The Burning Splint

Burning Lens: The cute pink flowers outside my bachelor's house

2012-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Cute, i snapped them before heading for work this morning

Burning Lens: Crow on a pole

2012-02-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

The lonely crow against the clear blue sky was patient for the burning lens of my camera.

Burning Lens: Moses Otieno Ngi’ala, a Sony Sugar tractor driver delivering cane

2012-01-20T01:30:00.000-08:00

Moses Otieno Ngi’ala, a tractor driver in Sony Sugar Company waits to deliver his canes to the factory.Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

Burning Lens: Jermaine Oyando, a Sony Sugar tractor driver delivering sugarcane

2012-01-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

Jermaine Oyando, a tractor driver waits to deliver sugarcane to Sony Sugar from farms in the region. Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint.

Burning Lens: A flower, zoom tight, focus and click.....

2012-01-20T01:12:00.000-08:00

Close up shot of a flower of Awuor Awuor plant. Manuel Odeny/ The Burning Splint

Burning Lens: Photos of Sony Sugar signboards while on assingmentManuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

2012-01-20T01:06:00.000-08:00

Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

Burning Lens: A lonely Toyota Corolla under a withering tree

2012-01-20T00:56:00.000-08:00

A car packed under a withering tree as dry spell sweeps across Nyanza. I just took the picture for the lonely way the car looked in the midday sun. Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

Burning Lens: Father and son crossing a bridge over River Migori

2012-01-20T00:35:00.000-08:00

A father encouraging his son as they cross a bridge over Migori river. Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

A father encourage his son as they cross a foot bridge over Migori River in Migori County. Manuel Odeny/The Burning Splint

Do not polarize nation against Kikuyus by By Mwangi Wilson Murimi

2012-01-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

Wilson Murimi

The raging debate over the amicability of a third kikuyu president and the legitimacy of a kikuyu inspector-general of police is eminent but being indecently conducted.

This crucial debate has surpassed purviews of decency, not only in the mainstream media but also in the social media, to the extent that GEMA candidates for top posts are being viewed with cynical criticism.

The debate is gratuitously charging the country towards a Kikuyu-phobic attitude, which is unhealthy considering that the country is healing from the 2008 post-poll chaos.

Whereas it is true that domination of a country’s government bureaucracy and armed forces by a single community in a heterogeneous society is dangerous, it is more perilous to create a tribal rift in a nation healing from post-poll chaos.

The danger of tendering an anti-kikuyu attitude is that a repeat of 2008 chaos in 2012 will lame the country’s ailing economy owing to the fact that very many businesses in the country side are owned by Kikuyus.

I am shocked that even Omar Hassan, one of the expected panelists in the selection of the next police boss, could so imprudently display his anti-Kikuyu viewpoint yet he will be expected to be impartial during the candidates grilling exercise.

In his viewpoint that a Kikuyu should not lead the police force, Hassan created an impression that a Kikuyu’s candidature is illegitimate. It creates an impression that the grilling exercise should be veered towards eliminating Kikuyus from the police boss race! What law segregates a community from producing a police boss?

Into the bargain, this Kikuyu-phobic attitude seems to be brewing a ‘Kenyan Spring’ against the election of a Kikuyu president even if he/she captures the seat in a democratic and a constitutionally justifiable election.

Democracy might blossom in a society where the citizens are free to engage in debate on key issues, but this discourse must be done in an admissible manner without infringing into the rights of any section of the society, or messing up national unity. The way out is empowerment of the recently created electoral body so that the 2012 elections are democratic.

The writer is a communications and media student at Maseno University and a sub-editor of Equator Weekly.

Kirinyaga: Jombi ataka kujitoa uhai baada ya kunyimwa chakula na Mwangi Wilson Murimi

2012-01-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Picha kutoka kwa tovuti

Kalameni mmoja katika eneo la Kirinyaga ya kati aliwashangaza wengi, pale alipotishia kujitoa uhai baada ya mzozo na bibi yake kuhusu chakula kugeukia mweleka wa kifamilia.

Mzozo huo ulianza pale jombi huyo aliporejea nyumbani nyakati za asubuhi akiwa mlevi chakari, na kudai apewe chakula na mkewe. Hata hivyo bibi yake aliyekuwa amechoshwa na ulevi wa bwanake wa kila siku alimwambia peupe akatafute chakula kwa mama pima. “Nenda ukatafuate chakula huko unakolewa kila siku”, alisema bibi yake.

Tamshi hilo lilimkera jombi hiyo, aliyemkaba koo mkewe alitumai kuwa hili lingempelekea kuubadili msismamo wako wa awali, lakini kinyume na matarajio yake, mkewe akinyakua ukuni na kumgonga.

