KenyanSwede; THE BRIEF.

I Saw A Dog Decide.

2021-04-20T02:18:00.016-07:00

I Saw A Dog Decide.

The sun was warm against my face. It was five minutes till the tram come, so I decided to enjoy the natural warmth while I waited. A red car approached, driving by slowly, carefully. Behind me was the local ICA shop, a few morning people sneaked in and out of the shop scarcely. The red car passed by me, drove a few meters, and made a U turn just outside the ICA shop.

A glanced inside the car and made out an old couple. The old man backed the car unevenly. Drove a few meters forward and then reversed a second time. I couldn’t tell if he meant to park or drop off his partner. He gave up perfection and turned off the engine. They stayed inside the car, I got bored and turned my face to concentrate on the warm rays of the sun.

The Man And His Dog.

In front of me a man was walking his dog, he stopped. I looked at his little dog. It reminded me of Snowy, only that it had brown patches here and there. The leash was long, the little dog was between the two tram-railways staring right in front, a cross. Curious.

Come, the man said quietly and gently pulled on the leash. The dog turned its little head quickly to him and quickly back. I looked to its ahead, curious of his/her curiosity. Further on, on the path of his/her gaze was a park, good parents were out with their little ones, the children playing noisily. The dog stared.

I looked at the man, never once seeing his face as he looked at his dog, seemingly oblivious of the sun, its warm, me, the red car, the old couple inside, the park, the parents and their children and the fact that the tram was due in three minutes.

Come, he said, a little louder now, and pulled on the lead, a little harder now. The dog made to turn, its whole body, made a ninety degrees turn, looked at its master(?) another ninety degrees back, and stared still. I raised my head, the sweet calming warmth soothing my face.

Come, I heard. An interruption. I looked at the man, I swear he felt my inquiry glance. I looked at the dog. Standing upright on its four. Its body firm its face forward, its eyes fixed. Come, he said a fourth, pulling the little dog a little gently firmly harder. The dog, I couldn’t tell its gender, nor its intended engendering agenda.

The man looked at his dog. the dog pulled on its leash forward, its little body strained. The man slowly gave in, he followed the little dog. Happily, it run across the rails. Directly after, it turned left and crossed that road too. The little dog decided, the man abided.

The Little Red Car And Corona.

I looked at the old couple, still inside the red car, parked outside the ICA shop, seemingly oblivious of the sun, its warmth, me, the dog and its man that had just left, the park, the parents and their children and the fact that the tram was due in one minute.

A young man came out of the ICA shop, he wore its uniform, carrying a stuffed shopping bag. He approached the red car, the old coupled watched him come. The lady waved. The young man grinned. The lady was saying something, but the car window stayed up. The young made a face put the stuffed bag down, just beside the red car, straightened up looked inside the red car, turned and went back inside the ICA shop.

The lady opened the door, her eyes on the bag, she stumbled on the road's edge, her arms grappling the air. She found her balance, I sighed. Without turning her eyes from the stuffed bag, she bent, picked it up, opened the back door of the red car, shoved it in, got back in the car and shut her door. They murmured, as the old man engaged the car, then stopped, for the tram.

As the doors swung open, I thought, should I wear a mask, seemingly oblivious of the fact if the driver was looking at me.

P Bryan Njoroge.

What Happened. Handshake.

2019-02-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Well, almost too easily said, this so called handshake is working miracles! That is what is happening. Or like my brothers and sisters from the lakeside would say, that is., what is. But do I say?

I come from the mountain side, if you so wish to know. But what we all can rejoice in without a doubt whatsoever is that our mutual motherland is in a relative wave of tranquillity and good behaviour. And that, is what all, including our ancestors ever wanted. But.

But there is this other story, which you may have not heard about as yet, you will after you have read what I have just written.

Now the ark of the covenant, yes I mean the covenant that Moses, the leader of the WaIsraeli or more so also the Jews, went to collect at a mountain called Zion. The interesting story here is the new somewhat revelation. That this same Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Ten Commandments is actually in this same country we always talk about. Kenya.

Now, you know people are asking questions like why Waiguru!? Others like, why the one of the Governors who is said to own a D-. In all sincerity, we are not here to judge. We would prefer that the institutions so mandated by the constitution do so.

But hear, hear! We do applaud the significant awards of recognition given to Chief Prosecutor Nordin Haji and “crime buster” Kinoti. Makofi hapo! They deserved it. But what have the others done? And still who were the others because we do not know them when it comes to doing right by Kenyan values? How does the former-younger-president come up with the list of people to give national commendations?

Well, some do seem to have done something anyhow, but the usual suspects why?

Even so, why was world recognised champ, Eliud Kipchoge, Raila Odinga(for six years a prisoner), Samoei Ruto(for amassing wealth very quickly), late icon Joseph Kamaru, Sonko(Sonko rescue team), but most importantly ‘mama wa taifa’ 1^st Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who started the Beyond Zero dream and actually realised it. Why did they not get the Order of the Burning Spear this time?

The handshake and the building of bridges, real or imagined, is a good thing. A grand initiative. The one uniting gesture that we have all, Kenyans, been waiting for. We have no problem with love, we have bundles of love, we have no problem with unity, we are always together, we have no problem with development because we have been longing for it as long as before Kenya was baptised by the colonial thieves.

But they met they talked and they decided. That it’s time to part with krimino friends, it’s time to kill every young krimino, it is time, time to give old people jobs and let the young keep looking, because “the young are kriminos!”. That it was time for a new Kenya, and no one will ever die because of an election.

We really, actually don’t want to die. But is life better for the poor Kenyans after the handshake? There was rain though, thank God. But what about the maize farmers still waiting for their hard earned dues? Was that part of the handshake? Oh, hold on, they were told to farm avocado instead.

Eh, that takes care of that.

Kenyans are in love with the handshake! Whether I know it or not!

There is this story of a Russian leader called Joseph Stalin. Who once took a chicken to the Kremlin, stripped it naked in front of parliamentarians just to make a point. After patiently, forcefully of course, unfeathering the screaming chicken, he let it go. The story might not be here or there. It is his words thereafter that are valid.

You see after he let the chick, (kuku) go, he put some seeds in his hand and stretched it towards the innocent birdie. It went on to feed from his hand and even followed him when he took a stroll. While his mpigs watched in an awkward bewilderment, he explained.

Torture, kill them, make them fight themselves, make them hate each other, drive them into political madness, crazy. Make them worship you, but give them peanuts, and they will follow you, wherever you go. These might not be his exact words, butwhoisasking?

Handshake.

You probably jumped here to avoid what you might have perceived as a long story. Lakini bado uko hapa. Now give me an ear.

Uhuru is very bold in telling us about a handshake that happened almost over an year ago. He has become so bold, nothing wrong with it, that the only uniform that he has not worn is his new screaming-blue police uniform that no Kenyan, seems to like or hear about neither respect. The talk about police reforms, persist, remain and stay. They must be seen from far, first!

I did watch the president’s tour of Nyanza, and I did see where he clapped and laughed, only him, and him only, amused by his new and his only ‘my-bratha’s joke.

“Long time ago, there were animals called dinosaurs. They feasted on all other animals but never got satisfied. The almighty God got angered and punished them. He reduced them in size and I hear they are today’s lizards. Oppressors must now pay attention to what I am saying. You that take advantage of peoples resources, your judgement will be by God. Some people will be reduced in size by God. Oppressors, continue to oppress us, and teach your children to do the same to our children. But the God of Kimathi, Mathenge and Kaggia, will deliver us from the hands of these wild animals a people!

You who eats that which someone else planted! Your generations will be cut short, no child will name you. Your deaths awaits your in India! You will walk while on your way there, but you will come but in a casket. Kimathi went to the forest for our freedom, land and the education for our children. All of it was taken by the oppressor, the country became a one man’s property, and his friends.

Mau Mau’s curse lives on today. Let the children of Mau Mau continue to suffer. Let those who are still alive die of poverty, but that curse will eat up your generations. You clan of oppressors continue to oppressor us, go ahead and plan how your children will oppress us but the God of Kimathi, Mathenge and Kagia, will deliver us from the hands of these wild animals a people! Oh, but know, you death awaits you in India! Oh.. you will walk on your way there but you will come back in a casket!

How do you budget for Wanjiku? Do you take us for fools or do you think we are ignorant? While asking for votes we did eat the 90 shillings flour, but when you got your positions it rose back again, (after what you wanted, you meant)“we can go to hell!”. The maize farmer is gnashing his teeth mourning, while the coffee farmer is uprooting it and throwing it away. The businesspeople are screaming coz of debt, while to you, it’s a handshake while preparing for the game!

When you go to parliament there is nothing else but salaries, that you get house allowances and for the cars as well! And the medical cover for your sidekicks and their children. All these while our county hospital has no medicine. When you get sick, you go to private hospitals, with four doctors fighting for your live. Because Kenya must not stop! But in Kenyatta hospital, patients are dying on the floor, in Kiambu, three patients share a bed!

A man who slaughtered and sold cat meat in Limuru was jailed accordingly, while the public resources thief, lay in bed with his wife! When did a hyena decide a sheep’s case? I swear, whoever bewitched us was well paid! But you will only hear of true peace through people! Have your guns around your waists, while your blood sugar rises to the highest, a lot of bodyguards all around you, portable gods around your waist and a bag of high blood pressure medicine with you.

People at Nyamakima slaughtered goats to sacrifice and celebrate the win of Tano Tena! But today, they are the same ones on the roads demonstrating, Nigute! What a waste! Their stuff burned and banned as fake! While your politicians run all over Kenya talking of a debt that some have and some don’t! God!? Why can’t you finish politicians and give us leaders!? These nation will never mature as long as these barren people are alive!

But oh, I will not pay a debt, I will keep a promise! Oh, I care, about our people who are still in

foreign lands. May none of them go back to the tents! Oh no, its not a dent that I will pay, it’s a promise that I will keep.”

So sang Muigai Wa Njoroge; telling of a promise that was, but was never kept. Of a deal that was made but seems to be fading into or fast disappearing into the ever infamous bin-of-the-forgotten Mous. But what’s his beef and why was his song such a storm in the cup of tea?

The people of good intention who have decided that the Ark of the Covenant must be found near or on Kirima Gia Thayo Ini (please be kind and read Mt Zion), also Mt Kenya, are doing whatever they can to prove and show the whole world that they have indeed uncovered that monumental secret.

El President is still dishing out prime jobs to election losers, needless to say, the persons that the people of Kenya said, NO to. While graduates, with real, hard earned university commendations still tanga tanga about in the streets and vichochoros of Kenya.

Part Two coming shortly.

P Bryan Njoroge.

My Weird Dreams. Heaven, afterlife?

2019-01-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

I was with a friend, someone, somewhere, but I could not see them, or whom it was. We were having a conversation about the end of the world. How it would be like though the dream somehow seems to start in the middle of the discussion. Then he said, “a scientist once said”, but did not finish that sentence. Instead some kind of a vision started.

When he started talking about the scientist, the sentence’s conclusion somehow became embedded in the ‘vision’. So that it kind of continued before the vision totally taking over.

Like, “a scientist once said….” and the sun’s heat became intense. The birds went quiet and the rest of creation followed. Then everything started to dry up. The earth and all the vegetation turned light grey and quickly as if melting into dark grey then total black and finally nothingness. Floating.

But the moment of nothingness did not last. Suddenly there was light, I could see that everything was still dry but a change was happening very fast. From the dark grey to dark brown to light brown.

Form light brown to dry vegetation. I could make out a wheat farm, the plants all dry but somehow waking up! Fast.

The vegetation turned to dry green, light green leaves and dry flowers, and just as suddenly to a bright healthy green and the flowers sprouted forth in full blossom!

Then came the sound of birds and all others, of people laughing, shouting in joy in a way of celebration. And there was life again! But I could not see my friend nor the physical forms of those with whom I was celebrating…and the dream ended.

I am not trying to explain anything other than a very detailed and interesting dream.

P Bryan Njoroge.

Revolution Now!

