strands of radical dissent. But they were just simmering below the surface.
Things came to a head when Raila Odinga was sworn in by public pressure as the peoples president. What would he do with this treasonable office!? An office which had unleashed forces that shocked the security apparatus into uncharted waters: indecision. -----It became clear soon enough; neither could the crowd be dispersed nor Raila be arrested. It became clear to the most hawkish forces of the status quo, that no commander of any security force was going to give the order for LIVE FIRE on that fateful day. This realisation is the story of Kenya today.
--Come baby come, the people dared the men who hold the KILL COMMAND in Kenya. ##FOOTNOTE
But Raila had no plans to give essence to the office of the peoples president. Or if he had, he soon lost nerve and aborted, unable to control the rush and drive of the likes of David Ndii and Miguna Miguna.
Thereafter his historical mission became to diffuse the tension in the land by confusing the opposition and disorganising the evolution of the reform agenda. So he was out to herd the flock back to the good old Mr. Jones farm.
But there wa a Djini out of the botle which could not go back. Miguna went to explore the possibilities of mass mobilisation outside the establishment. He called it the National Resistance Movement, NRM-ke. Proscribed, or may be not again.
But the way the government subsequently descended on Miguna Miguna confirmed the corrupt political class in Kenya is scared sh!tless. Not only did Fred Matiang'i suffer a meltdown and overreact physically, David Maraga too was reduced to an impotent bystander when over eight rulings issued by his courts were trashed, and there was nothing he could say, let alone do.
This was power play in a political crisis and the constitution was suspended! (you know, state of emergency stuff!).
To date, neither the JSC nor any other gathering of the best constitutional legal minds of the land have ventured an opinion on the trashing of the 8 court rulings around the Miguna saga. (No, spades are still big spoons in their lingo!)
And that means, even intellectually, Kenya is wide open for a sucker punch! We know it and we are nervous. And that is why the word SEDITION does not appear in relation to Boniface Mwangi. Neither does TREASON appear!
But a strange charge! REVOLUTION! (imagine what was going on in the copper's mind as he juggled for the right charge!)
Think about it: is a revolution illegal!? Did the 2010 constitution outlaw revolution!? Mudavadi with his TEAM KOMBOA KENYA, is that too, formenting a sh!tstorm!? Arrest Mudavadi or what!?
NB: This is the country whose legislators left off the hook businessmen who imported and distributed toxic sugar to the population. A question of mass poisoning. That looks like both a treason and a terrorism charge sheet. Such an elite must be wary of who they arrest and what charges they prefer.
Lets enjoy the laugh for the moment, but beware the Kenyan culture has raised the stakes very subtly. Reform now has a twin. The shadow is revolution, or, if Reform looks at itself in the mirror, the reflection reads Revolution?
But of course some things need a bit of thinking to see through.
FOOTNOTE HISTORICAL INTEREST:
The KILL COMMAND when directed at hordes of unarmed civilians in political action is a terrible burden when one is not sure of the hearts of the rank and file of the troopers. Recently we have seen the KILL COMMAND fail in both Algiers and Khartoum. There is also the famous episode from an Egypt in turmoil. Hosni Mubarak ordered for Tahrir Square cleared, by bloodbath. ---An Egyptian collective has now pieced the story together for the world and it is in public domain. The High Command met after the Order from the Commander in Chief and decided to do nothing. They knew Mubarak was insane, but didn't have the nerve to say so to his face, nor to one another. So Chain of command collapsed. It was for the colonels on the ground around Tahrir to do what they saw fit. But these had already been overwhelmed by the euphoria of the people and were dancing together on top the tanks and armoured vehicles. The refrain went: the people and the great Egyptian army are one!
I was bullsh!t of course, that an inept, brutal and parasitic monster like the Egyptian army could be one with the people, the same people they had ruthlessly oppressed for decades since Anwar Sadat. However, this moment of uncertainty was enough to consign Hosni Mubarak and his primed successor, his son Gamal, to the ash heap of history.
NB: A former member of the Egyptian High Command now residing in the Gulf described the days with so much humour, it reminded me of the earlier Pakistani dictator, Pervez Musharraf (baptised Busharraf because he obliged George Dubya Bush so much in his war on terror). Describing the day he was ousted from power, the old General displayed a humorous side never seen before in his public life.