Na huku jombi huyo akiachilia shingo yake, mkewe naye alimvamia kwa chochote kilichokuwa pale jikoni, zikiwemo sufuria na vikombe, jambo lililowavutia wanakijiji wengi kujitamazia mweleka wa bure.

Hakuna aliyefanya juhudi zozote kuwatengamisha wawili hao, labda kwa hofu kuwa kufanya hivyo kungeukatisha mweleka huo wa bure ambao ulikuwa ukijiri.

Katikati mwa vurumai hilo, mkewe alisikika akinung’una kuwa mmewe alizoea kutoka ulevini na kulala bila kutekeleza wajibu wake kama bwana. “Mwaname wa saa ngapi huyu, anayejilaza kama mfu?” alisema mwanamke huyo.

Mambo yalizidi unga pale, mwalimu mmjoa wa shule ya msingi kuoka eneo hilo anayedaiwa kuhusika mapenzi kisiri na mwanamke huyo alipofika pale na kujaribu kuwatenganisha.

Mawazoni pa jombi huyo, wawili hao wakinuia kummaliza ili kupata nafasi kuendeleza uhusiano wao, ndipo akadai kuwa angejitoa uhai. “Kumbe mwatataka kuniua ndio niwaondokee na kumpa nafasi sivyo?” alisema Jombi huyo, “Afadhali nijitoe uhai mwenyewe”

Kicheko cha waliokusanyaika kilikatizwa na mshangao pale bibi yake alipodai kuwa angemhakikishia kuwa amelala pema peponi akijitia kitanzi, jambo ambalo lilimfadhaisha jombi huyo, aliyetoka na kwenda zake akidai kuwa angerejea akiwa mfu.

Mwandishi ni Mwanafunzi katika taaluma ya utangazaji na uanahabari chuoni Maseno na mhariri wa jarida la Equator Weekly

Poem: The age of innocence by Kuchio Asonga

2012-01-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

Her mother never loved her
she kept wishing she never had her
A love child, in truth a bastard
From whence she could remember
Life was always hard
She rarely ever smiled
She was often sad
They treated her harshly
They said she was bad
Her mother loathed her
Because she resembled her dad
So she runaway, as soon
as she could find away
She packed her bags
and fled to the city
Hoping to find a prince charming
Who thought she was pretty
But all the men she met
Wanted to use her body
To tell her lies to confuse her
then misuse and abuse her
Quickly she learned their game
And began to make them pay for her charms
To be held for a moment
In the warmth of her arms

Still she dreams of settling down
and starting her own home
But that is hard
When selling yourself, for your,
Daily bread is the norm
Gone is her age of innocence
Lost to life's experience

James Kuchio Asonga/ Superb Wun 2011©

To read more of the poet log onto http://www.infinitevision.blog.com/ or http://www.chrismukasa.blogspot.com/

DR Congo polls chaos invokes a country with a violent history

2011-12-25T23:52:00.000-08:00

Supporters of Joseph Kabila on streets.

As tension is brewing in the Democratic Republic of Congo following elections results announced this month, there is fear that the country may slide back to civil war even as a defiant Jospeh Kabila took the oath of office, this invokes a country marred by a history of violence since the 30^th June 1960 independence.

The results had been delayed with Joseph Kabila, 40 trouncing ten contestants to garner forty-nine percent of 18 million votes against his closest rival Etienne Tshisekedi, 78, who got thirty-two percent in polls with had a fifty-nine voters turnout.

“I consider this declaration an outright provocation to our people and I reject it in full. As a result I consider myself from this day on as the elected president of DR Congo” Tshisekedi said in a statement insisting that he garnered fifty-four percent of the votes against Kabila’s twenty-six percent.

Four other contestants have already rejected the results which the international observers say the voting was flawed but it wasn’t fraudulent enough to skew the results.

As tension escalates dozens of citizens have died while others including international expatriates have fled the capital Kinshasa where the government have deployed over 20,000 forces to try and restore calm.

“I call on the international community, which has relentlessly encouraged me to guarantee a peaceful process, to not only find a solution to this problem but take all possible measures so that the blood of the Congolese people is not spilled again” Tshisekedi is quoted by AFP correspondent before he sow himself with a bible in his house.

Analysts have ruled out the Supreme Court which will arbiter on the results before announcing the winner on 17 this month not to be able to quell the tension. Earlier during the campaign Kabila expanded the apex court from seven to twenty seven sitting judges believed to be his supporters. Earlier this year the clause that required a seconded runoff in case of no definite winner with a 50% win was scrapped off stoking the legality of the court ruling.