2018-03-16T07:00:00.004-07:00

We have heard it; the hunger of a people cannot be quenched by a tarmacked road. Development of the infrastructure by itself, cannot bring about security, and a beautiful dream of government housing is not a surety of its affordability and maintenance. First things first.

As Kenya is changing auditor general, a lot of questions, about expenditure, waste and loss of public monies, still remain unanswered. As the country prepares for a new attorney general and public prosecutions director, many cases remain unprosecuted. As the country warms up to a new director of criminal investigations, many criminal cases remain unsolved.

A short while ago, specifically Friday the 9^th of March 2018, the elite and politically controlling class in Kenya suddenly and without any announcement decided to meet and declare a truce. The political leaders of both the government party, Jubilee, and the main opposition party or alliance, NASA, read ODM, decided to join hands in “uniting and building” the land and the nation of Kenya. Without public announcement, involvement nor consultation.

On the 8^th of august 2017, Kenya went into elections as demanded by the constitution. After these elections, winners were declared. Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the elect president and winner by the constitutionally set body the IEBC, after a very heated political campaign that abnormally had carried on for more than one year.

After the announcement of his victory, his antagonist and long time opposition leader, former prime minister Raila Odinga, expectedly refused to accept this election and went to the supreme court to oppose Uhuru’s election. He, Raila, won in a case where the supreme court of Kenya ruled that Uhuru Kenyatta was in did elected in an election dominated by illegalities and irregularities.

We accepted. And by WE, I mean those who supported the then elect-president. But the opposition went into a different kind of frenzy claiming that the electoral commission ordained to carry out the repeat election was corrupt, incompetent and incapable and therefore could not hold an equitable election.

That through the court's ruling, the body had itself been declared null and void.

The court had then ruled that a repeat presidential election be carried out two months after. A date that fell on the 26 of October which coincidentally was also Uhuru Kenyatta’s birthday. That too became an issue and the opposition, of course lead by Raila Odinga refused to recognise and take part in the election citing an unjust and corrupt IEBC.

The opposition boycotted the repeat election and Uhuru won by about 98 percent. Actually, almost unopposed. The opposition led by Raila Odinga refused to accept the election and declared Uhuru an illegitimate president. After which the NRMke, a resistance movement that has since been banned in Kenya, was created as a weapon to force Uhuru out of power.

The movement announced the resistance of several companies, commodities and firms that they felt had participated in the “illegal” election of president Uhuru Kenyatta and called for their boycott. The Kenyan opposition also created a people’s assembly, that would work against and frustrate any move by the “illegal government”.

All along this mess, shenanigans and political games, Kenyans followed their political divide truthfully. And by that they demonstrated their faith whenever called for. During the demonstrations against the alleged electoral theft, Kenyans died. Baby Pendo is one of the victims whose name has remained documented as the face of the deadly clashes that threatened the unity of the nation.

When Raila left the country and came back after a visit of the USA, Kenyans died as the power that-be clashed with the unruly celebrating mass. Talks about secession continued.

Thus far, Kenyans remained divided though calls for a dialogue between the government and the opposition persisted. Kenyans right through the middle backed their sides with pride and prejudice and refused as their leaders did, to reason.

The hard-headed leaders and political parties pushed us as further apart as they could and we, Kenyans, as usual followed them to the coming fall of a nation. They puked over each other, they called each other names but relevantly, they tuned us not to accept each other.

By their sides we stayed. We spread hate against each other and told the worst about our tribes even as Kenyans. We were ready to kill each other for the constitution, rule of law and justice that they kept telling us about.

But then, all we wanted was a dialogue. All we wanted was a mutual way of developing Kenya. All we wanted was justice, electoral and otherwise. All we wanted was our blood earned freedom. Well, we still do.

We called for it, and our international friends joined in. All said; sit down and talk. But then it was not possible. One said, wait until it is time for elections campaigns for 2022 and talk to Ruto, the other went ahead and took an oath against the constitution of Kenya and gazetted himself president of the people.

Where were we, Wanjiku, in their minds as they made these decisions for us?

Kenyans, it is time. We are not necessarily against the newly found brotherhood between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, two persons who watched as Kenyans killed each other time and time in their names. The brothers.

What we must be against is the RUDE AWAKENING that they as usual have decide that we must come together and unite for their sake and for Kenya to be prosperous again. But yet to answer to the numerous questions we still have. Yet to mention the deaths on their watch.

We wanted dialogue I say again. We wanted a national dialogue. To heal the nation, not to put out fires on burning political bridges. We wanted to, we should, we must be involved in any talk about Kenya. We are disappointed by a meeting between two people, that decided that Kenya should not have an opposition party.

In a democratic state, the duties of both the opposition and the government are well defined. A democracy in other words MUST have an opposition because otherwise there is a risk of dictatorship. Where are they taking Kenya?

Once again unity is paramount, but democratically, it is desired, longed for and wanted, but there never is such unity, politically. It is ideologically impossible. Until the philosophy of tribes, inequality and marginalization, is dealt with, there must be opposition. Unless you are talking about the forced unity, Communism, Nazism and dictatorship.

As and when we, or the people demanded, they stayed adamant. Till the day they felt fit to meet and iron out THEIR issues. Thereafter deciding that for the sake of the country WE must unite.

Like we ever had a problem, uniting. We don’t. We are Kenyans. We are always united until the political electioneering period when THEY decide that WE must separate, split, divide, so that they can win and rule over us.

So, they met, they talked, and they told US nothing. Now, we are supposed to unite while we wait for 2022. Conveniently, just after the finance CS told us that the government is broke, and the American secretary of state came visiting just before he was fired upon his return home.

Uhuru is in Cuba, a communist state that has oppressed and dictated upon its own people since its so-called independence.

If Raila Odinga is the people’s president of Kenya, at the same time Uhuru Kenyatta is the president of the republic of Kenya, where is our constitution? What is Kenya?

More importantly why are these greedy, insatiably, power-hungry people our leaders?

By THEIR properly termed unity, we as Kenyans now have an opportunity to rise up, UNITE and take what is ours. Control from them, our forefathers desired freedom. Total UHURU! We must see them for whom they are and say enough!

We, by one voice must say we love each other and NO to their manipulations and exploitation!

The elite have united, the time is now ripe for THE Kenyan peoples’ unity, against the corrupt, greedy and misguiding elite. A Revolution!

P Bryan Njoroge.

What Happened The Designated Survivor.

2018-03-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

A point of confusion, is what! What in fathers are we supposed to understand in an own begotten, created and born mass delirium! The government is broke!

"Somebody is playing a dirty game. You make the victims look like the villains and you drag them through the sewer so that by the time you are done with them, they are so dirty, stinking and nobody want to talk to them," Barrack Muluka.

Now I remember correctly, we had an issue with the Botswaness, and especially between the younger President who has since become the MAIN and only President Of The Republic and The Commandante El Chefe (CIC) of Kenya’s all defences forces and the real President of Botswana; still yet to get married.

Well, that I can say is water UNDER THE BRIDGE because as we talk, the real President of the country within and inside the country of South Africa, sat down with and told the still younger president of the Kenyan Republic like: that man Skelemani that you call Skeletoni was a bad adviser to me and the real people of Botswana, watch the Lady’s Detective Agency, Mr Sir President. He does not show his face in any of the seasons or episodes. My sister, his wife, left him.

And with that, the fate of the very-fattened-many-wifed minister was sealed, we don’t yet know, nor can we argue that he lived happily ever after. Finito. What we know, and after both the younger and the real Presidents of these now Great Countries did after reading The Brief, is that they cut the biff. Haiko tena.

Designated Survivor.

But a lot has happened before we got here, today. The activist always known as Bo-ni-fa-ci, who had actually resigned as the people’s activist (lolling my eyes here, where do they get these titles!), I am yet to come to the latest “the-some-people’s-president”, like, you hear my sulk!? What is, with these people! But they always fail, or lose if you insist but never ever keep those titles!

Anyway, the Boni who is not the bull fighter, was planning for the rumour to project himself into a self-perceived MP position but the people told him; not yet Ushenzi. He is back to doing what he does best, act.

Talking of rumours.

According to the Wikipedia “a designated survivor (or designated successor) is an individual in the presidential line of succession, usually a member of the United States Cabinet, who is arranged to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President, the Vice President, and the other officials in the line of succession are gathered at a single location.This is intended to guarantee continuity of government in the event of a catastrophic occurrence that kills the President and the officials in the presidential line of succession, such as a mass shooting, bombing, attack or catastrophic natural disaster.

If such an event occurred, killing both the President and Vice President, the surviving official highest in the line, ‘the designated survivor’ would become the Acting President of the United States under the Presidential Succession Act.”

Kenyans are creative and after a certain rumoured oath, one such Kenyan explained that Kalonzo Musyoka’s absence was promptly necessitated in case of the above-mentioned occurrence. He was NASA’s designated survivor, though he planned this unintentionally and without consulting the party and the leader who now goes around with the tittle, the-some-people’s-president.

The only one who is bold enough to hold and keep his title, then, now and forever more is…you know it his Watermelonness Kalonzo Musioka, him with the tears of the crocodile. You know, one of the three “irredeemable cowards” also the rumoured designated survivor.

Kalonzo, with the other so-called principals, aka Wetangula and Mudavadi conspired against their leader and went into hiding when they were supposed to stand up and be counted. The plan was simple, in case the oath taking went sour and the-some-people’s-president was killed or arrested, Kalonzo, being the second in the line of the-some-people’s-presidency would automatically become the-new-some-people’s-president.

The plan badly backfired, needless to say, and to this day the confused disciples continue giving different, incoherent excuses, tearfully at times and shamelessly in the presence of the man they abandoned and sold out for possible crucifixion.

These are the three “irredeemable cowards” and sadly, two are from the mighty Mulembe nation positioning that community badly in the line of the award of The Brave Moran. But if the said community is not complaining, why should anyone for that matter.

Yes, that is what we hear happened to the people’s activist Boni. We asked him some questions here which he failed to answer due to some unavoidable situations, but we know that he is about to be oathed as the people’s mp. Not much to shout about there or add that he will have to paint some more pigs red before the said people give him a job that pays without acting.

Igathe resigned, and the governor of the-Not-anymore-green City in the hot Sun, said; who? I will not talk to him! Apende asipende! But accordingly, Igathe the Polycrap was stealing the light from the city’s ‘sun’ in the “city in the sun”, it was a blessing in disguise for him to resign.

And that’s what happened, whether I know it or not!

Disappointment, Nazo.

Donald Trump, the self-stamped “Shithole” is the not very new president of the states of unity. He took over, even after Raila Odinga’s famous quote, “they stole” by the then minister of the states, Hillary of the Clinton was not listened to. They said the Russians helped the Trump to steal the elections but funny, they didn’t shout enough, neither did they go to the supreme court of those states of unity. They are still arguing whether or not.

So, the question still lingers, unashamedly, unable to redeem itself from possible cowardice titles and as long as we are not talking about the-first-not-pink-president of the states of unity, whose name also states with an O, just like the-some-peoples-president’s; we have no comment. Deal with your shithole!

But the disappointments came when some ‘Africans Hereandtheres’ went on to loudly applaud trump for being a racist shithole! Sa zingine, people remind yourselves that it might not have anything to do with you but everything to do with your RACE or even the greatness of mother Africa, fake, imagined or real.

Simply put, American black people are still being discriminated upon, killed mercilessly because some of them went on to support racist remarks as those. The so termed as, House Negroes. Africa has been largely marginalised because of people, or leaders I could add who never call it like it is. And so, they killed the first President Of The United States Of Africa and though this may sound close to the-some-people’s-president ideology, they killed the dream too. Just so you know if you don’t, his name was Coronel Muamar Gaddafi.

I think we should allow ourselves (undressing Africans here) to do some simple research in the free wide web before we comment somethings that sometimes come out rightwardly foolish. Sio matusi. Ask yourself why so many people don’t think like you do, especially when it comes to issues as big as global racism.

Black people on this planet called earth are still fighting for their rights. We should probably not take sides with those who are tramping on us.

Self-Destruction.

