The Burning Splint

A nipple, Boobs and Innocence

2019-02-25T00:11:00.003-08:00

A matatu at Migori town bus park

Today in the mat a beautiful woman without a bra sat next to me.

I was traveling from Awendo to Migori when this yellow yellow bra-less woman, with breasts the size of water melons sat next to me.

This is how I knew she was bra-less, apart from seeing her bare huge nipple (it was a breast), surrounded by dark areola.

Yep, that kinda breasts that ain't shy and looong like a sleeve of a sweater.

They were haughty, youthful and proud like a minarate on a mosque. Men will know, the pair of breasts you meet in a crowd and the nipples shout:

"No collision! Lanes mate. Lanes, as you pitch your nether tents."

They were succulent. Sexy. Appetising and nutritious (the last two as source of infant food).

Making young babies moisture their dry, cracked lips with saliva

It (the huge nipple, stay with me) was peeping from a loose blouse's button.

I peeped once. Savoured it. Was it twice? I dunno, but not more than four times (I have manners).

Then I cough, soundlessly and meaninglessly like what you get when a knife slaughters a chicken's throat.

Actually, it was my three years old daughter, Manuella who alerted me. (Now you see, i was innocent) She was seated on my laps, sucking a lollipop.

When the lady tried to be friendly to her she recoiled, hugged me and burrowed her face in my chest.

"Huyu mtoto wako anaogopa watu? Mrembo unaitwa nani baby?" She asked. Manuella buried her face further.

When she tried to touch her, my shy daughter started crying. The kinda warning cry babies make before the wailer.

Then after a minute or two (Manuella noticed the lady was paying her fare) she moved closer to my left ear, cupped her hands around it and whispered:

"Mannu (that is how we call each other in intimate father-daughter talk) nyonyo ya auntie iko nje....."

Sugarcane, Slay Queen and Juju

2019-02-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay/Manuel Odeny

Some sources can really abuse you as a journalist, talk of rights to information and impartiality.

Like this chap i don't know from Kamenya clan in Homa Bay county, the same place Jack Songo, the chairman of Kenya Night Runners Association comes from.

He called yesterday evening, livid.

"In e Wuon Kalam? I have been given your number to help me publish a story," the chap, calling himself Otigo somebody said.

He did sound pissed off, and told me his story:

He had been paid Sh220,000 from Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay after selling his sugarcane.

The money was paid to his Co-op Bank account in Ndhiwa town. He withdrew 100,000 and grabbed a slay queen (rural standard).

"So where is the story Ba? A man who spends 100 Gs on a slay queen is no news. Was there drama?" I prodded gently.

He told me to be patient.

After making merry with the girl in Homa Bay town, they booked a room in Rodi Kopany: that notorious junction town with more lodgings than rental houses serving as a hidden love nest for Homa Bay, Rongo and Sori rompers.

Otigo said after a marathon of alcohol-lust-money-stupidity fueled love making he woke up and found the girl had ran away with 60k: "I gave her 5k. Who gives 5k to a woman when handshake has stolen every penny in Kenya?"

I told him he was lucky to find a woman whose package,

when handshake “has stolen every penny in Kenya” includes a full lullaby to sleep away as his money was stolen.

“Ba, story onge. There was no drama. The story happened in Homa Bay county, I cover Migori,” I explained.

“But the girl comes from Migori.”

“I am a journalist. I don’t and can’t know all girls in Migori county.”

“Her name is Agnes. She has two kids (not his, he insisted). She has bleached and comes from Kakrao in Migori.”

I told Otigo I know two journalists who come from Kakrao (@Ian and Mugo), but will never give them the task of looking for a bleached Agnes, with two kids.

I also tell him the only place a woman can’t bleach in her body is that crack between her buttocks, “but Ba, I and my two colleagues can undress all brown Kakrao women to inspect their cracks.”

Then Otigo wept. He sobbed. He blew mucus from his nose, adjusted his throat and spat off sputum. All over the phone.

Amid stuttering and mumbles he talked about three years wait for sugarcane to mature and be paid. His children pending schools fees. His wife’s food. And an unfinished house.

“How can I find Agnes?” he inquired.

“If Agnes has not paid her Helb police will help you track her, report her to Amina,” I laughed. He didn’t catch the joke.

More sobs over the phone. More silence.

Then he dropped the drama:

“I come from Kamenya. She will look for me, she left behind her panties,” he vowed, and disconnected the call.

Now most Kenyans don’t know what people from Kamenya can do. I won’t tell you here.

But in case any lady from Kakrao (or somewhere else, she might have ran off) wakes up and don’t find her privates parts where they are supposed to be in her panties. Or her privatees are blocked. Or her privatees have moved to forehead.

Or her privatees forms some suspicious niggle, wiggle, wriggle and waggle.

Please call me here 0727134100. I am just a humble journalist sourcing for a story.

#WuonKalam

My WresteMania 2018 predications: Bliss, Asuka, Nakamura, Romans, Rollins

2018-04-01T01:55:00.001-07:00

Here are my WrestleMania 2018 predicatons on April 8 (Next Sunday). List may change after Monday Night Raw and Tuesday Night SmackDown:

Cruiser Weight Championship: Cedric Alexander vs Ali (Alexander)

First women battle royal: Becky Lynch.

Andre the Giant memorial battle: Dolph Ziggler (Reward for dropping USA title last year)

SmackDown Women Championship: Alexa Bliss (D) vs Nia Jax. Bliss though Carmella will cash in Money In The Bank contract, because I love Jax.

USA championship (In Blue label) Randy Orton (D) vs Booby Roode vs Rusev vs Jinder Mahal. Orton

SmackDown tag team championship: The Usos (D) vs New Day vs The Bludgeon Brothers. The Usos (Though I love The Bludgeon Brothers).

RAW tag team: The Bar vs Braun Strowman. Strowman although he is yet to pick a partner.

Mixed tag team match from red label: Ronda Rousey n Kurt Angle vs Triple H n Stephanie McMahon. Rousey n Angle (A boring forced on match to take Rousey to Wrestlemania on a free ride).

Intercontinental match in red label: The Miz (D) vs Fin Balor vs Seth Rollins. Seth Rolins.

SMACKDOWN: Women championship Charlotter Flair vs Asuka. Asuka to take undefeated run past Wrestlemania for good storyline

SMACKDOWN match: Daniel Bryan n Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owen n Sami Zayn. Owen n Zayn (Another boring beef match to take Bryan from injury to Wrestlemania).

John Cena vs Undertaker. (Another boring match to bring the Deadman from retirement and force him down our throats, both should just retire).

SMACKDOWN: WWE championship AJ Styles (D) vs Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura (With Asuka inline WWE can go market then in Japan after forcing Jinder Mahal down our throat for their December marketing gimmick)

RAW Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns. Roman , first because I like him more, comes every week for work while Lesnar who is the highest paid star is lazy.

NB: The list may be reviewed on Wednesday. Happy Easters (Or what still remains of it)

This is how Migori politicians should pick social media henchmen…

2016-04-04T05:08:00.001-07:00

Today I will take time to post on my blog, a personal column like writing out of the structured pieces I do for the Star newspaper from Migori county.

Morning rain clouds have been flirting with Migori town, and knowing my home town for being wet it’s now raining with the horizon clouded in white rain sheet as I write this.

The long rains have arrived along with the quickly rising political temperature as Migori is quickly shaping up ahead of national elections slotted for next year.

Aspirants have tentatively tried to test the ground by having spontaneous harambee, meet the people tour or strategizing as they pick their teams ahead of official campaign kick-off.