“We saw what happened in Kenya . We saw what happened in Zimbabwe and we saw what happened recently in Ivory Coast . Things have got worse because we have not anticipated this” Vital Kamerhe, third placed contestant said.

As sporadic armed conflict starts, memories of conflict as started with the birth of the nation is rekindled. While other African countries stared as colonies, DR Congo started as a personal estate of King Leopold II of Belgian to make him the richest men in Europe with ivory, copper, timber and rubber from the country.

Leopold’s ambition and greed which spurred the scramble and partition of the continent saw him hire Welsh born journalist-explorer Henry Morton Stanley in 1878 to cut treaties with over 400 chiefs to form the current DR Congo.

Stanley was nicknamed by locals as Bula Matari- ‘Breaker of Rocks’ from dynamite, for his ability to hand out severe punishments to dissents. By independence several millions, estimated to be a half of the population had lost their lives to what Joseph Conrad in his famous book on Leopold’s Congo Heart of Darkness call “the vilest scramble for loot to ever disfigure the history of human conscience”

As reality of independence dawned and faced with the wind of change engulfing the continent Belgium tried to rig the first election in country against first Prime Minister who had irked the colonialist with his pan-Africanist ideology he got from the 1958 All African conference in Ghana .

“Who can forget the volleys of gunfire in which so many of our brothers perished, the cells where the authorities threw those who would not submit to a rule where justice meant oppression and exploitation” Lumumba said told Belgium delegates during independence “We are no longer your monkeys”

This caused the first loose coalition government headed by Lumumba as election winner and other 12 parties forming to shaky like an extension ladder and lasted only a few days of peace in the country. Chaos was sparked when the army controlled by 1,100 Belgian corps mutinied for salary increase.

Hell bend to outset Lumumba Belgium flew in more troops, liaised with the mining companies on 11^th July and reinstate Moise Tshombe to declare Katanga , rich in mineral an independent state.

The bloodshed that followed saw assassination of Lumumba on January 1961 for siding with Russia and Czech Republic to aid in military expedition to rein Katanga and control an uprising in Kasai . USA cold war interests and Belgium mining welfare aided in propping Tshombe and Joseph Desire Mobutu to power fast on 14th September 1960 and later in 1965 as the absolute president. As the western ‘friendly tyrant’ Mobutu lead a kleptomaniac regime enjoying a $9Billion aid, US contribute $860Million of this.

“The Congo paid heavily for the chaos surrounding the advent of independence. For years to come it became the battleground for warring factions, marauding soldiers, foreign troops, mercenaries forces, revolutionary enthusiasts and legions of diplomats and advisers.” Martin Meredith writes in his book The State of Africa .

Most serious and detailed conflict detailed in The UN backed report on Illegal Exploration of Natural Resources and other forms of Wealth from the DRC published from 2001-2003which unearth the extent of the great lakes war fought in the country.

It is from the start on 1988 that DRC was engulfed in humanitarian crisis in four stages according to the report; 1993-1996; July 1996-July 1998; August 1998-January 2000 and the final transition of January 2001- June 2003.

From 1988 to 2003 conflict drew a score of African countries; Angola , Zimbabwe , Rwanda , Burundi , Uganda , Namibia , Chad and all the way to the bloody diamond fields of Sierra Leone . The main allure being DRC’s vast mineral resources with the uncanny ability to bring to her doorstep hounds picking on he carcass amid plundering, war inhumanities and smuggling.

In 1988 DRC was rotting under corruption, weak central government and huge debt. Mobutu was ‘dinosaur’ against the second democratic wind of change which turned the world against him. The fall of the Berlin wall and the extent at which aid was misused was enough cocktail to bring the world against Mobutu.

Joseph Kabila

To shore his failing image, Mobutu took a populist angle by being a regional powerbroker to meddle in Rwanda and Burundi’s genocide conflict despite DRC hosting over 1.5 million Rwandan refugees like Interahamwe, Mayi Mayi and Banyamulenge escaping the prolong tribal conflicts in the region.

Rwanda and Uganda resentful at cross border raid in Kivu and Eastern Congo chose to support Laurent-Desire Kabila rebellion against Mobutu. Angola too joined the fray by supporting Katanga rebels to hit back on CIA and Mobutu’s support to Jonas Savimbi and Unita by spying on her and the support offered by Cuba and Russia .

When Angolan backed rebels tried to overthrow Mobutu in 1977 & 78 the west swiftly came to his aid, this was hit back time for Angola .