Human rights activist Boniface Mwangi, who was arrested on Monday afternoon in Nairobi, is facing charges of organizing a 'revolution likely to cause civil unrest'.
According to a written statement by the police at Central Police Station, where the controversial activist is being held, Mwangi is also facing charges of causing a breach of peace.
According to the statement, which has since been widely shared on social media, the activist has however declined give the police any information regarding the said charges.
--------------
The last time Mr Mwangi was at Central Police Station was on April 30, when he led a group of activists in demanding for the release of fellow activist, Beatrice Waithera Maina, who had been arrested for leading a demonstration in the city centre.
According to a written statement by the police at Central Police Station, where the controversial activist is being held, Mwangi is also facing charges of causing a breach of peace.
According to the statement, which has since been widely shared on social media, the activist has however declined give the police any information regarding the said charges.
--------------
The last time Mr Mwangi was at Central Police Station was on April 30, when he led a group of activists in demanding for the release of fellow activist, Beatrice Waithera Maina, who had been arrested for leading a demonstration in the city centre.
And
Sources however alluded to Citizen Digital that the arrest of the former photojournalist-turned-activist could be related to the recent protest against corruption held at Uhuru Park dubbed #BeyondZeroCorruption.
One of the protesters - Bettie Wa Shiro - was arrested following the April 30 demonstrations and Mwangi is said to have been instrumental in securing her release.
The former Starehe parliamentary aspirant reportedly led a group of human rights activists that camped and lit candles at the Central Police Station following Bettie's arrest on April 30 until she was released early morning on May 1.
One of the protesters - Bettie Wa Shiro - was arrested following the April 30 demonstrations and Mwangi is said to have been instrumental in securing her release.
The former Starehe parliamentary aspirant reportedly led a group of human rights activists that camped and lit candles at the Central Police Station following Bettie's arrest on April 30 until she was released early morning on May 1.
Kenyan culture is playing tricks. It is slowly but determinedly introducing new frontiers into the debate. That is the debate on the scala of options to ---seriously---- deal with the fundamental crisis within which the nation, today, finds itself embroiled and unable to shirk. As far as I can see it, Ouru Kenyatta for all his Handshake porojo's, is a version of what these days they call 'necrocracies'. (This term has achieved currency after an Algerian demonstrator used it to denounce the Boureflika regime. The rule of the mentally dead!
Drunkenness, I can argue, is next to mental death when mental exertion is acutely required, as in making important decisions!
Anyway the cultural prods are all still very gently. Like an experienced one initiating a virgin, taking their time. The prompts are happening in mischievous, jocular and even a touch dismissible fashion, but, the grimness of the land taken into consideration, these mental pricks wreak feelings of discomfort, such as that wrought by that child who pointed out the nakedness of the emperor whilst every adult, and their majesty's retinue, admired the royal fashion show.
See there the narrative of our economic might: we are clocking close to 6.5% growth rate per annum. See there the spectacular investments from China ---the SGR for instance, and beside it, the 6-carriage double way to be built next to it by America's Bechtel, Mombasa to Nairobi. And our democratic credentials are impeccable, elections and all, and all without any military moron interfering with the civilians. It is a regional success story. No competition. Kibaki and now Ouru K. have had a great run, and more of the same is in store. Corruption is a tiny problem, really, and soon solved. With the Handshake, credibility and social cohesion is back and high. An investor's paradise.
That is the fashion show, the dazzling peacock dance served by our bandits; and it should just be about enough to send many a good mind to sleep.
But Culture wont have that! It tugs, just one more thing.
Those mentally alert are aware of the many kids pointing to the nakedness of the political elite. Externally, Martin Ngatia of the Kenyan red alliance has always been the inheritor of the radical tradition which hacks back to MWAKENYA, and earlier on, MAU MAU. Internally, after the declaration of the second liberation and the success of devolution, a period of calm has reigned which submerged various strands of radical dissent. But they were just simmering below the surface.