Since the campaigns are yet to fully take shape, politicians have hired henchmen and little political spanner boys to test the ground on social media. Facebook, through popular groups have turned up as a favorite spot with WhatsApp coming second.

A few savvy politicians and aspirants have launched websites and hired bloggers to propagate their agenda to shape their national image.

The 2017 political jumbo has fallen and like hounds political spanner boys are already picking the carcass first, if constant Facebook and WhatsApp posts celebrating their paymasters are anything to go by.

Some have taken up multiple aspirants through all five posts of Governor, Senator, Women Representative, Legislators and MCAs.

The only unifying post is presidency where Raila Odinga from the most populous Orange Democratic Movement party brings together disparate views.

This overzealous social media posturing will be the down fall of many aspirants as their spanner boys’ multiple ‘endorsement’ and jumping across aspirants will be their main undoing.

Let me explain: spanner boy X, for example, has vowed support for Governor Okoth Obado, Women Representative Dennitah Ghati and Suna West MP Joseph Ndiege. This is just an example.

Mr. X will constantly attack everybody against Obado including spanner boy Y who supports, let us says, governor aspirant Anne Omodho Anyanga. Already there is bad blood between the two at governor position.

Later Mr. X and Mr. Y find themselves supporting Ghati at Women Representative position. The two guys end up differing again sharply at constituency level as Mr. Y supports, let us presume former Migori mayor Peter Masara.

As the two continue asserting their power through exchange of abuses and counter-attacks through multiple Facebook and WhatsApp groups posts it is politicians who suffer the most.

To avert this Migori politicians should pick up their social media ‘gurus’ selectively, reservedly and ensure they stick to a single level and post in elections campaign. This will create uniformity and avoid scuttling other voters.

A governor aspirant will seek votes from supporters of politicians (aspirants and elected) in other posts, this should never be compromised by an overzealous social media spanner boys.

Above all they should never bank on these antics as there is no polling station called social media. If social media was that powerful then Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth could’ve been presidents by now.

(Follow me on Twitter @ManuelOdeny)

Of #Mollis' tape, a high school girl’s nude photos and Kenyan deviant sex attitude

2015-08-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

VIOLATED: A school girl after police officers arrested her and colleagues on a drug fuelled sexual binge in a public service vehicle. She was arrested with drugs concealed in her panties

Kenyans have a history of reacting with shock, self-loath or utter humour to pubic sexual debates, a trend that shows how deep and diverse individual opinion on the subject.

In Kenya sex is a private matter often taken in strict privacy and never talked about openly in public due to taboo which creates controversial when we are faced with immediate public debate.

Takes for example in the past two days when Kenyan social media scene was awash about a sexual tape of a man called #Mollis (Morris) having sex with a girl who is unwilling.

In the tape, the girl is heard asking the #Mollis why he did not show up the previous day, before the man callously retorting if she needed sex then. The girl briefly requests #Mollis to come back tomorrow.

In the heat of sex the woman is heard groaning and pleading with #Mollis to stop citing being tired, pleas which are ignored.

Already #KOT has been awash with the tape with Kenyans creating funny memes while other condemning the tape as a show of the country’s intolerant rape culture and disrespect to women.

In the same day, a photo of a nude school girl arrested by police while on a binge in a bus has been circulated online.

The girl, in a major disregard to her rights was photographed with her bra visible and her white and maroon panties stuffed with bhang and matchboxes pulled down exposing her pubic hair.

We were shocked how high school students heading home from school could end up in a drug fuelled sexual frenzy in a public service vehicle.

As a country, we need to embrace our sexuality and make the debate to be more open from personal relationship with our lovers, children, parents and neighbours.

In this denial we often react with shock or humour when things we think of as taboos or private fantasies come out in public to challenge acceptability and show a wider behavior as a country.

The same reaction was treated to US biologist Alfred Kinsey in 1940-50s when he published the revolutionary Kinsey Report which is a collection of two books that extensively interviewed sexual orientation of approximately 6,000 Americans.

The results shocked the nation to realise sexual behaviours considered as ‘deviant” like homosexuality, extra-marital affair in women, sadomasochism among others were active in the society.

The report shaped research and policies on sex in the country. We need a similar professional report as what #Mollis’ tape and the school girl’s nude photo is but an informal report.

Try and consider how the public reacted when nude photos of Kenyans having sex in a public park at Muliro Gardens in Kakamega or leaked lurid SMSes sent to the popular Classic FM’s morning drive show.

Or how we are quick to consider gay as a non-issue in Kenya when our country top the globe in searching for gay porn on Google.

All these should throw a gauntlet to our social scientists to pull a Kinsey move and help scientifically map the country sex report.

My thoughts as a Kenyan journalist on The People #Priceless move

2014-07-05T15:26:00.001-07:00

The media scene in Kenya and Africa has been ticked by The People newspaper, owned largely by Kenya billionaire president Uhuru, going free sheet or what their branding image dub #Priceless.

The move gained root in America and has taken the Kenyan media market with a storm.

But key questions remain: How can a priceless paper like The People sell? Will a vendor hustle to ‘sell’ a free paper when he has others with a cover price? Will he be paid for distributing a free paper? And lastly how will collection be gauged, will there be returns of ‘unsold’ copies?

But to start digesting the #Priceless move I will first think like a senior The People editor.

In Newspaper business the cover price never runs a paper, it’s the adverts which pay the bills. So this sacrifice on sales revenue will be the first price to pay in order for the paper, which is fourth in circulation after Daily Nation, Standard and the Star (I believe in that order), to pick in circulation.

The move is similar to Australia born media baron Rupert Murdoch who in a declining Britain newspaper market shore up Times sales by selling at a £1 discount against £1.20 for Daily Telegraph, £1.40 for Guardian and £1.20 for Independent.

The bold move seeks to open, reach and control untapped readers (millions of Kenyans who can’t afford newspapers) after the paper attempt to break even in the market failed.

The Kenyan newspaper market is saturated; Daily Nation which leads in sales has been selling 250,000 copies a day in like the last decade even though the level of education and number of middle class has increased in that period. In other words Kenyans don’t buy newspapers.

The static sale is further affected with internet, social media and blogs. Smaller papers have been hard hit here: The People took longer to go online while the Star uploads day’s news later on their website. This is to encourage readers to buy hard copy.

So, to end my thinking as The People senior editor, the #Priceless move may open a new untapped market to push the paper in the next level.

On the other hand reality on the ground is different since in Kenya it has been proven again and again that to increase circulation you work on content and not cheap publicity stunts. Here is the list of flops: Standard flip-around back page, the Star using pretty models to sell copies and NMG numerous folded newspapers.

As a senior Guardian editor says: “In others words, price is not the only determining factor for buyers. Editorial quality, the quantity of content and, for want of a better phrase, brand recognition, play key roles too,” Read him here: http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/jul/01/newspapers-mediabusiness.

Secondly as a newspaper designer whoever designed The People new look did a shoddy job, especially on the front page. The front page is so crappy for a national newspaper. In fact on the newsstand it looks too tabloid-ish, in the same league of DN2 or Pulse pullout. #NoPunIntended.

Thirdly with very low circulation and adverts The People will heavily rely on other company media outlets to survive. It will also rely heavily on media owners notably president Uhuru to pull it out without cover price the same way ‘Arab money’ gave Manchester City the EPL trophy.

And here ladies and gentlemen comes a huge media headache: editorial policy control by the media owner.

A free newspaper can be turned into a propaganda machine just the same way Vladimir Putin turns Russia Today or free communist party owned newspaper Pravada into a propaganda mouthpiece.