The second stage saw Kabila becoming the president of DRC on 17th May 1997 while Mobutu died four months later in Morocco . Uganda ’s Yoweri Museveni is quoted by Times journalist Martin Meredith in State of Africa to capture the all incident thus:

“The big mistake of Mobutu was to involve himself in Rwanda . So it’s really Mobutu who initiated the programme of his own removal. Had he not involved himself in Rwanda, I think he could have stayed, just like that, as he had been doing for the last 32 years – just doing nothing to develop Zaire, but stay in what they call power, by controlling the radio station, and so on”

The third stage (August 1998-January 2000) flared when Laurent Kabila dismissed Rwandan who aided his rise to power. His advisers couldn’t understand why a country ‘so small to be found in the map’ could control their government.

After propping him to power, Burundi , Rwanda and Uganda financed rebels because Kabila could not control the cross border raids by rebels from DR Congo to their country. On the other hand, Zimbabwe and Angola aided Kabila with help from Namibia and Chad .

Although the initial aims was to control their borders, the president’s otiose ambition of being regional kingmakers and unbridled greed for diamond, petroleum, gold, timber, Colton and other minerals the DRC was a proxy war for looters. Generals from these foreign countries unleashed terror on citizens on mines to loot minerals.

The acme of this stage was in 2000 when Rwanda and Uganda turned against each other in three occasions to control Kisangani the diamond hub. The illegal exploitation become an open secret.

Etienne Tshisekedi who sow himself as president

“Outraged by their ill-concealed looting enterprises and the damage inflicted on Kisangani, The UN Security Council demanded that Rwanda and Uganda withdraw from Congo with both Museveni and Kagame cited as ‘accomplishes’ by the UN panel” Meredith writes.

The last stage (January 2001-June 2003) saw the withdrawal of foreign armies after the July 2002 peace treaty by Joseph Kabila after his father was shot at a close range by his bodyguard on 16^th January 2001.

The just concluded election rekindles a history of bloodshed in DR Congo as the world waits with abated breath the outcome of Supreme Court ruling as Tshisekedi , US and France already call for calm in the country.

Statement by Kenya Union of Journalists on deteriorating media conditions in Kenya

2011-12-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Kenya Union of Journalists is alarmed by the dangerous increase in acts of intimidation and threats against the lives of journalists in this country by state security agents.

At a time when the media should be enjoying its new protections enshrined in the constitution, it appears that the state security apparatus has become the most serious threat to press freedom and the practice of journalism in Kenya.

We are particularly concerned that little is being done to protect Standard Group investigative journalists Dennis Onsarigo, Mohammed Ali and Robert Wanyonyi from people believed to be in the security system who have been threatening their lives when they have only been doing their work.

It is noteworthy that Mr Onsarigo and Mr Ali aired investigative stories touching on corruption and extra-judicial killings in the police force. It is also interesting that Mr Wanyonyi had incriminating footage of another arm of the security apparatus – the provincial administration.

Hardly two years since Weekly Citizen journalist Francis Nyaruri was killed over an investigative story he had been pursuing and in which the police were adversely mentioned, his killers are yet to be brought to book.

It is very clear that the force is dragging its investigations due to its own fears of implicating itself. We are therefore calling for an independent investigation into the increasing violations of press freedom, the freedom of media and freedom of information in this country. The still unreformed police cannot possibly investigate a matter in which they are complicit.

The Kenya Union of Journalists is also deeply concerned by the slow pace of implementing access to information and freedom of information provisions of the Constitution. These laws are direly needed to protect the media especially as the country moves towards the 2012 general elections.

As experience of the recent days shows, the gains in the new Constitution could very easily be watered down by the enemies of press freedom and those determined to control the media. But they must know that Kenyans will not easily allow their hard-won freedoms to be watered down so casually by people living in the past.

These incidents make it imperative that all media stakeholders work together to safeguard journalistic rights which are vital for the development of a truly independent media.

Jared Obuya

Secretary-General

Kenya Union of Journalists

DR Congo: From Che Guevara, dearth of sovereignty fuelling chaos

2011-12-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

1965: Algerian born revolutionary Che Guevara of Cuba posing with Laurent Kabila's rebel in Zaire.

An absence of sovereignty is the hallmark of a failed state. The just hotly contested elections in the DR Congo, the third since independence on 30^th June 1960 independence, attests to the country as a failed state since the UN mission, Monusco played a major logistical role in the elections.

The previous 2006 election was also brokered and run by UN to be the first free polls in 40 years.

DR Congo is ranked the last at 187 by UN Human Development Report as the most unequal country with a wide gap between the rich and the poor. The influential Foreign Policy magazine ranked the DRC fourth behind Sudan, Chad and

Somalia

in its 2011 failed state index

“Whatever accountability there is in DRC is directed towards international backers, not Congolese people” Theodore Trefon a Congolese analyst writes in BBC Online.

This lack of accountability to her citizens has seen the political elites turning the country to battle ground for direct and proxy wars by international interests both in the continent and globally at detriment of populace.

