Sukuma Kenya

18th July - It's Our Turn To Eat: Readings in Kisumu

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:08:00 +0000

This Saturday July 18, 2009 11am to 4pm International PEN Kenya Chapter, takes the READING of Michela's 'Its Our Turn To Eat,' to Kisumu. The VENUE: Aga Khan Sports Centre.

'Every age,' said Oscar Wilde, 'is fought using its own weapons.' Ours is the information age. Let Kenyans be told something about their government and individuals who waste their resources and time, trying to project themselves as leaders. No, they are not, and this we do not need to belabour. Its WHY the ASIAN TIGERS are ahead of us today.

Kenya needs recalibration. That calls for a good sense of history.

Michela Wrong gathers together pieces of a fragmented nightmarish narrative, and delivers it to the victim, a community afflicted by capricious gods undieted on Olympian foods. Put differently, they are not invincible. Whatever the community does with the message is not for the messenger to decide.

Khainga O'Okwemba, poet/literary critic &
Treasurer, International PEN Kenya Chapter

Putting Lipstick on a Pig...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Latest Partnership for Change publication is out and a must read and share...the horror has not stopped...

Click on the image below to download full publication of visit the Partnership for Change website HERE

Tactical Tech: The Quick ‘n Easy Guide to Online Advocacy

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:31:00 +0000

"The Internet has opened up many possibilities for rights advocates. In order to make the best use of the online world for their campaigns, however, advocates need to know what services are available, how they can be used in an advocacy campaign, who owns them and their hidden dangers."

"The Quick 'n Easy Guide to Online Advocacy developed by Tactical Tech, aims to expose advocates to online services that are quick to use and easy to understand. The guide provides descriptions of online services including social networking sites, image and video hosting services, and services that enhance an organizations web presence. The guide also offers advice on where and when to use these services. Case studies, security concerns as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various web services are discussed, with the aim of improving advocates ability to conduct online advocacy campaigns."

The internet services listed in the guide covers four main areas in which advocates operate: informing and communicating; documenting and visualising; mobilising and coordinating; and bypassing and accessing.

http://onlineadvocacy.tacticaltech.org

Usinibore

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:48:00 +0000

The first single from Just A Band's upcoming second album - 82.
http://www.just-a-band.com

Wajibu Magazine is out: Digitizing Kenya

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Now Available in all major bookstores in Nairobi.

Content:

Digitizing Kenya: some cracks in the digital divide
Preventing collective amnesia: The challenge of preserving digital materials in the age of the internet
Tourism and the Internet: what prospects for the small operator?
Blogging About Kenya: National Discourse in a Transnational Space
Digitally Networked Technology in Kenya's 2007-2008 Post-Election Crisis

Features:

Making a difference: Africa Yoga Project – Journey into Power with Baron Baptiste
Youth Speaks: Daring to live anew / Rose Njeri Ng’anga /
Book review: It’s our turn to eat / Michaela Wrong /
Poetry by Philo Ikonya

For more information email: gwakuraya (at) gmail (dot) com

CAN YOU WEAR THIS?

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Destruction constructed...

Ignorance unclothed...

"This will go down as the worse day of my life. In the emergency room I step over the dead to reach for those dying. They were out of supplies. They had to use the same needle to suture multiple people. They were out of IV's in the hospital and all drug stores in town are closed. Called the owner of Eldochem and he met me at his shop within 10 minutes. Loaded my car to the brim with all of his IV fluids, tubing and suture sets and returned to the ER. Many burns along with at least a hundred with lacerations all over their bodies. Too many were just bodies. We lost an unknown number of children in Eldoret in a single church fire. Best guess is >30 children may have died in this single blaze. Many of the burned adults and children survivors are in our ER."

"More people have died today in Eldoret than the number reported in the media for all of Kenya! Got our food truck and formed a caravan: Armed guards in front and behind, our truck, I was in a Kenyan Red Cross truck. We drove to the Eldoret airport to pick up supplies flown in to us by the Red Cross. We loaded literally tons of wonderful supplies and just got them back to the hospital. Even included a Red Cross trauma surgeon who flew up with the supplies. The drive to the airport is just too much. There are fires in all directions as homes and shops burn. Literally hundreds of refugees walk along the road. Sometimes it is 30-50 children and a single adult walking along carrying what they can. The road itself was cluttered by large stones that represented road blocks where they look in the car for those who are the "wrong tribe". There must be 20 blocked areas in that short drive. Most abandoned but not all. Passed many burned out homes and shops on the way. Standing on the tarmac of the airport, I could see smoke coming up on the horizon in all directions. I have pictures but lack the courage to even look at them myself much less send them until I relax a bit."

"It is my understanding that things in Western Province are pretty stable. The bulk of the crisis is in Rift Valley where we are, Nyanza, Nairobi and Coast. Those who flew in on the plane describe smoke coming up all along between Nakuru and Eldoret. I will not be able to process what I have seen; perhaps never understand my feelings. Be assured that the human genome needs many more years of evolution if it can get there biologically. The only way I can see to jump our inherent flaws as a race is to encounter something deeper in our lives than just self. It is a precious thing to have a deep feeling of being changed by our faith."