In Kenya, and any democracy, media history during election period shows that #Priceless papers (Those Sh10 gutter sold in matatus) often mushroom. One with national outreach can be Uhuru Kenyatta’s propaganda ammo (read an example in Britain here Eric Pickles: I'll shut council freesheets that publish 'propaganda on the rates': http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/apr/17/eric-pickles-local-authority-newspapers-closure)

And Uhuru Kenyatta, as an entrepreneur and Jubilee leader, has not been very kind to media. From ‘meat wrapping’ comment and punitive bill he has been out to stifle media (at least from what opposition said).

When Royal Media Services owner SK Macharia supported Cord in last elections he had ‘his’ frequencies stopped and Citizen TV staff poached en-mass to K24 TV. So #MeThinks this #Priceless move is to control other papers as a business competition (And ultimately control open editorial policy).

Lastly, I asked Angolo a newspaper vendor in Migori county where I ply my trade. Angolo started selling newspaper when I was still in high school.

He told me they don’t stock The People until after 1pm when nobody can buy newspaper (why let a potential buyer pick a free newspaper and kill my sales?).

He also said since all papers brought from Nairobi are expected to sell, vendors only collect them and at the end of the day re-sell them to ‘meat wrappers.’

So to move with #Priceless The People should have designated vendors or place them at strategic centers like banks, bus stops, hospitals, institutions, government offices, markets and ferries for maximum sale.

NB: Thoughts herein are my personal views.

12 large-scale hydropower projects set to change the face of Africa

2013-11-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

The African landscape is quickly changing as integration where former geographical features shared by countries are turned into avenues for mutual benefit.

One such venture is hydro power generation where Africa has a paradox between plentiful untapped hydropower and other renewable energy resources versus very little electricity access.

Only forty-five per cent of the electricity generation in Sub-Saharan Africa comes from hydropower but only five per cent of the continent hydro-potential has been tapped which makes generation of these resources a major boost to spur development.

Recent studies estimate that 57 per cent of Africans are without electricity which is attributed to poor infrastructure.

In 2012, at the 18th Summit of the African Union, African Heads of State endorsed a set of priority energy projects to be implemented by 2020 as part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development for Africa (PIDA)

The Mphanda-Nkuwa project in Mozambique, which is at the financial closure stage. It will contribute to supply energy both to Mozambique and to South Africa.
The Inga hydropower projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Grand Inga will have to be built in several phases. When fully built, it will transform Africa by providing electricity to a large part of the continent with transmission lines interconnecting several countries.
Hydropower components of the Lesotho Highlands water project Phase II, which will supply power to Lesotho and South Africa.
The Ruzizi III project in Rwanda will provide additional electricity capacity in Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC. It is the first regional Public Private Partnership (PPP) power project in Africa and is a model for successful implementation.
The Rusumo Falls development. The electricity produced will supply Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
Batoka Gorge: 1.600 megawatts of hydropower for Zambia and Zimbabwe
Fomi Dam: A 102 megawatts hydropower station will be constructed in guinea to benefit nine Niger River Basin countries.
Great Millennium Renaissance Dam: The aim is to develop a 5,250 megawatt hydropower plant in the Nile Basin to supply electricity to both the local export markets.
Kaleta Dam: A 279 megawatt capacity gravity dam which will produce electricity for Gambia River Basin Development Organization member countries.
Noumbiel Dam: A hydropower and agricultural purpose dam for Bukina Faso and Ghana
Palambo Dam: Small 30 megawatt hydropower dam that will regulate water flow on Obangui River to benefit Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic.
Sambagalou: 120 megawatt hydropower on Gambia River to offer affordable renewable energy to countries involved.

Bursting The Myth: Africa Is Not A Country by Alex Nderitu.

2013-11-14T02:28:00.003-08:00

‘So geographers in Africa maps,

With savage pictures fill the gaps

And over uninhabitable downs

Place elephants for want of towns.’

- Jonathan Swift, author of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’

I was surprised and a little amused as I listened to a BBC Radio programme on Africa earlier this year by a field reporter on assignment in China seeking locals’ knowledge of the African continent.

Reactions barely scratched the surface as answers came intermixed with laughter suggesting the world’s second-largest continent is composed of lions, elephants and bushes. There were mentions of Mandela, South Africa and the film ‘Out of Africa’ but some said the continent doesn’t have any towns to speak of.

But what shocked me the most was the suggestion that Africa is a single country, so profound was the belief that the field reporter missed 54 countries and gave 14, at most.

50 years after the scramble for Africa by European colonialists that gave the current borders, the answers amused me.

In fact all attempts to marry up all the countries – to create a United States of Africa – have been futile with diversion being created like Eritrea moving from Ethiopia, Somalia being divided to Somaliland and Puntland. While Zanzibar is itching to cut off her umbilical cord from mainland Tanzania.

And here are more facts about the continent: former Sudan, before South seceded was the largest country. Lying just above Uganda on the map it’s nearly 1-million-square-mile makes it spread towards north to rub shoulders with Libya and Sudan.

While Nigerian in West Africa is the giant in population size with over 100 million people apart from a huge number of people in diaspora strutting US, Europe, Asia and other African countries.

South Africa, apart from giving the continent icons like Nelson Mandela and Miriam Makeba is the king in development. From the southern tip of the continent the country is the home of minerals, Castle Lager, De Beers, DSTV and ‘Cry the Beloved Country’.

In social life aspect, the continent is based described in tribal line. Even in the 21st century tribes are ties that bind to define marriage, voting and conflicts like the infamous 1994 Rwandan genocide between the Hutus and the Tutsis.

You can often tell an African’s tribe from his indigenous name. My surname, Nderitu (pronounced “Day-ri-to”) is a dead giveaway that I come from the Kikuyu tribe of central Kenya.

At first sight, all Africans may look the same but in reality most tribes have distinct features that set them apart – height, skin tone, build, dialects, hair, teeth and even talents. Most have their own language which are over 2,000.

Even though all Negroid (Blacks) originated from Africa not all Africans are Negroes. In northern part of the continent (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco) Semites (Arab-Jew heritage) are dominant. Here is the home of our sons Muammar Gaddafi and Bhoutros-Bhoutros Ghali. Others are found further south in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somali, Sudan and along Indian ocean coasts.

Further south of Sahara Negroid, like me, dominate like former UN SecGen Kofi Annan from Ghana. Further south we find the race with lighter complexions and hooded eyes (Nelson Mandela and musician Usher Raymond have Capoid features).

The continent also has Caucasians (Whites) and other non-Black people like Asians not to be confused with tourists and other visitors as they are descendants of settlers, missionaries and traders who are as African as the marula tree. In fact some are more African than the original Africans.

South Africa has the biggest ‘jambalaya’ of races – Blacks, Whites (including Boers), Browns, Yellows and, for all we know, green people from Mars (that’s why it’s sometimes referred to as “the Rainbow Nation”).

Eastern Africa is widely believed to be the cradle of human life with the earliest human remains, 4.2 million years old found here. According to history a great trek north from Tanzania and Kenya through Egypt to cross over to other continents.

But this history poses some hard-hitting questions. If Africans were the original owners of the world, how come only missionaries woke the continent to advance academically and otherwise? Why is the second-largest continent still the poorest?

The question of non-development, of Africans’ seeming lethargy, is easily answered by Prof. Ali Mazrui’s famous documentary, ‘The Africans’, in which he narrates: ‘If necessity is the mother of invention, then bounty must be the mother of inertia.’