A very little while ago, and, to my believe still going on now, black Africans were/are being humiliated, enslaved and savagely murdered in Libya and elsewhere, and your answer to that is; of course Africa is a shithole!? And Museveni. Him with tafadhali rudisheni ng’ombe zangu… fame, the wanna be forever president of the States of Uganda and Migingo and you are down there with him cheering on shithole Trump!?

What has he done to change that in his presidency of thirty years, and what have you(all those Africans who supported Trump’s shithole title) ever done for your African shithole? Even Mugabe was a hero, still is to some, but we celebrated his ouster for making his country, the very able Zimbabwe a shithole, his time to go had come.

Now, my fellow good people, what is Miguna doing to Baba? I mean Kenyans were actually settling for baba as the-some-people’s-president and as a fact his stateman’s figure is not completely deleted, though he is working hard to get there. With the due left respect, do we need Miguna’s help in baba’s self-destruction?

ODM people who also go by the tittle the-illegal-NRM, how did this guy who just an year ago was roasting, abusing, unclothing, de-crowning and totally dismantling your king while we watched, become your general and actually your kings foot soldier? Miguna is bitter with kikuyus because he believes they denied him the Nairobi governorship which is actually not very far from the truth.

But don’t we now know that the goon of all goons cannot make Nairobi any better? Megooner Thegooner has a different kind of a suicide mission, his has always been to bring down the grand old man RAO but still inherit him. Your general?

Miguna the goon is not here nor there…to quote a former president, huyo ni bure kabisa! Anafaa…just been asked not to quote further. Eni kei tii! Canada mission is good enough for now.

But the misadvised powerful minister Ma tia ngi! How do you get to gain the world and lose your soul? Eh..why are you and others not yet known to us telling the younger president stuff like;..funga TV stations!?

If people don’t want to hear bla bla bla, and in fact we don’t, but can’t you trust us enough to switch of the TV, radio and even the youtube? It’s a button’s move. You sir are making the younger president’s government look like a headless chicken. We…wacha hizo.

A while ago, we do sympathize with one Terry Mango who was accidentally, either by naivety or political correctness, caught between a rock, and a hard place out of a well-intended statement about our boy who racist minded clothiers thought it wise or funny to dress the young VIP in a silly hood christened “the coolest monkey in the hood”.

Disappointment, but luckily they weathered the storm.

But besides all that, the talk of the country called Kenya, young, pretty and mellow still is an oath taking. What oath? Yes, exactly but with patience, we will all know what the big deal was, the hullaballoo, the honkytonk, and the “donkey fart” innuendos that brought us here.

Otherwise we don’t mind the-some-people’s-president, a watermelon who takes off very first but aiming to kupitia katikati, Ma divided or Madvd the baffled if you must insist or even Weta the battled, like I said earlier we are getting used to these titles. But what now really happened is the question. But who is asking?

They met, they talked, they told us nothing.

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

What Happened Now.

What Happened Activism.

What Happened Digital.

What Happened!

How Many Friends Do I have Left. My Two Cents.

2018-01-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

I started writing this column after the 2007/8 election when Kenyans took to the streets, homes and forests chasing after fellow Kenyans and thereafter killing, maiming them and causing destruction in a way never witnessed before in the young nation called Kenya.

I had to really contemplate on whether I still had any friends left around, (I had/have many friends, left, right and centre, I think) cause at the time it seemed like Kenya would burn to ashes and very few if any of my friends would be left. But thank God that did not happen, Kenya lived on and became much stronger. And to mark the political maturity and sovereign might, a new constitution was born.

Of course, reading through any of the previous articles on this column, you will notice that I was not really worried about losing friends. Actually, it has nothing to that effect, but the tittle and the theme is purely and intentionally meant to catch your attention, especially after such a dramatic and suspenseful exercise as electioneering.

Before I lose your attention, it is true and unfortunately so that around these times several Kenyans lose their lives, in and during this process, while others become eternal enemies with their neighbours. It is also possible that you, reading these and I, writing these, may have lost friends in the said process, or each other as friends. I choose not to think about the latter, simply because it is not worth it.

But the last general election, held in Kenya on the 8th of August and confirmed on the 26th of October last year has brought out some hitherto unimaginable ways of parting friendship.

It makes no sense in rushing to condemn me by ruthless or demeaning words just because I fail to sing a song you like. It is ignorant to expect everyone to think as you do and especially in the political way of thinking.

If you happen to be my friend by any category, you would probably mind your wording if I am to consider your counteraction for a worthwhile debate. Throwing demeaning, abusive or just dismissive words will never encourage me to see the difference between you and the words you use.

In that context, my response is diverted from the real issue and wasted on explaining what should be otherwise obvious.

That Kenya is divided is that obvious. Anyone who would not see that would have to be mentally blind. But the situation has become so dire that every statement, comment, opinion or view is treated with suspicion, judgement, contempt or jubilation depending on who you sound positive/negative towards.

There are two political sides of Kenya today and those two sides must and should NOT be fathomed as Luo and Kikuyu. However much it may seem so.

There is the one side that supports Raila Odinga as the opposition or the NRM (National Resistance Movement), and the other, that leans towards the Jubilee Party, Uhuru Kenyatta and his constitutionally elected government. Kenya with its 45(more or less) tribes and over 44 million people is supposed to be divided along these two parts.

In any democratic state, and assuming that Kenya is one, it is wrong to always expect that all must see things your way and so must support your political persuasion, with or without ideology. It should neither be expected that we must change from the following doom and share the exact same thoughts and expectations. That would corrode the meaning of true democracy.

At just over fifty, we are probably asking for too much of our nation, without recognising the much we have achieved within a very short time. But that is looking at Kenya from independence to where we are today. Some of the most democratic and developed countries in the world have taken hundreds of years to be where they are today. It is a fact, but not an excuse for the slow growth politically and otherwise, that we’ve experienced.

It will still take us many more years before we are where we want to be as a country and as a nation, and no matter how much it might pain, it will not come through one person but by generations. We might not necessarily live to see it, especially if we continue to get all emotional when things don’t go our tribe’s way.

Within this time, a lot of patience and patriotism will be required. Patriotism unlike most words that end with ‘ism’ is positive as love for one’s nation and land no matter what!

Along the path of democratisation, we must address past and present wrongs. Above all we must accept that as a nation of over 40 million people and over 42 indigenous communities, we must think and feel the same about Kenya. Though that is not necessarily a must, ideologically.

We are too quick to see things through that tribe’s eye, that we have lost sight and feel of the nationhood we crave. Hence, we remain divided for so long, and though we all seem to will and want to respond to mental emancipation, we are still held in slavery by tribal knots. Not that there's anything wrong about our tribes.

Without the beautiful colours that are our tribes, Kenya is not complete as a nation. We can talk about secession. It is healthy because it calls for attention where it may seem lacking. We must talk about the iniquities that we experience. Its crucial. We must address all the ills that befall our country without exemption of ANY tribe. This was indeed one of the founding reasons for the new constitution of 2010 and the introduction of devolution.

We must hear the cry of those who, in one way or another feel left behind. Though, it must remain as talk, a wakeup call, a mind joggler, secede we shall and must not!

It is sorrowful that we still experience bloodshed and loss of life because of our political leanings. It is even worse that our political leanings are influenced by tribe and thus cannot give reason to tolerance.

Mental Health.

Through my Facebook account I have experienced straight up and meaningless ridicule just because of my political stand. I have been called a fool more times than I care to count. My fore “acknowledged” intelligence has been thrown out of the book and even my mental health, me being abroad and all, has been put into doubt.

These has really put me in a position where I had to rethink everything I know about myself and my so-called friends and those friendships. It has left me in a position of defence because you see, it is not the first time I am at the receiving end from friends who suddenly emerge as wolves in sheeps' skins all over sudden because I have put my believes forward. Not that they don’t know that I am anti-Raila(the politician, not the luo) for example, they do.

Look at me through a fair eye and you will see no traits of tribalism. If you do, tell me where or how, I would like to know.

Somewhere along the way, Raila’s cult has become the word that has to be Kenya. When they say baba your last word is final, we are all supposed to say, yes baba! Horsefeathers! We have every right to proclaim our own leaders and differ. Just like any other part of the democratic world.

We will not accept nonsensical politics in the worship of one lost old man with a suicidal mission to carry Kenya down with him. And any person of age who does not see the old man RAO for what he is today is not only in denial, he or she has lost it themselves, but do we say?

Raila has an excuse of being a perennial loser and running out of time for his bitterness, what’s yours?

Just how petty can it become? One chides that 'we' that have crossed the border are indeed expected to be of a “healthy mind”. Now my fren, this is where I really wonder if this fellow knows what “healthy mind” means, politically, grammatically or medically and how it applies in here.

Because if he did, he would not have used those words in his comment, especially being a person who knows me well.

They all come out one by one from the friend’s holes they were all hiding in because this njoro has become too much! How dare he portray our father who art on earth in such obvious terms!?

Because when I put up a video about ‘Raila-worshiping’ which is an occultism already allowed in Kenya, according to some, I brought everything intelligent they had ever considered of me into question. I cannot, in their opinion be intelligent and post a video about Railaism, the worshipping of Raila Odinga that is an open secret in Kenya, to the world of facebook, forget about the fact that the video has been collecting views on youtube.

Bringing that up in the past campaign period was unacceptable! Though the facts are all there, even to the blind.

To be continued.

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

How Many Friends Do I Have Left, For Keegan Kagwe.

How Many Friends Do I Have Left.

It's D-day! 8/8.

2017-08-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

That we have all been waiting for the coming day is obvious. It has been a nervous, uncertain and at times even a fearful wait, full of suspension and anxiety. But the time is nigh. Four days to go.

To our brothers and sisters back home in Kenya, the Kenyans who have traveled to the motherland to cast their votes and those who have the luxury of doing so while in diaspora, it is about time. We thank you for the sacrifice that you have partaken for the love of our country. Your bold move will give Kenya it’s next leader. And by God, it will be the best leader. A leader that Kenya NEEDS, for the next five years. You are Kenya and we are proud of you.

Like every other patriotic and nation loving Kenyan, I do pray that there shall be peace, before, during and after elections. And that, the elections will this time leave no doubt in anybody’s mind about whom, Kenyans make their choice of a president in a fair, just and credible election.

We should not be blinded, at these times, by the allure, seductions, or rhetorical promises which may easily thereafter be forgotten by insincere leaders thirsty of the profits of power. We must think of Kenya first, and what is best for Kenya second.

I say we because I am every ounce Kenyan. I will not be voting but nonetheless I am Kenyan. And whatever the reason, I wish I could vote and that in future it will be possible for the thousands of Kenyans abroad. Because thereafter I would proudly say that my vote, made a difference.

I cannot change that situation now, and I do leave it in due and deserved trust to my beloved nation.

We have been given two choices, two sides, two parties, two candidates or like they say, two horses to choose from. By the fact that they are both Kenyans, Kenya wins. Scenario, notwithstanding.

But these two sides of the coin hold different futures for our great land and nation. Those capable of voting, therefore carry the load, the womb, if you like, that will bear the new chapter in the history of Kenya.

We might say that for the sake of peace, one equals the other but it is not as simple as so. Though, peace still.

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta must have his second term. Tano tena. Because there are some of us who have chosen not to recognize the work he has done in the last four years. Hold on.

Uhuru must be re-elected, so that he can finish what he started, obviously. We can not judge him otherwise. Whilst, there are those who mean that most of the projects that he started were part of the Grand Coalitions plans. May be. But the fact that he took over and actually realized them, makes them his projects.

Sacrifices must be made. Jubilee has let go some of its diehard members without a blink after they were rejected by Kenyans, the mini-buffalo (Kabogo), Maina Kamanda, Nakuru governor Kinothia Mbugua, but do I say.

By not voting for Uhuru, thereafter disqualifies anyone of questioning any of his past work. You might be proud of that. And that is warranted by our new constitution. But then how do you celebrate the steps, the gains and the universal recognition that Kenya has made under his leadership? Will you not smile while riding in the SGR train?

Therein, will you ever be a proud Kenyan? A member of the so-proudly-called The Nation Of Kenya aka JAMHURI? Ama namna gani? Utabaki unaskiza vitendawili?