The most popular figure being the Argentinean born Cuba revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara who led 120 Cuban fighters in DR Congo after consulting with Algerian Ben Bella, China’s Zhou En-Lai and

Egypt

’s Abdel Nasser for advice.

Che secretly entered the country on 24^th April 1965 from Tanganyika with blessing from Julius Nyerere. The mission became a failure causing the mission to be cancelled by the end of the year. While in Cuban Tanganyika embassy Guevara wrote The African Dreams: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War dismissing the 26 years Laurent-Kabila as a joke.

“(The army) it was a parasite army; it didn’t work, did not train, did not fight, and demanded provisions and labour from the population, sometimes with extreme harshness” he wrote.

On Kabila, Guevara had hash words: “He let the days pass without concerning himself with anything other than political squabbles, and all signs are that he is too addicted to drink and women”

It’s this status that saw the country enjoying only few days of peace after 30^th June 1960 independence with Belgium, former colonizer, propping Moise Tshombe in the succession of Katanga on 11^th July.

US followed suit with supporting Mobutu Sese Seko’s 32 years rule while as a CIA spy pay roll and the president. This caused the assassination of Patrice Lumumba on 17^th January 2011 for seeking USSR and Czech personnel to help stop rebellion started by Belgium and supported by America. Angola which leaned towards the East in cold war had CIA spying on her from Congo which caused a brief war 1977 & 78.

During the fall of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and the rise to power of Laurent Kabila on 17^th May 1997 a score of countries in the region were involved which brought the infamous ‘Great Lakes” which involved Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi amongst others in proxy battle to loot minerals in the country.

It’s this dearth of sovereignty that sees candidates in the last election to travel to Europe and US extensively to gain support.

Ever since UN was called in the country since 1960s to bring peace it has acted a glue offering administrative work. The last general elections of 2006 which was the fairest in 40 years and the just concluded have succeeded because of logistical support offered by the UN.

“DR Congo is a country under international trusteeship. Important decisions are taken by World Bank technocrats, UN Officials and increasingly by international NGOs. When the electoral campaigns stared last month, candidates traveled to Europe and US to garner support.” Theodore Trefon a Congolese analyst writes for BBC showing the lack of sovereignty which makes DR Congo to be a failed state.

Folklore Poem: When dad was shaving me (Translated from dholuo)

2011-12-19T05:53:00.000-08:00

When dad was shaving me,

I bowed my head down-down,

I saw something dangling,

Something like a cut worm,

It’s sweet at dawn when it grinds,

The thing plaits matuta,

The thing is red like ombulo’s seed.

Original version:

Kane baba liela,

Akulo wiya piny-piny,

Aneno gi maliero,

Machalo mana ofunyu,

Mit ko gwen ko rego

Gino suko matuta

Gino kwar ko ombulu

*matuta- cornrow hair style

Ombulu- a red hot African seed from wild legume

Folklore Poem: My Husband, My Cunt (Translated from dholuo)

2011-12-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

let me buy myself meat,

the meat I will eat with my husband,

my husband who fucks my cunt,

my cunt which gives birth to my kid,

my kid who suckles my breast,

my breasts which are ‘bra-ed’ by bra!

Original dholuo version:

anyiewna ring’o,

mondo acham gi chuora,

chuora machuona ng’onya,

ng’onya manyuolo go nyathi,

nyathi madhodhona thunda

thunda majuko go ojuku!

(We sung the song repeatedly as children and not even once did we think kids come from supermarket J)

©2011 Manuel Odeny

Poem: Me and My Beggar by Otiato Guguyu

2011-12-06T05:31:00.000-08:00

The Poet: Otiato Guguyu

it was in my ears -
the tingling coin
in his empty bowl
every empty dawn.

It was in his routine -
the timely nod
in grotesque gratitude
every begging morning

Today,
it was that same clanking coin
but there was no nod
my heart pride cherished gratitude
"but why"
"sir in the budget read yesterday
prices have inflated
but you still give me the same coin
I would be pleased if you raised your charity.

I walked away
tomorrow there would be no clanking

It would be a note!