In a land where you spit out a seed and return to find a fruit tree sprouting, the early Africans were under no pressure to advance technologically as the continent still supports the widest varieties of plant and animal life.

And even though Africa is wealthy the reeking poverty is what i can’t get a ready answer for especially the ever widening gap between the rich and poor. While the super rich command customized cars and even private planes the poor majority die from curable diseases like cholera and malaria, and their children walk for kilometres on bare foot for schools and water.

Kenyan 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai (RIP) captured this when she said as a kid the were so poor growing up that she and her friends used to play with frog eggs! (Did Wangari has to say everything? Wonder is I’ll be able to show my face in public when I tour Europe to promote my books)

Across the globe, diamonds, gold and silver gleaming in jewellery shops and boutiques around the world come from Africa. Even the aroma of coffee, tea and flowers come from Africa.

Sadly were these raw materials and wealth are produced the most are under intense conflict fuelled by colonisation and scramble for Africa mentality. These are places like Liberia (diamonds), the DRC (assorted minerals), Nigeria (oil) and Somalia (heaven knows).

What Does It Mean To Be African?

But what does it MEAN to be African? If a Negro was born and lives in the US, can he still claim to be an African? What if a Caucasian (like best-selling author Wilbur Smith) is born, lives in, and loves Africa does that make him a certifiable African? Here’s my circuitous and open-ended answer:

A long, long, time ago (way before the first man loved the first woman and a child was born) all the continents were stuck together. Various disturbances on the earth’s crust coupled with the spinning of the earth (which makes it bulge out at the sides) caused cracks and, ultimately, separation.

You may take it that all continents and islands are jigsaw pieces and all humankind is one large, chequered, family. As I said earlier, the first people lived in the tectonic fragment now known as Africa.

Like an American tourist once said during a recent interview in a Kenyan TV, people should make a Mecca-like pilgrimage to Kenya at least once in their lives because it is our mutual ‘home’ after the Leakeys discovered the cradle of human kind in lake Turkana.

This is the reason the lack of interest in Africa expressed in the BBC Radio programme amused me so much. Chinese, American, French, German, Russian, British or whatever our nationality, we might all be Africans in diaspora!

Alexander Nderitu (www.alexandernderitu.com) is a Kenyan-born novelist and entertainer. He has also expressed interest in fashion design, music production and sports entertainment. This article was first written in 2006.

Nakuru County Politician Gideon Kubai: I’m not the ICC Witness Against William Ruto, Joshua Sang

2013-10-23T05:04:00.001-07:00

Gideon Kubai at LaGuardia airport in USA

Gideon Kubai, a Nakuru county politician and the grandchild of former freedom fighter Fred Kubai has denied that he is the fifth ICC witness testifying against DP William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang at the ICC.

He's currently in Boston, USA. Kubai is my FB friend and the guest blogger in the previous post Why Jubilee supporters Should Leave the President Alone- By Gideon Kubai.

Here is a transcript of a WhatsApp interview I had with him today at dawn:

Burning Splint: How long have you been in USA?

Gideon Kubai: Since May this year, first at SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont for a peace and conflict management program then in Boston, Massachusetts.

BS: When are you due to be back in the country and who your visit to USA?

GK: For my personal safety I am not travelling back until the matter is conclusively addressed by security agencies. I intend to attend to this seriously. I will also notify ICC for action from their side. Also note that I fear for the safety of my wife and our two years old daughter in Naivasha.

BS: Back to elections as an MCA: which ward did you contest in, what party did you use and what was the elections results if you can remember.

GK: Maai Mahiu ward in Nakuru county assembly on a Kenya National Congress (KNC) ticket. I polled second but left before i received the IEBC tally.

BS: Ok who won? And going back to the earlier question when were you expecting to be back in the country, that's before the current situation?

GK: A TNA candidate won, although on the second part I prefer not to disclose that at this point.

BS: Ok. Who facilitated the exchange programme which took you to USA?

GK: World Learning sponsors the programme on their campuses in Vermont and Washington DC.

BS: Of course World Learning partnered with an organisation in Kenya.

GK: Vijana na Mageuzi Initiative where i’m a program coordinator, the initiative has been involved in civic education, peace and conflict management projects in the volatile Nakuru county and we started the period after the PEV.

I am also the founder of The Fred Kubai Foundation, which engages in social welfare programme in Naivasha constituency in line with my late grandpa aspirations. I have extensively supported IDPs in Maai Mahiu on education.

BS: Going through the FB profile of the person who posted your photo, he states that he worked for The National Alliance Party. Do you believe TNA is behind this ‘leakage’? And where did he get the photo from?
GK: That was lifted from one of my profile pictures on my FB profile.

BS: Back to my earlier question: Do you believe TNA is behind the leakage? Or do you you’ve an hint of who is involved?

GK: The culprit seem to have a link with TNA/Jubilee online hawks. (You see) people have been critical of me not supporting UK despite our families' history, it was an issue that largely contributed to my election defeat.

BS: What’s your message to the IG of Police David Kimaiyo?

GK: The security machinery should move with speed to protect innocent Kenyans against political extremists both on the ground and on social media platforms. The police's cyber crime unit should double its effort in cracking down on these cyber criminals. Above all Kimaiyo should guarantee safety for my wife and daughter who have already recorded a statement with security agents in Naivasha.

BS: What about a message to President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Government of Kenya?

GK: The president should caution his followers across the country against extreme political stance that could put the safety of any Kenyan in jeopardy. He and all government leaders should adopt and set a rational and non-confrontational tone while addressing the ICC issue.

BS: Any statement to ICC president and prosecutor Fatou Bensouda?

GK: I urge constant vigilance from ICC against all forces that can compromise fair trial and justice for both the suspects and the victims through malicious interference of witnesses and unwarranted propaganda. The ICC should treat these claims brought to its attention with utmost seriousness with a view of punishing the culprits.

BS: Good we are about to finish... But first you worked with victims of PEV in Nakuru county, have you in anyway helped to get witnesses for ICC?

GK: My projects were strictly aimed at fostering reconciliation, urge for peaceful dispute resolution and champion the course of peace. A point of correction I didn't work personally with victims, but my work was at Maai Mahiu which was among places most affected by PEV. These projects were implemented in close conjunction with other stakeholders who included local police and provincial administration.

BS: So you were not involved in any way with the current Kenyan cases at ICC?

GK: Absolutely not!

BS: Thanks sir, I'm done. Do you have any parting shot?

GK: Welcome. I urge Kenyans on social media platforms to exercise restrain during discussions on ICC with sobriety and maturity. They should desist from the temptation to be overzealous and misinform.

BS: Better bro, Good morning (it’s 5:02am). I pray that may God keep your family in Nakuru safe. Have a nice time.

GK: Thanks. We will live through it. Later.

BS: Welcome and amen.

Why Jubilee Supporters should leave the president Alone - By Gideon Kubai

2013-10-08T09:28:00.003-07:00

President Uhuru Kenyatta

With the hard fought victory during the last general election which was only decided through a Supreme Court ruling Jubilee and UhuRuto supporters have been in euphoria.

Under the guise of this win, it is becoming hard to reason with millions of Jubilee supporters across the country and in the diaspora.

Suffice to say the campaign and election battle was fought and the win was splendid against seemingly insurmountable odds.

But amid this wall of unbridled happiness, this is an opportune time to direct a few cold hard truths and facts for President Uhuru Kenyatta to be left alone by his supporters and given space to deliver his election pledges.

The space should be left now to help salvage president’s national image and help him carry his national task easily.