"Never take that for granted. It is all that gives sanity to what I have seen today."

PRINA SHAH
b.1973, Nairobi, Kenya
Live and Work in Kenya
Probe:
The Amnesia Project Platform 7

Towards a Just Society...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:19:00 +0000

PROBE...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:36:00 +0000

Jungu, Miro, Choot...taking the conversation further

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:55:00 +0000

Heal our nation...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Picha Mtaani aims at providing a platform for national reflection and building local reconstruction consensus through photo exhibitions and debate.

Click HERE to read more...

INVITATION TO READING OF 'IT'S OUR TURN TO EAT'- BOOKS ON SALE AT KSH. 900 ONLY

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:40:00 +0000

PEN Kenya invites you to an afternoon of readings and discussion of Michella Wrong's 'It's our Turn to Eat'.

DATE: SUNDAY 14 JUNE 2009
TIME: 2-5 PM
VENUE: KENYA NATIONAL THEATRE (Main Hall)

Previous libel suits against local booksellers have led to fear and intimidation and the book is currently unavailable in stores. It contains crucial issues for the country, for which reason PEN Kenya endeavors to make it available to the wider public. The books will be sold at a reasonable price of ksh. 900. Subsequent readings, discussions and book sales will be held around the country.

Forward and circulate this invitation to all you know that might be interested and lets meet to discuss problem areas in our country and work out possible solutions.

We look forward to engaging with you,

PEN Kenya.

PEN- In defense of freedom of expression and promotion of literature

AwaaZ Issue 1, 09 is out!

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:32:00 +0000

AwaaZ Issue 1, 09 is out! Available at la baquette, Westlands, Monty's Sarit Centre, Book point, bookstop - Yaya Centre, Spring Valley S/Mkt, Simply Books - ABC place. Or email editors@awaazmagazine.com for more details.

Kenyan banned by Facebook...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:09:00 +0000

Just read on Hot Secrets that award winning Kenyan photographer, Boniface Mwangi has been banned by facebook for 'controversial statements' against our tribal corrupt thieving politicians. Shocking! Have our Kenyan politicians bought shares in facebook too???

Read the full post HERE.

Boniface is undoubtedly one of the most fearless photographers on the continent and was instrumental in revealing the extent of tribal and political violence during the post-election crises.

Have our Kenyan politicians bought shares in facebook too???

The new MARS Group Portal

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:06:00 +0000

As one person remarked, the government now, "know's they're more closely scrutinised by one small organisation than by an entire parliament (not to mention an entire chain of Treasury officials)..."

The homework has been done now it's time for the rest of us to rise up to the challenge...

Revisioning Kenya...time for some new ideas...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Thursday 4th June
Alliance Francaise Auditorium
6:30 pm

For more information visit: revisioningkenya.com

kwani, what has happened to Kwani??

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:39:00 +0000

I am ashamed...ashamed of being Kenya...again.

No, not again: I am continuously ashamed of being Kenyan. I don't mind or care anymore if there are other countries whose citizens have higher degrees of shame. That is far too much of a burden for me to care or carry anymore.

I even feel guilty when I eat my meal. Why? Because even the smallest pleasures in life have been darkened by what our intellectuals have officially coined, "a culture of impunity." Those simple pleasures of life like a cup of "chai" and "eating" are now and forever bequeathed to that culture of impunity. Whilst the policeman demands "chai" from me, our politicians of today have decided it is their turn to eat.

A fellow Kenyan wrote this morning asking, "is it the Kenyan condition? Are we hardwired this way?" Kwani, are we innately incapable of doing anything without tainting it with pesa imepotea wapi??

But these are the sort of day to day issues that keep our papers selling. Bloated cabinet, stolen maize, hunger, MPs paying bribes for votes...blah blah blah blah blah blah. So, some people go in search of something else other than newspapers and when we find something that smells clean and says, "100% Proud to be Kenyan" we buy every copy of it possible, we even have 3 or 4 or even 5 copies of the same damn thing proudly sitting on our bookshelves because it smells cleeeeannnn....hmmmm...can you smell that?

But soon the dust begins to settle on the well leafed pages and we crave for more of that fresh clean air. And being the fortunate few, we simply flick open our laptops and google the word:

"K...N...I..."

The results are not what we expect. So some people begin to ask questions like the gentleman below...

Anglo Wako...Cup o' tea at Kamiti...(please!)

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:30:00 +0000

"Cup of tea with the Queen might help resolve this little flease problem. Wouldn't you say so dear?"

"I hear they brew a splendid cup of tea at Kamiti. Fit for an aristocrat I would say!"

"Well, then that should do me fine! Off I go!!"

The XYZ Show! Of fools and more fools....

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sat, 16 May 2009 07:44:00 +0000

Hat tip rwathia!

Click HERE to download Raila's toilet teaser! Love it...

Every Sunday, 945pm on Citizen TV

Clip below was done in 2007 but it's worth every rerun...

Why selective criticism in Kenyan Blogs?

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

The following appeared as a comment by "Concerned Rose" in response to the post below this one on the current queries about Uhuru Kenyatta's closed eyes on the 9.6 billion missing...