©2008 Otiato Guguyu

The poet, Otiato Guguyu is a Communication and Media Technolgy with IT student at Maseno University Kenya, The Managing Editor of Equator Weekly and a Blogger at http://otiatoguguyu.blogspot.com

Poem: Bedroom Technology by Otiato Guguyu

2011-12-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

The Poet: Otiato Guguyu

Man why are you still basking in past glory
why are you still in celebratory robes
of the reign over the down trodden
can you rival the sperm bank
in production of likable features
single parenthood single conception
can you even dream of vibrating
like a chinese toy in the electronic shop
self reliance self satisfaction
and you still had the audacity
to let past your power fed eyes
same sex marriage
now the daughters of eve come together as one
will you allow to be pushed to
homosexuality and bestiality?
or will you with nostalgia
discover the joys of your palms
let us fight bedroom technology
lest we be rendered redundant
and allow the race of amazons
in the second millennium

©2008 Otiato Guguyu

The poet, Otiato Guguyu is a Communication and Media Technolgy with IT student at Maseno University Kenya, The Managing Editor of Equator Weekly and a Blogger at http://otiatoguguyu.blogspot.com

How to use media for advocacy, activism

2011-11-28T02:37:00.000-08:00

Since activism is a means of changing and shaping public and government agenda, mass media with a massive reach is pivotal in passing their messages across. This vital relationship makes media to be, perhaps, the most influential tool to be mastered in making advocacy and activism a success.

Learning the use of media makes it important for advocacy.

Earlier on July this year workers at Ministry of Education in Jogoo House B, Nairobi reported to work to find their offices chained by activist protesting loss of free primary education fund. The activists jamming the corridors demanded to immediate sucking of Prof Sam Ongeri and Ole Kiyapi as the minister and PS respectively.

Lead by activist Okiya Okoiti Omtata, they managed the first use of media called creating news. Within a short time all national and international news outlets were at scene to cover the dramatic event. What thrilled the journalist was how the activists managed to bypass the security personnel at the ministry to pass the locked offices.

Equally tied to this is an activist using pegging of news through the use of famous events and international days to raise awareness of their cause. This will call for use of special editions and pullouts in the media. Caution though should be taken not to compete with other powerful news sources ands organizations.

Secondly, by having adverts on media channels without overt persuasive tone characterized in commercial ones should be initiated. The advert should raise controversy and appeal to human interests as the activists has the power to shape the message to their interest.

The only flipside of this method is that adverts are expensive and seen as biased by the audience as compared to creating news.

On the other hand press conferences, campaigns and talk shows enable activists to meet the press directly and highlight their agenda in detail and offer clarity. On meeting the press the activist should be available in person.

Writing OpEds on newspapers is a sure way of directly reaching an audience. The OpEds should be of high quality, written in editorial guidelines of the media house and sent on time. The same article can be syndicated to all media houses at the same time (to avoid sending stale already published pieces) to increase chances of getting published.

Starting with letters to the editor an activistis can end up with a column like John Githongo (The EastAfrican), Maina Kiai (The Star) and Okiya Omtata (Nation) amongst others.

Later after a rapport has been struck with the media house, an activits can seat a the editorial board with more power to shape an agenda.

Lastly, is embracing of new media which can evade government censorship, media monopoly and reach a wider audience at a reduced cost. arab revolution this year is a good example of the power of this new channle.

Running an active website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter accounts for sharing information and ralling support is an effective way of passing an agenda across which starts with online community before spilling to public and government agenda. a perfetc is #OccupyWallStreet tag on twiiter whicg did spread across the globe.

To wind up using sites like http://www.causes.com/ is also helpful to an activists.

Guest Blogger: Carbide used to ripen bananas causing cancer scare by Aquinas Nyakundi

2011-11-24T04:13:00.000-08:00

Photo: Courtesy

I received an email earlier about the use of carbide in ripening banana away from the natural cycle so as to attract more customers and reap maximum profit i would wish to share.

Have you ever wondered where some vendors selling sweet bananas like the ones using wheelbarrows on Nairobi's Airport North-Ring road roundabouts source them in such huge supply and uniform ripeness!

Some readers who love bananas and eat a lot of them needed to realize that the bananas available in the market are 'forced ripe' by dipping in water mixed with Carbide.

The consumption of these bananas is 100% sure to cause Cancer or some other infection in the stomach. Therefore, such type of bananas is to be avoided.

But, how does one recognize the bananas ripened with the help of Carbide?

Bananas which are ripened naturally are dark yellow and there are small black spots here and there on the bananas and the stalks are black. While those which are forced ripe with Carbide are lemon yellow and their stalks are green and moreover they are clear yellow without any black spots.

Now, what is Carbide and how is it harmful?

Carbide is a chemical which if mixed with water, emits heat and the heat emitted by a Close tank mixed with Carbide is even more than that emitted by a LPG Cylinder, so much so it can be used for Gas Cutting (which means the calorific value is so high that it can replace LPG gas).

In the same way, when the bunch of bananas is dipped in the water mixed with Carbide, the gas gets absorbed into the bananas and they get ripe.

However, the banana vendors are not that literate and so they do not know the exact proportion of Carbide to be used for a dozen of bananas.