Nusu Mkeka.

Must it be a matter of life and death if or for whatever side you belong, to lose or win? What makes you feel less Kenyan by who loses? What makes you feel half way (ati Canaan, huko ni wapi!?) Kenyan, not part of it, one foot in; nusu mkeka, just because your candidate DID NOT WIN?

Raila is a darling to many, but my question adheres, could they (the many(?)) please look at his style of leadership and the tiles of blunders, and with a clear consciousness of the ramifications thereafter, wish it upon Kenya? Can you, (the many(?)) without a reasonable doubt, predict a bright future for our beloved country in his leadership, without pride and prejudice?

Whom, in their right mind would otherwise sing loudly in praises of one Joho, a d- sultan, and be proud of themselves? Hapo ndio tumefika jameni? A strong man is built by principles. And a strong nation, through that man is built by its constitution. You chant Joho? Really? Mombasa stinks, smells bad I say; has mountains of uncollected garbage and I know. I was there.

Joho is Raila’s chief campaigner and ODM, please read NASA’s, deputy leader. The governor (chest thumpingly, Sultan 001) of the second and most beautiful city of Kenya. A man who does not qualify to be leader in his own generation. Accordingly, a man who does not respect those above him, chosen by God or the people, is not a leader himself.

Every time Joho speaks you will see a mean D-. Unless you are blinded by ethnicity, propaganda, fanaticism, 43-1, and sycophancy! Baba love.

But it all started when Jimmy (James Bond) Wanjigi was mentioned, remember? When the Kenyan media for ONCE walked the mile to tell Kenyans the truth. The same truth that we were denied for such a long time! Things started to fall apart. First, we lost our very able, Interior Cabinet Secretary,

Joseph Nkaissery. RIP

And after him Chris Msando. RIP. Manager of the ICT, EIBC. Both related by ensuring Kenyans of a free, fair, and a credible election. And they both said Kenya will have peaceful elections but otherwise? Over my dead body!

Coincidence, accident, murder, rare, all fancy words out there apply here!

The Americans say, if you want to solve a crime, follow the money (or words to that extent). And someone in history said, a revolution eats its own children.

Who would gain (financially) of the death of Chris Msando, or rather who will lose from a fair election (Nkaissery meant no rigging)? = who is trying to rig the Kenyan elections.

Let’s not gamble for a better Kenya. We should neither be disappointed by the outcome of the coming elections, because whoever wins, it is a step within our growing democracy. And if he holds Kenya dear, we will have seen his actions already.

P Bryan Njoroge.

What Happened Now.

2014-08-04T06:58:00.004-07:00

Well the real story actually is that the younger president of the republic of Kenya did direct the minister in charge of land and so forth to revoke a stinging 500 000 title deeds!

This in all manner and activity is the boldest move the government of Ouru or if you so must insist Uhuruto, has executed since they cursed and swore to leave not even the smallest, little stone unturned when it came to matters Kenyan heart.

But is someone saying stuff like thank you? No, everybody is about too or overly busy either objurgating Kamwana, the younger president’s move, or screaming achomwe to the land stealers! And at the rate that things are unfolding, Kenyans will be left with the bitter tasting question, (what happened?)…as usual.

Thing is, and this is really where the jigger found the toe, the choppers of the rich, and soon to add value, Lapsset wise, beautiful Kenyan coastal Lamu are literally being hidden, protected or if you so wish held for a ransom by the mighty opposition that tells all evil but sees, no evil!

Don’t ya love it when they say we want every culprit brought to book? And then it turns out that the culprit was actually their love whom they can’t, oh no, give up? And so the talk turns into something like, it’s just a political gimmick from the G.O.K? But do I say?

And you like, if we can’t start here then where, good Jehovah!? Then where shall or should we start putting things in order?!

It has not been a Friday for Kenyans of late.

Because some of the last few Sundays have been polluted by bloodletting. And that dramatically deletes our Fridays.

The youth’s frustrations, misguided by religious and/or political losers(you may read leaders if you want) have found Kenya a football field fair for a bullet, a grenade or a bazooka and Kenyans, all the same Kenyans, are the sitting ducks!

And we all thought that Westgate would never ever happen again! Or rather, the G.O.K stood with the opposition and said “never ever”!

“We are invisible as the lions on our shield!” Said the younger president; those thin cowards …wataona. We will hunt them down in whichever hole they hide and…watashikwa, watatandikwa, na wafungwe huko huko tu! And the last part was if they will not have died in that “lawful” process.

Needless to even try to mention, then came Mpeketoni, not to say the hapa kule grenades just before, after which the world cup joy was messed all up or all messed up; whichever way you choose to look from!

As if that was all.

They came back the following night and did their thing and left as they came, in no hurry. Like it would end there, they also gave uncalled for visits to the neighbouring parts within that Lamu County seeing every visible lion on the Kenyan shield!

Now, it seems, it’s a bit of a calm in the coastal breeze and we keep our fingers crossed that that is somehow, through a miracle or real work(also a miracle) done by those commissioned to, going to hold and the hyena will cease stealing the children of Kenya!

But what is to be beheld, if it isn’t the son of Jomo on a plan to

America

!? Flying majestically to the same land that told him, or Kenyans for the sake of the matter, that choices have consequences!

Has the first ever not-pink-president, the first ever president of the states of unity whose name also starts with an O, started to smell the coffee from his father’s homestead? Tell me, has he?

Anyhow, we still can not for sure put too many eggs in that same basket that the younger president took with him as breakfast and lunch while in those states of unity. Even after a successful journey over lakes, seas and most probably oceans, we still can not leave behind trustingly or testingly, a baby or a wife in faith of safe keeping by the same called states and/or our begotten son.

That’s how far things have actually gone a part. I mean what do you say of a son who say’s stuff like; ng’o! Huko sikanyangi! It was a stepping stone, I went I saw, I smoked a joint, and won the presidency, but tha dust..ma(e)n…tha dust! Like I should go back to that village, eh eh eh..you know, where my grandma lives…ko what? Cowgetlow? No..Kogelo…..yeah that’s in

Kenya

you know y’all? I mean hey ma(e)n..I mean,,,he..

That’s what happened, whether I know it or not.

But besides this our lost son, we have a lot to look forward to. I mean like the referendum thingy. Like the G.O.K actually living up to its threats and arresting Orengo for being a minister when the land was chopped and grabbed. Just picture these things happening. And CORD spilling whatever beans it hasn’t spilt yet. And above all, Moses Kuria winning the Gatundu South parliamentary seat, against who again?

There is a country called Kenya.

There is a country called

Kenya

where everything you think wouldn’t happen, actually happen.

Last week a mother fought off a hungry hyena that had invaded her home with intent to chew on her kids! And that, armed only with a piece of firewood! According to her, she beat the shameless beast so bad it scampered away screaming in pain!

Like things would end there! The beast went on to attack two men sleeping in another house before villagers who had by now had enough of the otherwise “unthreatening” creature brought it to its miserably hungry life’s end through a mob justice; also common in

Kenya

But good people, that’s not nearly the best. The best that

Kenya

has ever pulled was when a lion or lioness, one of the two but not both, brought up a baby gazelle as its own after feeding on the little thing’s mother. Protecting it from hyenas, fellow lions and even sheltering it from the rains!

That’s when we really took the world by a storm!

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

What Happened Activism.

What Happened Digital.

What Happened.

To Uhuru Kenyatta. President Of The Republic Of Kenya.

2014-06-22T19:52:00.004-07:00

Dear Mr President;

Sir, I write this since as it seems, everyone is writing to you. First Mohamed Ali and quickly following Raila Amollo and many others there after, so I thought why not. Why not write a few lines to the same president who has made it so easy for anyone and everyone to address him anyhow and everyhow.

Dear Sir, I am not writing this hoping to be one of your adopted kids, no. Not that I would mind being under your wing as your little brother, no, I do need a big brother of your calibre, and boy wouldn’t that do good! But rather because Sir, I think you are losing touch.

Of course I know that you have DP Ruto there 24/7 but sir, Ruto is one with you. You still need a little brother who can complain. Ruto is a bully, we need him because at times you are too soft. We need Ruto because like Wayne Rooney he is not afraid of anything. We sometimes wish that you were like that.

But we understand that you have to be the gentleman in a country that never had nobility. You have to be the voice of reason. Like the terrible Mpeketoni ordeal. What really happened Sir? Because we know that Kenyans were killed by a blood thirsty gang of Godless Cains who somehow could distinguish Kenyan tribes.

As the story is told, the killers of Mpeketoni called their victims by name. This was not only the government's version of the tale but the witnesses and survivors of Mpeketoni's as well. Persons, businesses and families were sought out particularly.

When you read your speech, you told as clearly that the hand of the opposition was in business and with time Sir, we have seen your see in it. Now we know what you were talking about.

Sir, before I go further, let me take this opportunity to ask you with all due respect to let Ole Lenku go. Not that I hate him, not that Kenyans hate him but because Mr President, no Kenyan has faith in him. Please take time and let that sink in.

Mr President; and please don’t get bored by my repeated reference to you by your authoritative tittles, someone, it seems, has to in order for you to grasp the reality about what/who you are.

Kenyans elected you, and as we believe, you won by a big majority. So Sir, we fail to understand why you have made it part of your manifesto to play soft.

The Al Shabaab is not there to dance to some Kenyan zilizopendwa. Tax payers moneys, millions worth, need to be seen right and about. Millions of Kenyans' Shillingis mpesad to the security system has to already be accounted for. You Sir, you are one steep behind. Because you told us about the homegrown political threat, which your company did nothing about it.

So let's for a moment forget about Al Shabaab and cross our fingers in that you are dealing with that ethically.

Your dilemma stands. You won’t be more loved by playing soft. You won’t be more loved by being Mr Nice President. Learn from you predecessors Kibaki and Moi how to handle one Raila Odinga. You are already a good president, but you need to be a firm and a decisive one.

You are armed with this knowledge: Al Shabaab is there to stay until you smash it; Raila does not fight for the people. Al Shabaab is bloodthirsty, and Raila fights only for Raila and he will suck you dry the minute you play into his hands. (Listen to Lucky Dube’s song Dracula uki chill na Ruto.)

Raila will suck your blood for as long as you let him to. Don’t you buy into his national dialogue rhetoric knowing very well what a snake he is. Remind yourself at all times that the opposition is willing to treason and swear him in as president, and that will happen when you as the president fail the powers bestowed in you.

That said Sir; there is the question of insecurity. The whole of

Kenya

is looking up to you. And by the way Sir, that means the whole of

Kenya

. I know it might be hard especially at a time when some Kenyans have seen the red lights (red lines closed) sent forth through the so called “peaceful rallies” but you have to somehow include everyone (but the rotten apples (persons)) of the 42 tribes of Kenya. Find a way to reach their hearts.

The prayer thingy is good, really good, and the most believing Kenyans are with you on this one. But don’t let it look like you are afraid of one Mungiki supporter by the name Raila Amollo. I have met him and as a lesser entity I can say this much, the guy is just a mouth.

Not that I don’t respect him, Amollo has gone miles for

Kenya

. He has been there for Kenyans and actually, he is always there when disaster hits Kenyans. Of course apart from the Mpeketoni massacre. That is the one time he was not the first person to visit the scene.

El Presidente, on a lighter tone, Kimayo, Gichangi, Muhoro. Are you happy with these people? Really? And if you are, what is it that you are not telling us, Kenyans? There has to be something that these guys have done or are doing that makes you love them so. Kimayo to head KWS and KYS, how did you get to that conclusion?

Mr President I am not at all trying to question you, but

Kenya

has bled while these guys stood at attention. Is it about loyalty? Or do you owe them something? What is it that makes you hold them tight in place when every Kenyan shouts sack them!?

President Uhuru Kenyatta, you are a good president at a time when

Kenya

demands a better president.

We need to see actions not words and just to remind you, your words were kusema na kutenda. Words and action. That is all we want Mr President. God bless you as you lead Kenya in it’s times of hardship, trials to prosperity .

P Bryan Njoroge.

Voices Of DisCORD.