President’s personal battle
Once Uhuru became the president he has acquired crucial national responsibilities which surpass narrow ethnic interests which are carried by supporters who come across as his defender in fighting his personal and tribal battle.

These soldiers’ zeal is best manifested online where bundles are dedicated on
facebook, twitter and blogs to sing praise to Uhuru’s and his name against ‘agents of devil and imperialists western powers.’

This otiose zeal has roped in the Kenyatta family, even those who can’t differentiate between Jaba and Jomo, to make it sound like hagiography of Wango’mbe Waihura - the legendary Kikuyu warrior.

The two Uhuru’s sons are young fine men who must be secretly wondering who these very dedicated jubilee supporters are talking about and what is going on.

Equally, both national and senate houses have ground troops have not been left behind in battle mood and arrested campaign mentality. Let us take Aden Duale for example; why did he create a big fuss about withdrawing from the Rome Statute?

Was Duale and Co on a mission to please and ingratiate themselves to the president? Was sycophancy, boot licking and self-preservation so fuzzy to make them realize the pullout was null and was detrimental ongoing ICC cases?

But Duale, like most jubilee elected leaders owe their current positions not from democracy or people’s but due to engrave their images next to the president’s during the campaign period. So perverse was the trend, a foreigner would’ve been mistaken to think Uhuru was running in hundreds of constituencies.

Sovereignty?

Across the social strata jubilee supporters irrespective of their level of education have became experts on dissecting the country’s sovereignty against imperialism and neo-colonialism pushed down Kenyans throat by US and Britain ‘funded’ ICC.

Even in the most rudimentary United Nation definition we are sovereign and this unwarranted braggadocio on proclaiming the obvious will be our downfall as a country.

Kenya isn’t a military superpower, have a runaway inflation and debt ridden economy and donor fund help fight hunger and disease in don’t have the biggest military in the world, we don’t have the biggest economy in the word and our people are still dying of hunger and st Century and over a half a century from independence.

An overzealous jubilee supporter or legislator wearing a crisp western style suit, a parliament funded by millions of US grant, using standing orders borrowed from British house and laboring in Queen’s English can’t lecture us on liberation and neocolonialism.

Even Uhuru Kenyatta a fully born and bred elite has a degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts; the state famously touted as the spirit of America.

I won’t go about the soft power colonization through English football, Hollywood movies, American music, dressing culture and western food like pizza and burger as we seek to look “in the East for development.’

The world is one big village; we are interconnected because even China we seek for aid can’t afford to cut ties with US even though they compete for world supremacy.

Cord/Jubilee matrix and attack on civil society
And here is how this overzealous sycophancy is affecting Kenya: the country still stays polarized more than six months after election.

Comments, criticism or work of civil society is measured in a very narrow lane of either being a Cord or a Jubilee supporter or a gun for hire.

A simple news post online boils down to Cord/Jubilee insults often laced by stereotype tribal insults. Fellow taken as under-class citizens and activists are often labeled traitors, betrayers and reminded that elections are over and they should move on.

It’s very crucial to hold the current government to account especially in delivering campaign promises and manifestoes and not every critic is a Cord critic or is betraying Kenya, which is sadly mistaken for Jubilee and Uhuru.

From a personal point of view since I have worked as an activist civil society doesn’t want to fix the president. I worked with a Naivasha based youth movement funded by US which was implementing peace and civic education.

Getting grant was purely based on project viability, objectivity and political neutrality and I even went to US for training and not once was I asked to participate in any scheme to overthrow my government or fix anybody in the political circles.

Civil society has taken a key role in changing the country in the second liberation and the West we so much abhor was key in bringing change with most dissidents seeking refugee there and like US Ambassador Smith Hempstone who a key figure against president Moi tyranny.

Uhuru acceptance

The president assumed leadership in full cognizance that he carried personal liabilities, weaknesses that will occasionally if not always impinge on execution of his state duties. He has even accepted that severally on national television.

But his supporters’ overzealous support bordering on ignorance, propaganda and fallacies are pressing the president to dump his personal liabilities on the shoulders of Kenyans who are already sagging with heavy burdens.

This has so far done Kenya as a country a great injustice by demonizing every criticism directed to the government.

(The writer Gideon Kubai is the founder and program coordinator for ‘Vijana na Mageuzi Initiative’ and is a grandson of the late freedom fighter Fred Kubai)

My Interview With Idd Salim: Blogger/Coder/Entrepreneur for Star Newspaper

2013-09-25T12:18:00.002-07:00

Idd Salim

Sometime last year in January I had an email interview with Idd Salim (May Allah rest his soul in peace). As the Star correspondent in Migori county I approached him via an official request on FB and he accept and gave me his email address easily.

The interview was slotted for the '5 Minutes Interview' though it didn't get published I wish to share it here (the bold are the questions and answers follow after.....):

I’m good at…… Playing pool, Coding using OpenSource, making friends and developing solid and working systems just from a basic conversation.

I’m bad at… Arguing, especially with people who don't have facts.

The last book I enjoyed was….. The Art of War by SunTzu. I live a-lot by it's principles since coding is like war against deadlines, human weakness and complacency and believing you are better than you actually are.

The most surprising thing that happened to me was……. Being called to Starehe Boys' Centre from Isiolo. It was a binary moment in my life. Dead or alive. Starehe made me what I am today.

A common misconception of me is that…… I am player because I have a lot of female friends and I am very open to new people irrespective of their social status and origin/tribe.

One of my worst childhood fears was…….. Ghosts. I still do and I cannot watch a horror movie at night since I cannot sleep afterwards.

My ideal night out is……. Going for a polite dinner with friends around 6PM, African Food. Then playing pool in a money game just for fun, then sip RedBull (I’m a teetotaler) in the dance floor.

In another life I would be…… A professional football/pool player, I used to be the best striker in Primary, but as soon as I saw a Computer at Starehe, I never looked back.

If I were a politician…….. It would never happen, I despise politicians with their lies, empty promises and embezzlement.

The best age to be is……. 36.

The best part of my job is……. The fact that I never need to leave home or dress up. I work whenever I feel and however I feel, as long as I deliver the systems on time and as expected. I am in the business of delivery and inventions. Not suits, ties, offices, 9-5s or bosses.

My greatest regret is…….. Spending 4 years in Uganda. Kampala is like Naivasha here verylow-tech. As a techie, these were wasted years. I have been working hard to recover lost time, and all is looking up.

Historical figure I most identify with is……… Napoleon Bonaparte and King Henry VII of England. They restored peace where there is chaos. I see myself on their shoes as a mentor in the Kenyan Technology industry to most upcoming software developers.

Living person I most admire is…….. Larry Wall the author of PERL whose book teaches about life skills in a tight world to reach ones goals.

My greatest achievement is…… Developing a Citizen Watch online service for public resource condition and utilization that we are now deploying to over 17 countries.

My favourite writer is……….. Robert Greene

My greatest possession is………….. My pride and knowledge. Also, my 3 Samsung Galaxys and Computers.

If I was going to die in five minutes my last words would be……. With God and Code, all things are possible. Respect and worship both.

(Idd Salim is the CTO of Symbiotic Media Consortium and a IT Consultant on Systems, Unix, Mobile and IT Security. He is also a popular blogger and a pool addict. Find out more about him by visiting his website : www.iddsalim.com.)

John Grisham Is Back With Sycamore Row, Related To His First Novel A Time to Kill

2013-09-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

John Grisham takes you back to where it all began . . .

John Grisham’s A Time to Kill is one of the most popular novels of our time. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial—a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.

Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County’s most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.

The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America’s favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.

Poem: Should I, Should I Not

2013-07-19T01:42:00.001-07:00

When the cool breeze whispers,
And the coconut boughs bows,
The sun rays streaking mourning mist,
Should I sing for love
Or
Should I not
Least the feeling ebb away
Quietly like
Fresh dew on morning grass

Should I,
Sing when your head lifts in lilt of laughter,
With echoes strumming chords in me heart
In muffled music of suppressed love
Or
Should I not
And let the chords rasp on
Like a kicking antelope
From a lion’s grip.

Should i
When the breeze strikes the sea
And to the shore the waves harkens
With giggle as they lap the sand
Then my heart will go on…
For
Should I not
Love will smite me.

Manuel Odeny

Africa Is Now The Fastest Growing Continent In The World- AfDB Report

2013-07-16T11:45:00.001-07:00

Kenyan engineers with Civicon Compnay taking a rest as they try to raise a tank in Mtwara Tanzania

Africa is now the fastest growing continent in the world a report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.

The Report, ‘Annual Development Effectiveness Review 2013’ said the growth has been pushed by economic governance on the continent and the private sector.

It also places the positive growth on exploitation of oil and minerals and project more positive growth if assets are effectively managed and used in an accountable and transparent manner.”

“Africa’s economic growth could not have happened without major improvement in economic governance as more than two-thirds of the continent has registered overall improvement in the quality of economic governance,” it said.

According to the report which is published online the costs of starting a business have fallen by more than two-thirds over the past seven years, while delays for starting a business have been halved.

Internal demand has also seen a growth in private sector which is the main engine of growth for the continent’s improved business climate.

“This progress has brought increased levels of trade and investment, with the annual rate of foreign investment increasing fivefold since 2000,” the report states.

The reports forecast a 5.5 per cent economic growth for continent’s low-income countries in coming years after growth exceeded 4.5 in 2012 forecast.

Africa’s collective gross domestic product (GDP) reached US $953 billion while the number of middle income countries on the continent rose to 26, out of a total of 54.

“This growth has reduced income poverty as the share of the population living below the poverty line has fallen from 51 per cent to 39 per cent,” it states.

Some 350 million Africans now earn between US $2-20 (Sh170-1,700) a day with the middle class is increasingly becoming an active consumer market.

However, the report warns of that the continent’s inadequate infrastructure and disparity in earning between rural and urban areas and slums remains a major constraint to the continent’s economic growth and development.

Strong emphasis should be placed in greater regional economic integration to improve prospects for growth by enabling African producers to build regional value chains, achieve economies of scale, increase intra-African trade and become internationally competitive.

Researchers Discover Use of Radioactivity To End Poaching

2013-07-16T10:46:00.001-07:00

Researchers from University of Utah with help from Kenya Wildlife Services have developed a new radioactivity method to end poaching which will save African elephants from extinction.

Through a means to measure radioactive carbon-14 deposited in tusks and teeth the researchers can reveal the year an animal died which can ascertain whether the ivory was taken illegally to curb elephants, hippos, rhinos and other wildlife.

The study is key in arresting poachers and ivory dealers claiming ivory they are using was taken before 1975 and 1989 when international agreements banned most trade of raw ivory from Asian and African elephants respectively.

“This could be used in specific cases of ivory seizures to determine when the ivory was obtained and thus whether it is legal as it has immediate applications to fighting the illegal sale and trade of ivory that has led to the highest rate of poaching seen in decades." Thure Cerling a researcher said.

Published in the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,’ researchers used open-air nuclear bomb tests in the atmosphere after the 1952-1962 nuclear weapons tests by US and Soviet, and the 1945 nuclear bombs in Heroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan.

The method uses the "bomb curve," graph showing changes in carbon-14 levels in the atmosphere absorbed by plants and animals in the food chain after analysing samples from 29 animal and plant tissues, most killed and collected in Kenya between 1905 to2008.

“The analysis revealed that various tissues that formed at the same time have the same carbon-14 levels which can determine age of ivory within about a year,” the research states.

The samples from animals died between 1905 and 1953 had minimal carbon-14 because they died before atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. The sample animals killed after 1955 had higher level, which can pinpoint the date.

"The dating method is affordable and accessible to government and law enforcement agencies as it costs about $500 (Sh42,500) per sample and can incorporate the use of DNA,” the study said.

Currently 30,000 elephants are killed annually with 70 per cent of smuggled ivory going to China in an illegal trade that has funded organized crimes and militia in Darfur, Uganda, Sudan and Somalia. So far only 423,000 African elephants are left.

Manuel Odeny © 2013

Poem: Hell Bound by Manuel Odeny

2013-06-13T14:31:00.001-07:00

Do you know the hardest part?

When you’ve been through hell

and back?

It isn’t the yowls of wretched souls,

seeping your life.

Or the fiery flames,

charring your spirits.

Or the painful anguish,

of hopes in dash.

Or hollow dead eyes,

peering in a dark future.

Or dead, torn ear drums,

shattered by incessant screams-

waiting for a voice of hope.

For verily:

what more can life do

to a people who have been through hell,

and back?

But after many sojourns down this path,

I verily know when the hardest part beckons,

for even the Phantom and Count Dracula shudders:

for the hardest part

Is when at the end of the road a soul reaches,

and the familiar hell path again beckons.

When at rock bottom your dream hits,

with slow sickening hit, it thuds,

before giving way, floor opens:

TO HELL!

Poem: The Non Practicing Christian by Manuel Odeny

2013-05-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

A cold misty morning- a thought of prayer
he shakes sleep from him eyes, cold from him marrows
dusty-torned-dog eared bible,
hustled, dust slapped
him leg lumbers a bored body
a hardened heart, a severed spirit
meandering the snake path
to a desolate house
on the hill.

The whole week it slept alone
now standing vigil in the cold morning mist
night dark lurks in shadows
chattering crickets fading away
who! whooo! of restive eyed owls
paving to gay chirping birds
heralding a day of worship
to the non-practicing Christian

Outta weekly drop-out Jesus is picked
bowed head humbly, hypocrisy dissuaded
hippo fat butt tendered in upholstery
moan on coarse pew
rusty nails, joints squeaking in protest.
invoked spirits hover
in amalgam of incest aroma with
sinful stench of last night indulgences!
blood of lamb- bud tantalizer
to a Johnny Walker imbiber!
body of Christ ingested with pork
of cause kitu kodogo* is tithed
as hands deft at pinching butts, tinkering nipples
folded in supplication.
Amen!

“Soon and very soon
we are going to see the King
alleluia, alleluia
we are going to see the King”

Amen!
he sashays to gyrating song
Yeah men!
the non-practsisng Christian
drifts in balling frenzy
Amen…oops
Yeah Men!

He ducks away
service over, till next week
like a coat Jesus is shed, till next week
He dashes away
hopelessly clinging to departing weekend
to nyama choma*, carousing
Amen!

Y
E
A
H
M
E
N
! ! ! ! !

Poem: Heaven Through Hell by Manuel Odeny

2013-04-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Photojournalist Kevin Carter's photo of this girl in Ethiopia inspired this poem.

Pardon my retched soul,
in book of life
Atone my sins with the lambs blood
May the promise of golden streets
Hasten my wary legs home.