As a result they end up using excess quantity of Carbide which gets absorbed into the bananas and ultimately enters our stomach. Due to this excess use of Carbide, tumors can be formed in our digestive system.

Aquinas Nyakundi is a graduate of Communication and Media Tech from Maseno University in Kenya. He is a journalist based in Kisii running an agriculture based blog: Small-Scale Farming Commercialize

Government, NGO clash over new Public Benefit Bill

2011-11-23T01:28:00.000-08:00

The government has urged over 7,000 Non Governmental Organisations, NGOs in the country to demand services from their council elected earlier this year to realize the full potential of the sector which contributed over 130 billion in the economy.

Wanainchi should also be vocal in auditing the NGO whose budget should be 80% help to the community and 2o% on their budget.

“Both stake holders including citizens should report rogue ‘flash disk’ NGOs fleecing donors and communities to the NGO co-ordination board” Amb. Peter Ole Nkuraiya, the executive director of the board told over 100 NGOs in south Nyanza during a workshop in a hotel in Migori town.

Amb. Nkuraiya said the board which was established in 1990 is providing check and balance on credibility of best practices to build confidence and aid impact of the sector in positively helping humanity.

“The government is currently reviewing the Public Benefit Act consisting of three bills in zero draft that would go ahead to seal loopholes in the sector and offer more transparency” the ambassador said.

“The new bill yet to be tabled in the parliament will merger community and faith based organizations with NGOs under one regulator” he added.

The act seeks to set a tribunal of stake holders which will by pass the minister of national Heritage and culture in charge of the industry as the last arbiter in conflicts. The seek to ease stringent control set by KANU government that feared NGOs were used by Western states in multiparty clamor of 19900s warranting their control.

“As the last resort the minister who is often busy will give the tribunal power to self regulate as an industry” he said adding that it was high time the current NGO Act to be reviewed.

But in a twist of events, National Council of NGOs says it wasn’t consulted in the drafting of the bill which won’t augur well in forging the sector forward.

“Although the NGO Act should be reviewed, the new law seeks to disband us by merging us with Community and Faith Based Organisations. This content is bad and we will lobby MPs to shoot it down if not changed” Kevinnah Loyatum, CEO of NGO National Council said.

Ms. Loyatum says the content of Public Benefit Bill is bad while they are not aware of the other two bills in the new law.

“We don’t know of the other bills which are purported to regulate our industry” Ms Loyatum said insisting that negotiations should go on before tabling the law in parliament.

The workshop also advised NGOs to form county secretariats in overseeing their issues since the new constitution has done away with district level.

“The new constitution may lock out organizations not complaint with it making it mandatory for NGOs to register with the board through new counties: George Obondo, the Nyanza representative for national councils of NGO said.

Book Review: John Grisham- The Litigators (New Title)

2011-10-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

Book: The Litigators
Authro: John Grisham
Publisher: DoubleDay
Review: John Grisham Newsletter
Available: Excerpt and online Random House on this link

The partners at Finley & Figg-all two of them-often refer to themselves as "a boutique law firm." Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who?ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in.

After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he?s suddenly unemployed, any job-even one with Finley & Figg-looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. With any luck, they won?t even have to enter a courtroom! It almost seems too good to be true.

And it is.

The Litigators is a tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America?s favorite storyteller.

IEBC: For fair elections Kenya, Africa still has a long way to go

2011-10-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki votes in a general election

The quest to establish Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which saw the interviewing of 44 and 8 commissioners and chair from 427 and 15 applicants respectively. The process was led by Dr Ekuro Aukot.

The commission will afterwards send for approval the commissioners to parliament and three recommended for the position of chair to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila who will later forward a name to legislature for further approval.

The major task of IEBC will be to run the first national and county elections in Kenya in a simple, secure and transparent manner to avoid a repeat of bloodshed and rigging which engulfed the country in 2007/08 violence.

Sadly although the process is laudable, Kenya and Africa still have a long way to go for fair elections that can promote democracy even after a century since the first country in the continent gained independence. During the process, the same cocktail of events that saw the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) led by Samuel Kivuitu putting the country bin chaos is at play again.

Foremost in young democracies like Kenya electoral bodies are weak institutions backed by weak laws and judiciary which makes them prone to interference from politicians. The manner at which election tallying and counting was carried out at KICC and the aftermath avalanche of petitions showed this flaw.

This can be the case if legislations like Political Parties Act still not enacted prior to 2012 which will tie IEBC’s hand in regulating how parties elect candidates and how to settle elections disputes and petitions arising from results.

Equally, vested interests by politicians will risk causing havoc even before the new body is formed. Eldoret North MP William Ruto is leading a section of politicians who vow to vote against the team in parliament. On the other hand the debate of the exact date for next year general election is bound to raise political temperatures further.