2014-06-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

They are talking about a revolution time, loudly.

Fellow Kenyans, things are not right. Something is terribly wrong and before I go further, let me take this opportunity to issue a travel advisory against visiting homeland in the meantime and until otherwise advised.

Kenya

is about to burn, someone who has always been determined to seize power without regard to the innocents’ blood is at it again.

Over one year ago, Kenyans held one of the most praised elections ever. Besides hundreds of MPs, 47 governors and senators, a president and a deputy president were voted in.

While this happened, some grand mistakes were made and some accidents, occurred. But a difference or a margin of over 800 000 votes decided who was to be the president.

Kenyans settled in for a five year ride with the youngest ever duo in the cockpit. This was the dynamic duo as so named by the former president, Mzee Kibaki. This duo won clean. Until the ever quetching voice of denial sounded. Yet again, Raila, after an afterthought, declared that he was rigged out.

First by the IEBC, then by the Kenya Army, later by the NIS and probably soon by the national youth service; like the undecided liar he is.

There was not to be the easy ride as expect. Raila had earlier promised that he would accept if he lost the election but just like when Uhuru had been invaded by mademoni, Raila made a u-turn to that promise and awoke Kenyans to the perpetual reality that he can not accept defeat.

But this time round he did the noble thing and made an appointment with the land's Supreme Court, which “predictably" (to him, since he almost single-handedly picked and fought for the installation of Willy Mutunga as the Chief Justice) was supposed to reverse the election and hand it to him.

This is when he shouted that democracy was on trail. This is part of what he told us then:

“We have created a new

Kenya

out of the ashes of the one that was nearly destroyed by the terrible violence, which followed the tainted election of 2007. It took five long years to rebuild this beautiful country, and foster reconciliation among those divided and traumatised by events of 2007-2008.

Our people have passionately embraced an unprecedented new order of reforms and economic vibrancy that will deliver a more prosperous and equitable society, contained in a new Constitution that is the envy of the world.” Words he does not wish to recall now.

But something went wrong, it didn’t go his way. Remember again here he had declared that he and the discord fraternity would respect the court’s decision. Well as we all remember he only accepted that decision for one day and soon after he made the claim that the judges had been bribed. In other words he did not fail those of us who believed that he would never accept he lost.

But things went smoothly for quite some time. People forgot the elections and the Uhuruto government soon started making impressive miles in realising their promise to the people of

Kenya

. People started to love this fellows and the main opposition party, ODM (also known as CORD) called for party elections in order to squarely position themselves ready for the 2017 elections. Campaigns start early in

Kenya

This is when things fell apart. The now called baba hired goons in black suits to disrupt the said “elections” when he realised that his preferred gang led by one Agnes Zani was about to be handed a sound defeat by ODM supporters who preferred the young and militant Ababu Namwamba’s gang who fits the club’s criteria much better.

When things went helter-skelter, the “baba” ran away to a three months exile from his own people and party in hope that by the time he came back they would have forgotten what had transpired a very short while ago. This plan worked perfectly, not only did they forget, they didn’t care.

Before he was to come back “home” his forever-no-matter-what darlings started a twitter string famously as #BabaWhenYouWereAway. A well calculated propaganda move which somehow rekindled the lost love between the runaway and his lost sheep.

Lost because while he was away, the whole length of discord had melted into and freely mingled with the rest of the wananchi in a nation building fashion, everything was at peace but for the Al Shabaab and the Mungiki who continued their illegal and hideous business of killing and maiming.

The twitter string has since changed into #SomeOneTellRaila which is not as endearing to the baba as the earlier was. He is doing his best to pretend that he has not seen the latter. #SomeOnePleaseShowHim one of those twitts.

While in the land of his cousin Obama, another puppet ruler, Raila in an interview with Mureithi whose name according to Kalonzo the watermelon, says it all, spoke well of Kenya. He even said that “only a mad man would refuse to pay the Anglo leasing money” what he would later change to “I want that money back”. Is he the mad man here?

When he finally came back home through Dubai, his fellowship had indeed forgotten the elections he had messed up and were just happy that he had travelled to

America

. He was received as should be due him, but when he was invited to talk, he dropped a bomb.

He threw away the friendly and patriotic speech he had written and decreed the beginning of chaos to be followed by anarchy. He started this by ordering the president of the republic of Kenya to meet and dialogue with him apende asipende.

Soon after, he visited the “redeemed” mungiki leader Maina Njenga, his fellow enemy of peace and a "suspectedly" established criminal, probably to put him on a stand-by in case of any eventualities (?).

Let’s make it clear here that the former PM Raila Odinga is and was never interested in any dialogue with anybody. He came back to

Kenya

prepared to start a “revolution” that he thinks will give him power. Let’s also understand people that he very well knows that Kenyans will suffer, might bleed or die, will have their property destroyed but he does not care.

Why Want Kenya To Burn?

Raila Odinga has awakened to the realisation that the government he underestimated might perform far much better than he did as the Prime Minister. He knows very well that if that happens, and these two younger Kenyans actually succeed in fulfilling their manifesto, he will have no chance against them come 2017.

With these in mind, Raila knows that he has already lost any chance he ever had in ever becoming a president. At over 70 years of age, he has lived the best part of his life and does not have much else to expect. He is no longer afraid to die, he might even wish it if it would make him a hero, at least. This is why he wants

Kenya

to burn. He has nothing more to lose.

With the experience that the man has in the Kenyan political arena, he knows very well that mass action or the rallies will only work to the disadvantage of Kenyans; he can’t move the government of

Kenya

! I can’t stop wondering why he and the discord can not wait for just four remaining years if they love and respect the people, the constitution and the land’s law.

Will he be happy to see the imminent bloodshed? Will he without crocodile tears, be happy to see possible mass killings? Will he be happy to see the increase of IDPs? Will he be happy to see the suffering of women and children heightened further?

Why want

Kenya

to burn now, barely, 1 year after elections, 1 year into fully implementing the new constitution, 1 year into devolved county governments. All of which he fought so hard for? Why would he want to punish Kenyans further when Al Shabaab is delivering it's deadly blow every available chance?

We saw the same pattern in 2007; it led to death and destruction. We were not prepared then, Kenyans are prepared now. It will be much worse than it was then.

What is it to him that makes it ok to start a process that is sure to destroy an eleven year Kenyan success story? And why should Kenyans support and/or allow him to?

If let to continue in the course that he has ventured into, Raila Odinga is going to see to the destruction of Kenya out of a promise given to him by his western masters who will not be there when Kenyans cry.

His cousin has already publicly said that they "will turn

Kenya

into South Sudan”. There is no more doubt left, he came back home to overthrow the rightfully elected government of Uhuru Kenyatta, selfishly and without regard to the people of

Kenya

We must all stand against this evil plans to rudely disrupt the lives of innocent Kenyans! We must not allow him to carry on holding

Kenya

back because he can not win an election. Kenyans, the same ones he claims to fight for must stand against any form of incitement. We should not be made to turn against each other by one power hungry individual!

He must be made to let

Kenya

go! He must be told no! This time Kenyans must show Raila Odinga that they are not willing to fight each other for his own personal crusade!

#SomeOneTellRaila that Kenyans want peace!

P Bryan Njoroge.

Susan Kariuki Won A Historic First Ever Kenyan Thai Boxing World Championship Gold!

2014-05-29T13:21:00.002-07:00

Susan is a humble, jovial woman whom by her petite body might mislead one not to think much about her. But a closer look reveals a well trained body a focused mind and of course a cute happy face.

She does not even seem to realise that I am sitting next to a champ. She tells her story with ease, almost with a carefree attitude. And if she had had any regrets before the title fight, not much of that is left as she accumulates all her sacrifices to that win. Significantly, also her last international championships win.

It hasn’t been as easy as she tells it. And she has a few things to make up for. As we sit in Kungshallen’s food court at a window facing Kungsgatan, one of Stockholm’s main streets, it's evident that she has missed the people. At some time we tried to guess what country some passer-bys might come from, a game she quite enjoyed.

She has had to stay away from people sometimes; some of which, are her close friends as her work and especially her training schedule eats up most of her time. This is also the reason why she is not known to most Kenyans and why she only knows a handful of Kenyans in Sweden too. She's tried to interact and socialise with her fellow home countrymen but her training and matches would always come in the way.

The interview had to turn to a moment to catch up for the lost time. I had not seen the now champ for about two years. The first time I met her was while at work, at the offices where both our employers used to work. And as usual it had all started with the usual questions, where do you come from? Do you speak Swahili? And eventually, we were both bubbling in Kikuyu so fast that you would think we had known each other for ever.

IFMA, International Federation Of Muaythai Amateur, “the soul governing body for amateur Muaythai has since declared Susan the best female boxer of the year 2014!” And that in no little words, get this piece.

“Susan Kariuki – Best Female Boxer 2014

MAY 20TH, 2014

Susan Karinki from

Sweden

received the honour of being awarded as Best Female Boxer (after) winning the gold medal in the 48KG division.

Susan Karinki sent Thailand packing on the quarter finals, beat out Onar Sukean Tesa from Turkey in the semis and went on to overcome WCG 2010 medallist Medina Sarai from Spain in the final to make both herself and her nation proud. This is the first time that

Sweden

took home this prestigious award in the female division.”

But what was not told here is that Susan had to cut her beloved dreadlocks for her to be of the required weight. She had nice dreads, no doubt, they took her years to nurture and that she loved them was evident in the way she took care of them. But it was worth it; she says happily, hair will always grow.

While chatting with Susan, I every now and then sought to behold those warrior-some muscles well displayed when the champ was receiving her trophy but nada, her dress and cardigan were doing a much better job concealing them. She is so gentle you won’t feel them in a hug if you lucky to get one.

But Susan, you won this one for

Sweden

, was

Kenya

in the picture? Do you feel that you won for

Kenya

as well?

“Of course.

Sweden

, luckily is my sponsoring and country of residence, but in my mind I won this one for

Kenya

as well. That’s my homeland.”

So what has happened after that? Do you realise that you actually made history (though not on record, yet) by being the first ever, Kenyan to win a Muaythai world championship gold?

“What? No, I didn’t know, but if so I am honoured. Haha..”

But what are your status, are you Kenyan, of course we now have dual citizenship, but where are you?

“I am Kenyan first, but also a Swedish citizen. At the time I am actually waiting for my Kenyan ID which I applied for last year when I was in

Kenya

. I don’t understand why it has taken so long for it to be processed, but I am hoping that it will be through soon. Maybe they have already sent it home to my parents but I don’t know yet. After that I will be applying for a Kenyan passport.”

Has the Kenyan embassy called to congratulate you?

“No, no, I have not heard anything from them”

I guess that is expected.

Susan might not have won that medal at the time especially for

Kenya

. And her story is the best explanation why (not).

Miss Kariuki, she is yet to be married though she has a “loving and supportive boyfriend” came to

Sweden

in the year of our lord 1998. She done went through all the hustles that most of us did but she has never, according to the champ herself, ever lost focus. It was not easy, as nobody would expect, but at her age, the new adventure was excitingly challenging.

There was love involved until she discovered that men are from mars.

The champ went on with life undeterred, she did and still does the jobs that fall within reach among others as a personal assistant, a job she still holds, and has no intention of resigning from as yet. Her current boss was one of the people who received her at the Arland airport on arrival from the tournament. Now he is scared the champ will fly away with all the opportunities knocking.

But it took her former boyfriend's challenge for her to get where she is today.

Once upon a time on a normal day in Sweden, a man came home limping, occasionally writhing and yelping in what Susan thought was pretentious pain.

“You are a man” she told him, “ you don’t come home yelping like a little puppy when coming from your training. Man up!”

Well the solid man in the wisdom of pain did what was the only thing that could make any sense to his better half at the time. He challenged her to follow him in one of his trainings in Thaiboxing, and if she doesn’t complain of pain then he would never yelp ever again. The bet was on.

The next day she was at the training centre and charged. Well, a shortened version of the story is that she got her ass kicked. Out of that pain, the champ learned that there is pain in the ring. But was she ready to accept defeat? Which in turn would legalise her man’s yawping on reasonable and unreasonable times?