Things came to a head when Raila Odinga was sworn in by public pressure as the peoples president. What would he do with this treasonable office!? An office which had unleashed forces that shocked the security apparatus into uncharted waters: indecision. -----It became clear soon enough; neither could the crowd be dispersed nor Raila be arrested. It became clear to the most hawkish forces of the status quo, that no commander of any security force was going to give the order for LIVE FIRE on that fateful day. This realisation is the story of Kenya today.
--Come baby come, the people dared the men who hold the KILL COMMAND in Kenya. ##FOOTNOTE
But Raila had no plans to give essence to the office of the peoples president. Or if he had, he soon lost nerve and aborted, unable to control the rush and drive of the likes of David Ndii and Miguna Miguna.
Thereafter his historical mission became to diffuse the tension in the land by confusing the opposition and disorganising the evolution of the reform agenda. So he was out to herd the flock back to the good old Mr. Jones farm.
But there wa a Djini out of the botle which could not go back. Miguna went to explore the possibilities of mass mobilisation outside the establishment. He called it the National Resistance Movement, NRM-ke. Proscribed, or may be not again.
But the way the government subsequently descended on Miguna Miguna confirmed the corrupt political class in Kenya is scared sh!tless. Not only did Fred Matiang'i suffer a meltdown and overreact physically, David Maraga too was reduced to an impotent bystander when over eight rulings issued by his courts were trashed, and there was nothing he could say, let alone do.
This was power play in a political crisis and the constitution was suspended! (you know, state of emergency stuff!).
To date, neither the JSC nor any other gathering of the best constitutional legal minds of the land have ventured an opinion on the trashing of the 8 court rulings around the Miguna saga. (No, spades are still big spoons in their lingo!)
And that means, even intellectually, Kenya is wide open for a sucker punch! We know it and we are nervous. And that is why the word SEDITION does not appear in relation to Boniface Mwangi. Neither does TREASON appear!
But a strange charge! REVOLUTION! (imagine what was going on in the copper's mind as he juggled for the right charge!)
Think about it: is a revolution illegal!? Did the 2010 constitution outlaw revolution!? Mudavadi with his TEAM KOMBOA KENYA, is that too, formenting a sh!tstorm!? Arrest Mudavadi or what!?
NB: This is the country whose legislators left off the hook businessmen who imported and distributed toxic sugar to the population. A question of mass poisoning. That looks like both a treason and a terrorism charge sheet. Such an elite must be wary of who they arrest and what charges they prefer.
Lets enjoy the laugh for the moment, but beware the Kenyan culture has raised the stakes very subtly. Reform now has a twin. The shadow is revolution, or, if Reform looks at itself in the mirror, the reflection reads Revolution?
But of course some things need a bit of thinking to see through.
FOOTNOTE HISTORICAL INTEREST:
The KILL COMMAND when directed at hordes of unarmed civilians in political action is a terrible burden when one is not sure of the hearts of the rank and file of the troopers. Recently we have seen the KILL COMMAND fail in both Algiers and Khartoum. There is also the famous episode from an Egypt in turmoil. Hosni Mubarak ordered for Tahrir Square cleared, by bloodbath. ---An Egyptian collective has now pieced the story together for the world and it is in public domain. The High Command met after the Order from the Commander in Chief and decided to do nothing. They knew Mubarak was insane, but didn't have the nerve to say so to his face, nor to one another. So Chain of command collapsed. It was for the colonels on the ground around Tahrir to do what they saw fit. But these had already been overwhelmed by the euphoria of the people and were dancing together on top the tanks and armoured vehicles. The refrain went: the people and the great Egyptian army are one!
I was bullsh!t of course, that an inept, brutal and parasitic monster like the Egyptian army could be one with the people, the same people they had ruthlessly oppressed for decades since Anwar Sadat. However, this moment of uncertainty was enough to consign Hosni Mubarak and his primed successor, his son Gamal, to the ash heap of history.
NB: A former member of the Egyptian High Command now residing in the Gulf described the days with so much humour, it reminded me of the earlier Pakistani dictator, Pervez Musharraf (baptised Busharraf because he obliged George Dubya Bush so much in his war on terror). Describing the day he was ousted from power, the old General displayed a humorous side never seen before in his public life.