Reading danger from these squabbles Koffi Annan, former UN Secretary General, and a member of Eminent Persons that bore the coalition government from 2007/08 violence has warned politicians from interfering with the process.

Lastly tribalism is a thorn to democracy with debate from some quarters observing that even though the gender equality was observed, 50% of some candidates were from one ‘region’ which doesn’t reflect ‘the face’ of Kenya.

These disputes coupled with impunity where violence suspects walk away with prosecution are some of the challenges facing democracy and electoral bodies like IEBC not only in Kenya but also in Africa.

Guest Blogger: Kenya will do Africa a favour by voting in Kingwa Kamencu by Mankind Oyewumi

2011-09-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

Kiingwa Kamencu

"She walks in beauty like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies." George Gordon Byron.

"And he gave it for his opinion,that whoever could make two ears of corn or two blades of
grass to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better
of mankind,and do more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians." Jonathan Swift.

The recent announcement by a 27 year old Oxford University student, Kingwa Kamencu to stand as the President of the republic of Kenya in next year’s election has attracted my attention.

As a Nigerian Samaformistic I am not only interested with events in my country but also globally, with a bias to the beautiful continent Africa. As a scholar these events attract my intrepid comments when they go wrong, challenge my brave interventions before they are made wrong.

It’s with this reason that i draw the collective attention of Kenyans to do Africa a favor by shunning sex, age, tribal, religious and ideological biases to elect this young, intelligent, ebullient, clue-filled,plan-fraught, passion-driven lady as their president in the 2012 elections in Kenya.

Let's consider her profile which has made her accomplish a lot:

"I am a poet, novelist, philosopher, on and off journalist and perpetual student. I love ideas and the magic of words and I try to use them as a thread to sew and re-piece humanity back together. Words create images which then create reality."

Her dream for Africa speaks for itself:

"I am a young emerging African leader and a part of the movement that is working to make Africa great and ensure all its people have dignity and good standards of living. I am looking forward to a united Africa in my life time, an Africa that can make more grand contributions to the world. I feel the dream of Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere among others. I believe this dream will come true"

This profile is courtesy of WorldPulse, a global,online communication network connecting and empowering women for all-round relevance as enviable force for sustainable change in modern societies.

To add Kingwa Kamencu is a published writer whose first novel, To Grasp at a Star, won 2nd prize in the 2006 Wahome Mutahi Literary Award and the National Book Development Council Award (2003). She is a published writer and poet working on her second novel.Currently she is a journalist, a budding scholar and a social and political critic.

At her age with the passion for emergence of Africa as a world power and the complete emancipation of women from political, social and economic setbacks makes her as a young ideal leader to push the continent in this century. This passion to make the continent a better place may see her shape the continent's politics the way Margret Thatcher shaped Britain and world's politics.

Prior to study in Oxford University she got a first class honors from University of Nairobi win in Literature and History which shows her leadership qualifications.

But she is a Kenyan, known more by Kenyans than by anyone else as a daughter and friend, student and above all, citizen. My view is that being untainted she deserves a chance to serve as president which will put the youths in a spotlight. The country should see what she did in a short period not to judge her as passing cloud.

Her leadership at students SONU, different levels of her development participation coupled with her global membership in groups to server humanity she needs support logistical, financially, morally and spiritually to be the leader of new Kenya.

The old guard has not tackled corruption, poor infrastructure, illiteracy-rate, poor healthcare and mortality rate often being recycled among the same elites at the elm since independence, can Kenya embrace rest and change by voting her?

Winds of change that brought Barrack Obama to White House,started the Arab revolution and torments the 'apartheid' of Israel over Gaza may spill to sub-Sahara Africa by youthful president in the offing. Kingwa is a symbol to reckon with.

That is why in this post i wish to challenge Kenyans to vote for Kingwa Kamencu next year and do Africa a favor the way an unemployed youth in Tunis set himself ablaze with a snowballing effect of Arab revolution.

(The Guest Blogger, Mankind Olawale Oyewumi, is a Nigerian philosopher, teacher (of language and literature), journalist and former student of University of Lagos. He is the author of Songs of the Law (poetry), Immortal Instructions, A gift to Nigeria at Fifty (Ed) He is the father of SAMAFORMISM and the founder of Humanity Day.)

Poem: Heart-less love by Manuel Odeny

2011-09-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

You nag:

“lover, honey

my heart I gave thee

how dare you break it?

then I cringe

can a piece of meat break?

and imagine, again

holding a thumping, spluttering

lifeless cadaver

blooding my hands, suit

worst still

how I loved (all this time)

a genie

an heartless

dead

woman!