Wait, wait. What are they saying back home? This ain’t a Kenyan thing so to say, what did your parents say about all this?

“Well, it is yet to be accepted. My mother has giving me a two years quit notice while my dad is yet to know that this is my thing. I was supposed to stop this soon, not just that my 35 years do not allow me to continue fighting international championships, 35 is the limit but, its so amazing that I did it on exactly that! Haha…”

“My mom has been on the know and actually she sent me a congratulatory sms, here, after my sister told her about the bout. I was so happy when I got that.”

I don’t know yet what the father will say when he gets to hear, but as a father, my guess is, “si nilikuambia Susan ana kipawa? That’s my gal!” Well, we will get the actual comment momentarily.

Susan’s preparation for that gold medal started seven years ago. After the challenge, she went on with the training while albeit suffering in silence. Eventually, the pain became bearable. And she learned and accepted her call to administer the same to her opponents. She became a warrior.

The sparring became an easy thing. She started to hurt the others, and of course the manager noticed. “Ask for anything, believe in it and the whole universe will work to give you just that.” The manager came one day after training and gave the champ an offer she could not refuse, would you like to join the Swedish league?

“Oh no, no” she said. “I don’t have such plans, I just like to train is all” But of course she did.

But interestingly, Susan started her training back home in

Kenya

. As she says, every time she found herself idle, she would go run a few kilometres. Her body was already fit by the time she came to

Sweden

. She was prepared and made for the game, even though unknowingly.

You should know that she laughed a lot during this interview. And that’s her nature. As a fighter, Susan is hardly depressed. And not because she wins most of her fights, no. That’s how she has set her mind. Nothing is elephant (but the elephant itself of course), is a kikuyu saying that suits her best, it means you can do anything, if you set your mind to do it.

When she joined the Swedish national team, Susan was not there to laugh, she fought hard. Even in the fights that she lost.

Oddly though, she is yet to win the Swedish championship gold, she has her nemeses as the Swedish champion. She is yet to beat her.

But on the particular tournament, she excelled without having to go through that curse. They were not in the same weight category. And to perfect this, she had to cut her dear dreadlocks in order to loose 50 grams. Her dreadlocks.

But how were you feeling when you entered that ring, did you have it in you that you were going to take the whole sack home?

“Oh yes. Definitely. That was my game. I actually told the coach before I even entered the ring for the first match that this was it. This one is mine, am not taking anything less. It was my game and I knew it, felt it and I had it from the word go”

Ok, how does it feel like to get into that ring, I mean, are you ever afraid? I have watched these games but, the truth, I ain’t getting into no ring with anybody, anytime soon. I mean these are mean fighters. Legs get broken, ribs, jaws and stuff..

“Haha..we don’t think about such when we get into that ring. You know you push your fears aside if you want to win. In the ring you are trained to disregard the pain and concentrate on the game. At one time in the final match, my opponent was in so much pain that she was literally clinging on the ropes for mercy. But I had to keep hitting until the referee says otherwise, no matter how much pity I felt on her.”

In the course of this jovial conversation a guy from her team came by. The only person who could really show some recognition to the champ. Most of the Swedes milling about either pretended not to or they could not behold their heroine. And I was disappointed. The newspapers had said it, the TV stations had shouted it. But still.

I believe that in little

Kenya

, an African giant, Susan would have been carried high. She would have been received at the airport with gourds of milk, or/with, blood. Everywhere she would go she would be known. She would have been treated like the heroine that she is. The Swedish media declared her as such, but….

So what does it all mean to you? The gold, the opportunities..

“Wow, eh..it means everything. All my efforts, everything that my coach told me, I had to do. All those sacrifices that I have made. It was all for this. This is not just about me, but as well for my coach. He is like my father, if he says push-ups, I ask how many!”

Talking about the gold medal, what is its worth, is it real gold, how much is it really worth?

“Hahaha..I can’t tell. I don’t know if it’s real gold or not. The trophy was enough. Just by being the best in the world, doors opened. And they are opening still, its finally my moment, my time. And it’s good.”

Congratulations yet again, but you say after 35yrs you are done, what now?

“No, no…not really done, in amateur level yes. I can not represent

Sweden

internationally again. But professionally I am still in this game! But while I was in all these, I went for a trainer’s course in Florida and today I am a Muaythai professional licensed trainer!”

“That all these happened at the same time; it all shows that it was meant to be. This is my call and I love it. It’s what I want to do. And if I won’t be fighting, I want to be a self employed PT with Muaythai as inspiration and as a complimentary training form, and everyone is welcome. It’s just getting better!”

Well, there is your star. Susan Njoki Kariuki beat Thailand in quarter finals, Turkey in the semis and Spain in the finals to snaffle the gold for Sweden, and most meaningfully so for us, for Kenya! She is a Kenyan Swede.

P Bryan Njoroge.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

2014-05-29T04:51:00.002-07:00

I know why the caged bird sings is a poem by Maya Angelou, an American writer and acclaimed poet. Maya Angelou grew up at a time when racism was still being practiced and racial prejudice was in great proportions across the states, out of which she wrote this poem.

This poem appealed to me mostly because I am very interested in American black history and because I have heard a lot about Maya Angelou. But while lightly studying her, her work and especially this poem, I was introduced into the intrigues of her life.

Coincidentally, “I know why the caged bird sings” is one of Maya Angelou’s most renowned works. Apart from the poem, it is also a book, an autobiography which dealt with her growing up period exposing the hardships by oppression of both race and sex. In it, she opened up about rape which could steal the theme of this poem from racism.

She wrote the poem in third person, understanding both worlds of the free and the oppressed but obviously experiencing the suffering as a part of the victim. The feelings disclose her as the caged bird. She is the caged bird that knows about the sun and the free open skies but does not fly out there. She knows of the other bird that lives in that free world flying above and down the stream and feeding luxuriously.

It is not easy to dissect this poem by analysing the writer. Maya Angelou is too compound for one to feel that they understand her work without her input in explaining it. The caged bird could be interpreted in two ways, first as I quickly saw it, as a voice against racial prejudice or/and slavery, or two a voice against female discrimination.

In this poem, Maya Angelou uses metaphors throughout; though to sing could be just that since the black people were known to sing a lot to express themselves during that time. She uses personification of people as birds and her tone is of sadness wrapped with a dreamy longing.

She uses imagery to create the paths, as in the current and downstream, and the beautiful world outside, the cage as the extremely limited rights and harsh conditions, while the sun and the sky remain the ultimate freedom. Free bird is free to explore as much and as far as it wishes while the caged bird only has the confined space to sing its anger and frustrations in.

P Bryan Njoroge.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

(Maya Angelou's Tribute For Nelson Mandela, His Day Is Done.)

What Happened Activism.

2014-02-22T07:15:00.003-08:00

What happened…? Word going around is that one Bo-ni-fa-ci Mwangi has retired from the world of activism. Hmm..how does that happen we ask. And if the guy needed to advertise his retirement in the first place, shouldn’t he probably have prepared us by announcing his commencement which he mos def didn’t?

What I mean hear here is that all we know about this fellow so far is that he is a trouble maker. There now, an unpatriotic spoilt brat! You guessed right there, I know no love lost between the I and him. I mean how do you start jumping all over the place on one foot, wait until all of dem youth around you have learned the dance and then proclaim a pathetic retirement? No respect lost either!

For those who didn’t get the chance to make acquaintance with the retiree, Boniface Mwangi is the comical guy who has been trying to disrupt all and every other effort by the renown government of UhuRuto from the serious schedule of making Kenya a better place, yes more like Muthama the-awkward has been doing to the governor Dr of Machakos.

We will come back to that because the breaking news is not how a young fellow realises his wife (or like he put it, his life) is all over sudden more important than the noble course he had decided to take. The breaking news is that Mugabe is now 90 years old!! Some champagne toting, here..here! and still a president! More land to the people.

Mugabe is a serious character if you didn’t know. Did you hear what he called Nobel Prize winner father Desmund Tutu, “that silly boy!” Mugabe is the true picture of an African leader, if only we saw him that way and gave him his earned attention.

But from a country (

Kenya

) still working to decided if its founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, is a hero or not, a country that can not find where it’s greatest hero, the equivalence of Che Guevara and Mandela, his Highness Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi was buried by the brutal imperial robbers, what do you expect?

According to a study carried out just the other day,

Sweden

is the fourth happiest place in the world. Now I can hear those aiiiis, but wait. The same study also proved that every fourth Swede has mental problems, mental health issues, I can’t remember the exact term but I am sure you get it. You do the maths.

Sweden

is a country full of happy bonkers! And don’t try to pin that one on poor me, you did the maths and I wrote what you concluded.

Besides that, the number of suicide cases in

Sweden

has declined perfectly. Well,

Sweden

has a population of less or about ten million gringos, amigos, arabianos, africanos, all in all kompisar. Compared to other countries like

China

Nigeria

and

India

where citizens literally fight for breathing space, a suicidal Swede must be invisible in the sea of kamikazes.

To prove these, just the other day a phone call went through 112(

Sweden

’s 911) with a kind request for an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived at a courtyard within Vällinby, it was fired at, yes gun shots. The ambulance personnel who came quick to save had to run quick to save their own lives.

Another call came through 112, this time asking for the police. When they came forth, the place was quiet but they still sealed off the area; not an exaggerated but a procedural move for security reasons.

Finally the police made their way through to the place from where the first call had emanated, when this was done and to their probable horror, they found the chap dead.

But before they could start to blame the ambulance people for being late to save a life, it was somehow (nobody bothered to explain how) discovered or concluded that the dead chap was not only the one who had requested an ambulance, not only the one who had fired a gun at it, but also the same chap who had taken his own life! My point, who else knows about that outside

Sweden

,? Donge! Well, now you do too.

The younger president took a whole plane to

Uganda

the other day using nothing more than his ID card. A whole aeroplane. That is what is happening now; all you need to have for you to cross the East African boarders six times is your ID card. And you say Uhuru has not brought maendeleo with him. Wee…

By this time we should expect the number of Somalis in Kenya to drastically decrease given that it’s cheaper to get an ID than acquiring a passport anywhere especially in my hood Eastleigh;- (now and never to be called little Mogadishu because the area MP said so). Hmm..mybe that was the plan.

But did you see that video where the younger president called some desk person to check if one of his digital ideas was working? Did you hear how she answered? Figure this, you’re working at you desk from where you are most probably reading this at, the phone rings and you pick it up. The voice on the other side is none other and it says, this is your Muthamaki…I know! But she was like—yes..how can I help you? Only in Kenya.

On that I should report that we checked on Kaguta, our neighbourly friend. We found that though his cows had been stolen and given Kenyan names like Nyakio, Nyasumta, Kagwera, Kipngetich, Solomon, Wasiata and Raila among others, they can never be returned just as he has indeed colonized Migingo.

That is not an issues because UhuRuto are in love with this M7 and will not listen to a word you say. What is worth noting is that was it not for this same neighbourly fellow, South Sudan would have fallen to the dogs; though we are yet to see what is. That’s why you hear the not pink president of the states of unity who’s name starts with an O saying stuff like, respect the gay people or else and I don’t like the bogus cease fire. Kaguta interrupted something sinister. Kudos, here here.

That is what happened whether I know it or not.

Anyhow, I was telling you about this fellow who seems to have seen the light, even at the end of the tunnel. Bo-ni-fa-ci. After one of his latest demonstrations, and by the way I totally respected them whenever, he said the NSIS had called him prior and inquired if he had any evil plans ahead of a planned head of state function. That’s how far he had gone. He had made people start to listen.

But the Aljazeera interview totally brought out his true colours. If you knew him before, you will also have noticed that his physical width has expanded tremendously. So if we were to conclude that he was out to size up with another fat cat known as Githongo, would we be wrong?

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

What Happened Digital.

What Happened!

Goodbye Bafana.

2014-01-20T09:22:00.004-08:00

Nelson Mandela, an icon and as such the only one of his kind second only to Jesus Christ as an earthling, is dead. Madiba, as he is passionately called earned his heroic recognition after years fighting for the liberation of South Africa from the racist apartheid regime of South Africa’s white minority.