"Winston Churchhill once said “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

"I am a disappointed Kenyan. Disappointed because of a scaring trend that has emerged as far as fair reporting of Kenya’s politics is concerned. Many Kenyans who frequent the many blogs discussing Kenyan politics will agree with me that most of the blogs are mouth pieces of some political parties. The owners of the blogs only publish stories demonizing one of the political party's mostly unfairly quoting faceless sources. When for example a report compiled by MP’s from both political divide finds foul play on the part of the Prime Minister and his family concerning the Maize Scandal, these blogs literally continued running unrelated stories and their owners literally deleted comments from concerned Kenyans that faulted Raila. Kumekucha led in this end. Other blogs choose to recycle old stories.

Imagine if the committee had found Kibaki guilty of the sleeze? All blogs would have published the story as ‘Breaking News’. And I bet the story would have run for days. Why the hypocrisy?

When blogs that purport to lead the war of redeeming the country are involved in cover ups when their so called ‘democrats’ are caught with their snouts in the public coffers, then how do we expect a better Kenya? Where are the honest Kenyans in the blogosphere to lead the way since the road is packed with wolves in sheep skins?

I sign off with wise words from Joseph Joubert; “Children need role models rather than critics.” Don’t shake your head I know,…. that is asking too much."

Concerned
Rose

Let the looting go on!

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Looting the Budget – Ksh 9.6 Billion Missing, and the fraudulent unjustifiable approval of an amount of kshs 26.7Billion from the Supplementary estimates of Recurrent Expenditure of the Government of Kenya for the year 2008/2009

May 5th, 2009 by Mars Group Kenya

This afternoon Gitobu Imanyara, MP, will request for a statement from the Minister of Finance regarding glaring discrepancies in the documents presented to Parliament for approval of the Supplementary Budget last week.

Mars Group Analysis of the Supplementary Budget and comparison of figures within the Approved National Budget show systematic differences which caused Parliament to vote additional funds to the Government when additional funds were not necessary as Parliament had approved the expenditure in June last year.

Click HERE to read the rest...

What are we doing here?

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:49:00 +0000

"Do you know what happens to the money you give to charity?"

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? explores why the charity given to Africa over the last five decades has been largely ineffective and often harmful. The film tells the story of Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein who travel across Africa in an attempt to understand one of the great problems of our time; the failure to end poverty.

Click HERE to visit the website...

Hat tip App+frica!

We are watching you...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:46:00 +0000

RESPONSE BY THE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHANGE TO THE SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. MWAI KIBAKI, C.G.H., M.P., PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE STATE OPENING OF THE THIRD SESSION OF THE TENTH PARLIAMENT AT PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS NAIROBI 21ST APRIL, 2009

It is well and good that Vision 2030 remains our blueprint but it would be wrong to assume that the plan is more important than the people whose lives the plan is meant to improve. Discussions with our fellow Kenyans and particularly the youth tell us that 2030 as a vision is unreal to them. They look for news and plans for today – 2009 – and tomorrow and the day after that. They
cannot wait until 2030 to have jobs or to eat – let alone until the end of this year.

Read the full article HERE

TRNSMSSN

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Broken synthesizers and fragmented satellite broadcasts from the future provide a fictionalized Kenyan future;
panicked astronauts, lovelorn puppets, a flying tortoise, the meaning of life, an experimental boy band and a sprinkling of sparkly stuff...

The Goethe-Institut Nairobi has commissioned Just A Band with works of video art for our first art show.

The show runs from Tuesday May 5, 2009 to Saturday May 16, 2009 and will feature premieres of new music videos from Scratch To Reveal and our soon-to-be-released second album - 82.

Just A Band will mark the finissage with END_TRNSMSSN, a DJ set of our favorite house, electro,pop and funk
tunes!

Entry free.

Free For All...

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Pesa...Pesa..Pesa

ECK, MPs, Ministers...

And the rest of Kenya?

Read Gladwell Otieno's piece HERE in the Nation on ECK's handsome pay...

Also worth downloading the Africog Report entitled, "Free for all? Misuse of funds at the Electoral Commission of Kenya"

Click HERE to download report

Call to Action!

noreply@blogger.com (Sukuma Kenya) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Budget Campaign 2009: Walking the talk, the Citizens of the Republic of Kenya take charge and ask the Friends of Kenya to join hands to save Agenda 4 of the National Accord; This is a Call to Action by the Partnership for Change

Apr 17th, 2009 by Mars Group Kenya

Following the political and economic crisis triggered by the disputed announcement of the election of President Kibaki for a second term on December 30th 2007, it was hoped that Parliament would have used the opportunity presented by the National consensus on Agenda 4 to appropriate tax money for the benefit of the poorest of the poor and curb wasteful expenditure by the Government. The 10th Parliament’s first two sessions have been a disappointment and unless public pressure is brought to bear the third session threatens to be a repeat. Rather than using the parliamentary recess to promote national cohesion and consultations on necessary reform such as national budget realignment, MPs have spent the period heightening tensions amongst the population, and raising possibility of political and ethnic conflict.

Click HERE to read more...