To Immanuel’s ground I come
at heavens door I knock
for I’m through hell!
Land of honey and flowing milk
Painted illusions of heaven in good book
Coded pulpit din on fairy-tale winged creatures
A mental prisoner of gospel
Accented talks of glory
“supplicate your dark souls to a Jewish man”
eyes closed,
land swept from our knees
bible, deadly whips on other hand
brotherly love felt in slave ship dungeon

Miles south of sub Sahara Africa
a conception of mistaken passion for love
a drop from a leaking condom.
A fraction of pleasure
summarized in years of hell
pandemic poverty
bullets whiz past my emaciated body
famine hot like a bee sting
carcasses dotting Savannah
as hunger gnaws my intestines

Hell

Janjawid spreading Kalashnikov terror
Klansmen lynch mob
Serbia mass graves
pain of child born in Gaza
shelling debris in Mogadishu heat
missing corpse tossing in tsunami
a whiff of Nazi gas

All powerful heaven God
don’t squint in my suffering
while you hold me wear gloves,
least I soil your hands with raw sewerage
hasten my destiny
my will to suffer ebbs
pardon me
be justified through hell I wonder
with a pain to lose the all world,
life,
soul,
heaven I truly desire

Manuel Odeny © 2013

HRW: Uhuru, Ruto Should Cooperate With ICC

2013-04-14T11:29:00.001-07:00

Human Rights Watch has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court.

The watchdog in an online statement also called on the new government should also uphold and protect the bill of rights as stipulated in the country’s constitution.

“Kenyatta and Ruto should be held to their promises to attend their trials before the ICC,” said Elizabeth Evenson, HRW senior international justice counsel said.

“As president of an ICC member country, Kenyatta should also ensure that his government provides the cooperation it owes the ICC and the support it needs. Victims of Kenya’s post-election violence and their families have already waited more than five years for justice,” she added.

The two including their co-accused Joshua Sang, former Kass FM host have been voluntarily attending ICC proceedings in their cases before the ICC on charges of committing or contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity during Kenya’s election-related violence in 2007 and 2008.

“The new government should also reverse the climate of fear through publicly pledging to help ensure the safety of people who seek to assist justice efforts,” Evenson said.

Earlier there have been concerns on witness protection by Kenyan government with the ICC prosecutor complaining on witness interference.

Witness interference through pressure on witnesses and their families has been blamed for acquittal of Kenyatta’s co-accused Francis Muthaura after a witness feared to come forward and testify against him.

HRW blames lack of government cooperation which has seen witnesses recanting parts of their testimony and admitting to accepting bribes.

Lastly the new government should uphold the bill of rights enshrined in the country’s 2010 constitution to make progress in reform agenda especially police reforms.

“Intimidation of civil society groups increased in the periods before, during, and following the March 4 elections,” HRW indicated.

Threats against civil society activists, media, and ICC witnesses that amount to violations of national law should be investigated and prosecuted, it added.

Kenya: Private Investors to Add 80 Megawatts To National Grid

2013-04-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Transformer serving this blogger in Migori County, Kenya

The World Bank and private investors are set to add 80 megawatts to the national grid in 12 months through Gulf Power Ltd’s thermal plant in Mombasa Road, near Athi River.

Gulf Power has brought local investors from Gulf Energy Ltd and Noora Power Ltd in the Sh9.12b project which includes Sh2.7b in equity investments and Sh6.4b long-term debt financing.

WB gave the project a major boost through Sh4b loan which will be repaid for more than 15 years.

Already Gulf has signed a power purchase agreement with Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) for electricity it will generate. The agreement was also signed by the government, WB and JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. of London.

“The WB has now signed partial risk guarantees for a third private power producer to increase the availability of electricity and diversify country’s power,” Johannes Zutt, World Bank Country Director for Kenya said.

The move will increase stability of supply of electricity to help businesses grow and create jobs for citizens.

The Gulf Power loan approved in February last year is among WB’s loan with other projects benefiting being Thika Power and Triumph Power Generation which were finished on August and December 2012 respectively.

“The loan supports innovative public-private partnership program that helps African countries to unlock their energy potential and improve competitiveness,” Lucio Monari, World Bank Sector Manager for Energy in the Africa Region explained.

The government plans to increase private sector participation and utilize low carbon resources such as wind and geothermal to increase electricity generation capacity by an additional 2,000Mw.

Hustlers Family The Kenyan Bongo Crew With a Flick In Tanzania Movies

2013-04-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hustlers Family Crew L to R, Wycliffe Mwita (DXL), Chacha Mwita (Chacha Kongo), John Chacha (Mnati),Joseph Mosiabi (Junior Michapo).

Hustlers Family a crew of two brothers and their cousins from Kuria area in Migori County have rocked the music scene with bongo songs.

The brothers John Chacha (Mnati) and Joseph Mosiabi (Junior Michapo) started the crew started the crew in April 2005 but due to education they have been struggling to pick up and incorporated their two cousin Chacha Mwita (Chacha Kongo) and Wycliffe Mwita (DXL).

All of the crew members made a break through after acting in a bongo movie Mtambo Wa Pesa Bandia part 1 & 2 produced by Tivoli Studios in Mwanza, Tanzania after the producer was interested after they released their latest video album Yatima.

In the movie Chacha Kongo acted as a spy selling espionage from a company, Mnati acted as Superintendent of Police, equivalent to OCS in Kenya while DXL and Junior Michapo acted as thugs.

“We were approached by the producer after producing our latest video album and were performing in Musoma and Mwanza in Tanzania to act in the movie and after it had a mild review we acted in part 2 last year,” Mnati says.

Mnati who is the oldest of the crew members said he started singing in 2005 and has released three songs so far Alice when his lover he had educated to college left him, I Wanna Love You and Yatima which talks about orphan children in the society.

The rest started singing between 2001-2010 when they were still in school and only took music and the crew serious in 2010 when Chacha Kongo was the last o finished high school.

“After 2010 we took music seriously and have managed to have shows in Migori, Kisii, Trans Mara, Kilgoris, Isebania and in Tanzania,” DXL said.

In the video album Chacha Kongo has a song Maria and Mama, DXL has Anis Nipe Majibu while Junior Michapo has Vera.

The album has been produced by ‘Sifa Films’ production based in Nairobi

The crew say that music has been a major source of income to the family and has brought fame to the family which has been a major boost in their business as they run a popular pub called Mnati in Kehancha town.

“We have managed to get good audience in town we perform where we get about 30,000-50,000 for performance which helped in producing our songs,” Mnati says.

He added that as the only singing group from Kuria and their Bongo genre of music they’ll break into the national scene and plan to land more movie roles in Tanzania.

East African Cassava Farmers Benefit From Value Addition Project

2013-04-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

Over 54,000 small scale cassava farmers in East Africa has benefitted from value addition project by a NGO.

Brought under 36 Cassava Village Processing Project (CVPP) in Kenya’s Busia and Makueni districts, Arusha in Tanzania and Uganda’s Jinja and Buyende town, the farmers were given over 16 million cassava cuttings of different varieties within a year.

The Farm Concern International (FCI) which funded the project said it has increased income for women and young people by increasing the potential of cassava as source of carbohydrate for animal feed, human and starch for industrial food processing companies.

“During the intervention a total of 10,642 metric tonnes of cassava was processed into chips and chunks for both local and industrial markets, 23,400 metric tonnes were sold to the fresh market, with 45,806 metric tonnes utilised for food security,” FCI said.

The project which partnered with private sector has helped farmers to commercialize farming to improve food security and incomes through small scale industries by mobile motorized and manual chippers for micro-processing which allows farmers to supply to key starch, human and animal feed manufacturers across the region.

“Cassava Villages have been transformed into commercial hubs where small scale farmers collectively produce, process and market their produce accruing benefits as a result of economies of scale and lower transactional costs,” the NGO said.