The movie Goodbye Bafana is the true story of a young prison guard whom after constant interactions with Mandela changes his racist views against the blacks and especially Mr Mandela and turns to not only embrace the believes of a free South Africa but also to become one of Mandela’s very few white friends at the time.

“Twenty million blacks are ruled by a minority of four million Whites under the brutal Apartheid regime.

Blacks have no votes, no land rights, and no freedom of movement or equitable opportunity to housing or education.

Determined to retain power, the government bans all opposition organisations, forcing their leaders into exile, some for life, in Robben Island.”: Reads the introduction caption to this film. This was

South Africa

in 1968.

Bafana means boys but basically in the movie seems to refer to a childhood friend to the young prison wander, James Gregory whose character is played with excellence by actor Joseph Fiennes. Gregory, even with Bafana, a black boy, as a best friend was not spared racist indoctrination and after his family moves, grows believing that the blacks have only evil intentions against the whites.

After his education, he takes up the job to guard political prisoners, a job he carries out proudly and patriotically. But he does not forget his childhood friend. It is through this job that he later meets Mandela in prison.

He remembers playing the warrior games of which, though he had mastered well, he lost to young Bafana every time. The scene where they play the game is on a beautiful rural background, the hilly green landscape and a village with grass thatched huts gives a taste of South Africa’s (or Africa’s in general) virgin innocent fascination.

The game is played with four sticks and each opponent uses them (two each) to hit the enemy and also to defend himself. The game moves like a nicely choreographed dance, attacking, moving away from blows sometimes in circles, only communicating with the sticks, the sound made by the sticks the only against the soft rhythmic but also at times especially to the end, explosive moves.

When Gregory meets Mandela for the first time, he sees him through the eyes of the media and the apartheid propaganda machine. A terrorist, a bloodthirsty black devil. When Mandela turns his charm on him, Gregory who is still an ideological greenhorn is caught by surprise.

Mandela takes advantage of Gregory’s curiosity and smoothly teaches the unaware young man the believes of his own organisation, ANC. The first move is an unintended challenge to read the Freedom Charter. Gregory tricks his wife, though she later follows him secretly to the library where he lies to get access of the Charter which was at the time top secret.

Gregory is least to say shocked when he discovers from the Freedom Charter that Mr Mandela, his political organisation and his co-accused were fighting not only for the rights of the black and coloured South Africans but for the entire South African population.

Part of the Freedom Charter reads;

“We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:

that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people;

that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality;

that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;

that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief;

And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter;

And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set in have won.”

From the moment young Gregory reads these he begins to change and eventually becomes closer to Mr Mandela than anybody else during the prison time. He at one time sees Mandela playing his childhood warrior game and jovially challenges him; needless to say, he looses to Mandela too.

Their friendship extends to their families and he occasionally sneaks in information. There is the time he sneaks out chocolate as a present to Winnie Mandela from her husband, a gesture that somehow gets to the media and backfires on him. His colleges accuse him of being a kaffir lover, kaffir being the demeaning word used for the blacks.

He then asks to be transferred as the working environment becomes unbearable for him and his family but not until he threatens to resign does he get the transfer.

Because of his fluency in Mandela’s mother tongue Xhosa, he is later given his job back as Mandela’s personal guard but at a different location, Pollsmoor Prison, as Mandela is moved from Robben Island.

Their friendship blossoms and they become even closer after his son Brent is killed in a suspicious car accident similar to that where Mandela’s eldest son Thembi died.

Mandela’s humility, kindness and profound wisdom are portrayed throughout the movie. His character is perfectly played by actor Dennis Haysbert.

When Mandela is finally released from prison, Gregory is promoted, and as they bid each other goodbye he gives Mandela a traditional skin wristband, a luck charm, that was given to him by his childhood friend. They have an emotional farewell and Gregory escorts him to the car.

As Mandela leaves, Gregory watches the historic moment on the TV as Mandela is later welcomed by a mammoth of an enthusiastic crowd. Gregory quietly reads the last part of the Freedom Charter;

“There shall be peace and friendship! Let all people who love their people and their country now say, as we say here: These freedoms we will fight for, side by side, throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty.”

When he finishes reading, he utters the words “Goodbye Bafana”.

Njoro.

How Many Friends Do I Have Left; Part Two. For Keegan Kagwe.

2013-11-25T18:46:00.004-08:00

A lot had improved ever since I wrote the first part of How Many Friends Do I Have Left. I managed to spook quite a few of my friends who had comfortably but unconsciously momentarily forgotten me. When word hit the streets that I wasn’t very happy with this behaviour, they quickly rekindled the broken links, the political differences went water under the bridge though needless to mention, it was partly a humorous exaggeration on my part.

But then another reason somehow cropped up and another bunch of friends threatened to leave my space. It started from the rumour that I wasn’t visiting the socializing dens, popularly famous for the smooth and continuous flow of the good drink.

Some actually loudly suggested that I needed to be punished for my shocking change. I had to call a press conference to cool the heated tempers and assure my dear friends that I had but only taken a deserved vacation. And promise that we will surely hit it again at a time in the not too far future.

Because I cherish my friends. Because I would want them to be there. Because they are important, good people to have around even when I don’t actually need them. Because they would be there, when and if needed.

Man Keegan

But just as I was relaxed in that peace; that satisfied, my friends did not take ill of the little humour in me and we were now closer than ever before, the shocker came and it hit like a sledgehammer! I friend I have know since I came to

Sweden

, man Keegan is gone.

It is terribly sad to receive this soul breaking news. We that work so hard in this life as if oblivious of what awaits us all. That cannot tell when a friend is due to depart, so that at least, we can bid them farewell. That life moves on and on as our friends pass on, and off the tracks of our lives.

Encouragingly, though their activities cease as their souls embark and cross over to the next world, the memories that we collect together remain to live on in our lives. We will remember Keegan.

I don’t know any person who had Keegan for an enemy. He was a friend. But for his troubled cough which always disrupted his laugh, he was a cool guy. He hated immorality in our little community and was, though not greatly privileged, always supportive. The last time he slept over at my place, he coughed throughout the night, but no one complained, he was our friend.

He loved taking photos, especially at celebrations and parties which he still has tacked up somewhere in his rich bank of memories. Every now and then he would surprise someone with a cd compilation of their pictures taken at different places and occasions, no charges.

But lately he was out of range; this I hear was because his long fight with his illness was taking toil on him. He was suddenly not as available, now I wish I made that call. Knowing him I know that he understands, because he, if in turn, would have made the call, that’s who he was.

We are mourning our own, like someone else put it, a veteran in our small community.

Yes, “sometimes the strongest among us are the ones who smile through silent pain, cry behind closed doors and fight battles nobody knows about”.

"my little world" Keegan

“Its really sad to part from a clean hearted, respectful, loving & a wonderful bro as you've always been to many of us, through all the babylon struggles, you always supported & encouraged strength of togetherness & brotherhood.. A true brother & a soldier for harmony!!” Billy Kevins.

What some of us might not know is that Keegan gave his life to God a few years back. He accepted him as his personal saviour in front of the congregation at the Baggarmosen church during the visit by Kenyan bishop Njoroge. He is safe.

Find comfort in the presence of your maker, which is where you belong. Thank you for the times we shared, they are cherished, and you will always be missed. So long my friend. Deepest condolences to the Kagwe family.

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

How Many Friends Do I Have Left.

Dowry, To Be Or Not To Be?

2013-11-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

According to the Wikipedia, dowry is a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage rather than at the holder's death. But basically, that explanation largely differs from my tribe Kikuyu’s traditional dowry. The Wikipedia also contrasts dowry from bride price terming the latter as a payment by the groom or his family to the bride’s parents while direct dowry as the wealth transferred to the bride's family from the groom's family, “ostensibly for the bride”.

The last explanation perfectly fits an African Kikuyu traditional dowry which starts with the customarily marriage proposal from a man to a woman. This is also known as courting or more modern, dating.

According to Kikuyu customs, “marriage proceedings often begin with the man proposing to the woman. Upon her acceptance the man then calls for a meeting with his clan elders who largely consist of extended elderly family members. A delegation carrying small gifts is then sent to the woman's home to meet with her clan elders.

Deliberations on bride price actually begin on a later date and these are strictly conducted by the older men only. Upon completion of these negotiations, a wedding date is set, with the elders having provided an acceptable percentage of the full dowry. The rest of the dowry is expected later. No request is made for it, but the young man is expected to remember to finish his payment and failure to do so spells dishonour for that family.

The wedding day begins with a convoy from the groom’s family that heads to the girls home to collect her. However, the convoy is not immediately let into the girls homestead. Rather the bride's gate is locked and song and dance begins as a cover for negotiations. Various goods may be asked of the groom and he willingly obliges to the demands after which he is let into the compound.” That is also from the Wikipedia.

But a very important point to note is that customary proposal did not necessarily originate from love. A man and a woman did not have to go through dating before a man could propose. Sometimes they did not even need to meet, let alone fall in love, and agree to a conjugal relationship. As long as a man could pay bride price which is the direct translation of dowry in the Kikuyu tradition, then he could afford and was awarded a wife.

My grandmother told me an interesting story about the beginning of her marriage. She was called by her mother one evening and informed that a man had proposed to marry her. Her mother explained to her that the man was a “good man” and capable of taking care of his family. The man, my grandfather, worked for a family of ‘white settles’ which then was a job with good merits.

Though her mother seemed to like and spoke well of this man, the thought of being someone’s wife let alone a stranger had not crossed her mind and it was as unwelcome as it was alien. This was quite normal back then.

But according to the custom, the man had met the qualifications and whether she wanted it or not, she was as well as married. My grandfather had already embarked on the long version of the dowry payment which went on in several stages and that guaranteed him a wife. He was entitled to full rights of ownership and legally so.

When the day, that my grandmother kept wishing not to come, finally came, she was literary dragged from her parents home and taken to her future husband. To walk her talk, she climbed on top of her marital house and jumped. Luckily, the distance from the roof to the ground was not enough to complete her suicide mission.

After that failed attempt, she kept running away from her husband and just as many times was forced back. Eventually, she realised that it did not pay to put up resistance, she gave in and settled in her new homestead. Gradually, and this was for her the point of her story, she fell in love with the man and lived happily until he died.

Out of this story, my liberal mind picked up the fact that she was forced to marry and that the dowry sealed her fate. Her right to choose her man of choice was ignored if not violated, the ‘good man’ and happy marriage not withstanding. For these and my romantic nature, I could not look positively at dowry.

This still happens in today’s world especially in poor communities. Some cultures even go to the extent of marring off underage girls to well off suitors, promoting pedophilia.

But most importantly, today’s independent woman has become as a result of a long struggle for equal rights between men and women. It would be ironic to support women’s rights and at the same time defend such outdated customs as dowry.

From a rights point of view, a man and a woman should willingly be partners without any outside pressure on their marriage. A woman as an equal partner can not be paid for and neither is there anything equivalent as a price for her.

Most modern men who favour dowry argue that it is an appreciation to the family of the intended bride. But appreciation for what if the upbringing of children is no different? Why should the family of a woman be compensated and not the man’s or both in a world where both sexes are equal?

In some cases, the economical strain left behind by dowry has caused stress and unhealthy relationships as the young families work to recover the lost fortunes (bride price) and at the same time provide the best for the family. Fortunes that could rather have helped to lay a firmer foundation for the families.

In the old age, dowry was paid by the family of the man intending to marry. He could also by himself produce dowry from his inheritance which he at the time received when he came of age. This way, it was always available unlike today where the groom almost always pays the price himself especially if he comes from a poor back ground.

There was this story of a guy who after finalizing the dowry process, him and his relatives went to meet his future in laws. After a big celebration the late night prompted some of the relatives including the future groom to sleep over since there were no buses operating at that hour.

The young man was to spend the night in his future brother in law but his sleep was interrupted by an emergency call of nature. He opted to do his thing behind the house since the call was the short one. In the process however, his movements had awakened the house master, his girl’s father who came out to inspect for security reasons. The old man was shocked to find his not yet son urinating in is compound. This, it turned out is an abomination.