Farm Concern has also facilitated market linkages between the commercial villages and key cassava industrial players through village based business forums (VBFs).

Under the project cassava farming has been transformed from subsistence crop into a reputable commercialised commodity valued after streamlined marketing systems and favourable market prices.

To cut off brokers the project also created saving schemes in 43 villages whose collective savings of Sh18.2 million has promoted lending for individual and group investments.

The project has created over Sh320million in a year of crop produced in the project which was also carried out.

Gender: Lack of Clean Water and Sanitation Affect Women Most

2013-04-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Poor water and sanitation affects women more in African societies, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.

The added that the discrepancy is gender based as African women bear the brunt through inequality, especially when it comes to access to education for girls and women.

“In Africa drawing water, transportation, storage and use, and cleanliness of public and private facilities are mostly the responsibility of women who are most affected by scarcity of water and insufficient water supply,” it said.

In rural areas women and girls are obliged to trek up to 15 kilometers every day to fetch water while in urban areas insufficient water supply results in long waiting lines lasting hours and causing social conflicts.

“Poor sanitation facilities also cause high number of girls drop out in school when they reach puberty that is why water and sanitation programmes should have gender equality in planning,” AfDB added.

AfDB said that under its Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative launched in 2003 in partnership with other donors 51 million people have access to clean drinking water and it has aided in building sanitation facilities for 34 million people, of whom 50 per cent are women.

The initiative seeks to involve a gender approach while offering water and sanitation projects to contribute in reduction of water-related chores and increase rate of school attendance for girls, increase income generating activities and create healthy environment.

“These projects need better representation by women in decision-making committees which decreases acts of violence and aggression against women who fetch water from long distances,” the bank said.

Women should also be involved during financing and management of water resources between institutions which will transform the current cultural and social order in the continent.

“This cooperation will also contribute to the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment faced primarily by women and children,” it stressed.

Chinese Ivory Smuggler Arrested, Poachers killed in Mwingi

2013-04-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

A Chinese ivory smuggler arrested by Kenya Wildlife Services has been arraigned at Makadara Law Courst in Nairobi after being arrest at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

Feng Jinzhang, 50 was arrested as he tried to smuggle ivory while on transit aboard a flight KQ 542 from Contonou, Benin to Guangzhou, China, late Sunday night.

Jinzhang was arrested by a joint security team comprising of the Kenya Airports Police Unit, Customs officials, Kenya Airways officials and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials.

The suspect was booked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport police station awaiting arraignment in court to answer to charges of smuggling, through Kenyan territory, four pieces of ivory bangles.

His arrest comes with at the backdrop of the ongoing 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP) by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting at Bangkok, Thailand.

The meeting posthumously honoured 13 KWS rangers who died in the line of duty, and nine other recipients from around the world, with a Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award.

A Kenyan delegation, headed by Mr. Stephen Manegene from Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, is lobbying state parties to, among others, to ensure no proposals to trade in elephant ivory can be submitted before expiry of a nine years moratorium agreed at CoP14 in The Hague in 2007.

Over the weekend KWS rangers and the Kenya Police arrested a poachin gang after a fierce gub fight at Bisan Hargeisa, near Mwingi town, Kitui County.

They managed to impound 21 pieces of raw ivory weighing 91kg, and a motorbike. A further search in the surrounding areas by a reinforcement team from Kora National Park and the police recovered seven more pieces of ivory weighing 30.6kg.

The team acted on a tip off from members of the public and the suspects who resisted being search which led to the gun fight.

No ranger was hurt during the incident.

Raila Odinga's Statement On The Judgement of The Supreme Court

2013-03-31T01:58:00.001-07:00

STATEMENT OF THE RT. HON RAILA A. ODINGA ON THE JUDGEMENT OF THE SUPREME COURT

29thMarch, 2013

Fellow Kenyans,
...
Members of the media,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon,

You will recall that on 9th March 2013, I issued a statement on the conduct of the elections which had just been concluded.

I expressed my deep gratitude to all Kenyans who had turned out massively to exercise their democratic rights to vote and elect their leaders.

I however expressed my dismay that contrary to the expectations of Kenyans, we witnessed the failure of virtually every instrument the IEBC had deployed to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

I outlined such failures, with concrete examples of the anomalies that all of us witnessed. It was clear that the constitutionally sanctioned process of electing new leaders had been thwarted again by another tainted election. Democracy was on trial in Kenya.

But that has not dented my commitment to constitutionalism and the rule of law.

Enforcing the spirit and letter of the constitution remains the only sure way to peace and prosperity for our young democracy.

My decision to file a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the election was a testament of my faith in the independence of our judiciary.

We did so for the sake of our democracy and for the sake of all Kenyans who wanted to exercise their constitutional right to elect their leaders through free and fair election.

We were joined in this endeavour by Africog, which separately filed a petition seeking to nullify the fourth of March Presidential election.

This proves that my petition had nothing to do with personal grudge as contended by the IEBC, Hon Uhuru Kenyatta and Hon William Ruto.

In the petition, I expressed our belief that the court would uphold the letter and spirit of our constitution. I pledged to abide by the court decision.

We prosecuted the case to the best of our ability.

Our legal team, led by Senior Counsel George Oraro compiled formidable and logical evidence showing that massive malpractices occurred during the elections.

We unearthed evidence of technology failure that required a full audit, inappropriate conduct on the part of IEBC staff, irregular and unethical arrangements such as the sharing of servers by IEBC with a competitor and unmarked registers.

We regret that the court disallowed evidence on the grounds that it was either filed late or the court did not have time to inquire into these discrepancies. In the end, Kenyans lost their right to know what indeed happened.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The court has now spoken. Article 140 of our constitution states that “the Supreme Court shall hear and determine the petition and its decision is final.”

Although we may not agree with some of its findings, and despite all the anomalies we have pointed out, our belief in constitutionalism remains supreme.

Casting doubt on the judgment of the court could lead to higher political and economic uncertainty, and make it more difficult for our country to move forward.

We must soldier on in our resolve to reform our politics and institutions. Respect for the supremacy of the constitution in resolving disputes between fellow citizens is the surest foundation of our democratic society.

And the courts should always act within the evolving constitutional culture.

I and my brother and running mate Hon Kalonzo have no regrets for taking our case to court.

Indeed, it is our view that this court process is yet another milestone in our long road towards democracy for which we have fought so long.

Truth, justice and the faithful implementation of the constitution is our best guarantee to peace and security.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my hope that the incoming government will have fidelity to our constitution, and implement it to the letter for the betterment of our people. I wish president –elect Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy President elect William Ruto best of luck in this endeavour.

I also wish all the Senators, Members of Parliament, Women Representatives, Governors and others who were elected in the last election success in discharging the expectations of our people.

I want to thank Senior Counsel George Oraro and the members of his legal team for their hard work and devotion in the quest for justice. I would also like to pay special tribute to the Africog legal team led by Kethi Kilonzo for their immense contribution to the rule of law and democracy.

To the Kenyans who supported us and our petition, I want to assure you that I will continue to work for you and with you to build our county, Kenya, and to help you achieve your dreams.

My actions have always been guided by my desire to bring about a better life for all Kenyans, particularly those who are less privileged. The future of Kenya is bright. Let us not allow the elections to divide us. Let us re-unite as a Nation.

Finally, I call on all Kenyans– our supporters and opponents alike – to remember the sacred words of our National Anthem: Justice be our shield and defender;

Thank You and God Bless Kenya.