He woke everyone up rudely and announced that no way no how, was this mannerless youth going to marry his little princess. The wedding was called off and all aliens sent home regardless of the hour. It is not known if the dowry was ever paid back.

Though this backdated custom is attractive and seemingly enjoyable, extended families presently seldom work as a unit and the bill is often for the man to foot. Besides, there has been reported violence from dowry negotiations gone bad resulting to damage, bodily harm and even death.

Interestingly, the girls’ fathers have been known to act aloof and unfriendly towards the wannabe husbands and their families until dowry has been paid.

I am yet to come across any substantive argument as to why the practice of paying or giving dowry should be encouraged today. Every man and woman should have a chance to a well off start when beginning a family. Every young man should seek a relation with a girl of his desire without the intruding thought of whether he can make to pay the price of her.

If any, dowry should instead be given to the young family, newlyweds, from both families as a blessing.

P Bryan Njoroge.

Going Two Steps Backward.

2013-11-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

Are you seeing what I am seeing? That in the twenty first century, the Kenya National Assembly, itself a fringe of Mpigs has passed a bill that will infringe our right to information? To try to gag the media or relinquish its freedom is going two steps backward!

Curiously, will the same MPs seek the media when they need to appeal to the public for a re-election? Or when they need to make hasty statements, to explain themselves to the same public they kill softly over and over again, after being caught pants down or with they hands in the honey full public kitty?

According to Standard Digital, “the controversial Bill has removed the Complaints Commission from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and assigned those powers to the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), which is the rebranded body that takes over the functions of Communications Commission of Kenya.

Under the proposed Multimedia Tribunal, the best practice model of co-regulation has been dealt a big blow. While issues of content, ethics and professional standards would be enforced under MCK the functions of licensing, frequency spectrum and allocation, courier and postal licences would be performed by CAK.

Strangely, the new Bill does not explain how postal, courier services and telecommunication personnel would regulate the media at the tribunal level. In short, what would a telecom expert say or know about professional journalism practice?

The Multimedia Tribunal is an equivalent of an appeals court because its decisions are final.

How can it be an appeals court yet there are no lower cases it has listened to before?

The fines imposed by the tribunal are too high and unsustainable. It does not matter whether it is a giant media House like the Nation Media Group, Standard Group, Royal Media Services,

Radio Africa Group, Capital Group or the State owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Going by the rate of frequent demand letters from lawyers sent to media houses it means an average of Sh100 million each month or within each quota. Going by publicly results of listed companies it means a recipe for disaster and closure of these media enterprises and job loses.

The emerging County focused radio stations will literally shut operations because none can survive a fine of Sh20 million. Insurance cost for media personnel will go up triple fold. The worst hit will be correspondents and lower cadre journalists whose remuneration is less than Sh10,000 a month.

It means they will work for 100 months to save one million just in case they are fined.

The regulations will mean the media now loses its watchdog role against corruption and we cannot hold leaders accountable for their actions.

The right of Kenyans to know how their taxes are spent, how government will release information for them to access and freedom of expression will be greatly impeded as enshrined in the Constitution.

It is very easy for the tribunal to ban media from covering opposition parties on claims that they are spreading propaganda and hate speech.

That will spell the death of democracy Kenyans fought for ages.

There are ways of deregistering errant members of a profession through clear-cut processes.

By pegging local content at 45 per cent and advertising revenue at the same level we must ask how much investments has the same Parliament and Government allocated to local film industry to spur the generation of such content?

The media is going regional and global, why would we deny advertisers a chance to bring into this market the much needed forex and investments in terms of advertisement.

How will we police international digital media platforms like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube and Twitter

With local content pegged at 45 per cent it means for the poor Kenyans who cannot afford satellite and cable TV subscription like DSTV and ZUKU they will be starved of information through local free to air channels while the families of the elite enjoy robust plurality through broadband, internet, and paid up channels. This is simply discrimination”.

Fast backward: After repeated provocations by a ragtag militia called al-shabaab, Kenyans and the world was treated to a rare and spectacular event when the then government of President Mwai Kibaki displayed the little known Kenyan might in the form of the KDF. The media went frenzy with photos and videos of our troops and machinery entering

Somalia

in a colourfully rehearsed style.

The much needed media, journalists in bullet proof vests, updated the world daily on the victories by the Kenyan Defence Forces pushing farther and farther into the war ravaged Somali, leaving in its trail destruction and total demoralisation of the al-shabaab. One colonel Ogona, then the KDF spokes person, himself the personified KDF, became a media darling frequently appearing on all types of media sets for briefs.

For the first time we got to see that the KDF was not a group of men whose pot bellies threatened to burst out the buttons excruciatingly holding them in uniform, tumbo mbele matako nyuma style, but a disciplined force of beautiful young women and men in good physique bravely ready and willing to kick a butt or die for their country.

The media with or without the intention, rightly glorified our soldiers boosting their moral while psychologically pushing the shameless al-shabaab whimpering shyly in a lonely corner.

The media completed the hero’s picture by reporting the good deeds of the soldiers in every encounter with the people of Somali whom the terrorist group had held under draconian laws not much different from the one just passed in Parliament.

Obviously the al-shabaab did not like being hit very hard very much and in very many words swore to revenge.

Fast forward: Through a back door, the al-shabaab entered Kenyan again and after days of preparations attacked one of the most secure public places in Nairobi, the Westgate Mall. By its ruthless and unmerciful hands, the terror group claimed a bloody attack killing 70 people and injuring over 200 others.

The media was held at bay while KDF commenced a ‘house cleaning’ after the much more adequate Recce squad fought for control of the mall in a few hours of the first day of the siege. The KDF, in the process of regaining territory is reported to have killed one of the Recce commanders after appearing uninvited opposite the already stationed Recce.

But the almost concluded exercise took the KDF four days, each day with a promise that the KDF had control of the situation. After the smoke literary settled, CCTV videos appeared showing what became the shame of the land, KDF solders carrying paperbags after allegedly looting.

The first blunder, though excused as a precautionary measure, was to hold back the media while the world waited expectantly for updates on the siege, the second was to enter the scene of action without a proper protocol.

Well, we were later told that the good boys were only carrying water which they were given by the supermarket boss, the same supermarket boss who hade already suggested otherwise.

Three members of the KDF were arrested and are facing the law for the same action, while the truth about what really happened will remain hash hash…

It is heels after these exposés that the undesirable bill was brought to parliament.

It is not wise to ridicule our defence forces. We understand that the work our brave men and women do at the front line is a sacrifice to our nation and must not be underrated. But just as important is the media as part of a democratic

Kenya

As Council of Imams And Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) general secretary said “Introducing such retrogressive law is a clear signal that some people want to hide information from Kenyans.”

It would seem that the Jubilee government may have desired to test the waters when it brought the offensive bill to parliament, but why? Why would the most modern Kenyan president give space, to say the least, for the debate of such a bill?

According to the leader of majority Aden Duale “We have no intention of gagging the media as this will be an affront to the freedom of expression which we all champion”, so what is the intention here?

On this I totally agree with former PM Raila Odinga, “The fact is that the President cleared this Bill in the form in which it was passed. We can only ask him to have a change of heart and refuse to sign it because it is bad for the country and goes against the Constitution.”

Yes President Kenyatta should be wary, very wary that he is already being seen to spoil the freedoms that were acquired during his predecessor, President Kibaki. It would be a terrible shame if he was to sign the amendment to the Communications and Information bill into law and give proof to what the opposition has been accusing him of, taking

Kenya

back to the times of dictator Moi.

Since the last resort is for him to sign the bill into law, all is not lost and Kenyans must take the opportunity available to tell him a big DON’T!, the president must read the times and act digital, the freedom of the media must remain as guaranteed by the constitution!

Njoro.

New Kenyan Ambassador To Seek Closer Ties With Kenyans.

2013-10-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

Amb Dr Joseph Sang

The new Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Dr Joseph Sang has said he will aim to engage with Kenyans closely. The Ambassador said this during the memorial/thanksgiving ceremony for the late mzee Kenneth Thugge at the Katolska Kyrka (the Catholic church), Kungsträdgården Stockholm.

At the event which was the second public Kenyan event he has attended so far, Dr Sang said he will “soon arrange to meet several Kenyans in order to plan for a larger meeting with all Kenyans” where he will officially meet them and introduce himself and his working team at the embassy.

The first event was a prayer and fundraising for the victims of the Westgate Mall terrorist attack in Nairobi where over seventy people lost their lives and over two hundred were injured. A total of 5, 150, 00 Swedish kronor, over fifty thousand Kenyan shillings was collected and sent to the Kenya Red Cross Society for the cause.

This occasion was organised by the

Kenya

embassy in conjunction with Stockholm Kenyans. Over a hundred Kenyans and sympathises attended the service at the St Klara Kyrkan on Friday the 27^th of September. Several members of the Kenyan parliament who were in

Sweden

at the time also graced the occasion. Candles were lit for the tragically departed Kenyans.

Those involved in the organising of the prayer/fundraiser were Pastor Beatrice Kamau Lundgren, who was the link between the mission and Kenyans, Mr Daniel Mwaura, who also give a speech, Ms Sheila Wangari who acted as the treasurer and also sent the money over to Kenya, among others.

At a more resent meeting at the embassy where the receipts for the transaction were handed over to the embassy for safe keeping, Dr Sang through embassy official William Hiribae, sent his gratitude to Kenyans following the prayers/fundraiser.

The ambassador, if he manages to win Kenyans over, will be breaking the norm after years of constant hostility between the embassy, or rather specifically the former ambassador Mrs Purity Muhindi, and Kenyans in Stockholm.

This is not impossible, as he has already broken the ground running, he reminds and he has been compared to the most social diplomat to ever work at the Kenyan mission, namely the late Mr James Kemboi who relentlessly worked for a better Kenyan community in Sweden. Mr Kemboi died in a tragic fire accident while on official duty in Oslo.

We welcome the ambassador and his well intended and timely move and wish him all the best in his service to Kenyans and the mother land.

P Bryan Njoroge.

Deeply Concerned.

2013-08-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

I am not done celebrating the thunderous win by the Jubilee coalition in the just concluded national elections that also somewhat propelled the little great nation of Kenya towards its Jubilee (50yrs) celebrations.

Although there were a lot of eccentric behaviours across the board, and that is expected, the lasting sentimental hangover still leave a bad taste in the mouth and obviously the only sure thing from that election is luckily the fact that

Kenya

left it in one piece.

The peace can not be said to be lasting though. The main jokers are still doing their best to out do each other months after the elections were concluded. The losers are still shouting they won even after it was proved through their way of choice, the Supreme Court that they had soundly lost.

The winners, troubled and disrupted by the persisting shouts in discord, disaccord or just CORD, still have a minute, even in their humungous task of taking the country from analogue to digital age, to check out the streets for the latest rumour.

You may want to argue here that it is important for a government of the people to keep the proverbial ear on the ground, but what if the data they collect always confuses them more? Coz so it seems.

Take the airport issues for instance. I am not qualified to run a village airport leave alone the biggest airport in the country (

Kenya

) but I do know that refusing someone in the calibre of one ex-PM Raila Odinga the luxurious VIP access would only bed political turmoil for a country with so few of that kind. Raila is still a Kenyan ‘rock star’ even if he looses election after election.

The least a government can do is at the least to have a smooth talk with the fellow on what is and not is.

But then if the choice is to go on all national media outlets and scream that he has even refused to return a number of government vehicles, how would that save as from embarrassment? How digital is that?

Am starting to realise that this digital government might end up disappointing me and the millions who voted it in if it keeps playing the game according, funny how that word CORD keeps sneaking in conversations, to the losers. What I understand, I might be wrong, is that there are laid down procedures and all is harmonised in the new constitution.

There is a big conspicuous disparity between the Nyayo era and younger Kenyatta’s digital era, bear with me on the overuse of the word digital; it was the fellow’s hammer. Kenyatta’s dream is to actualise the modernisation of

Kenya

, the country and the nation! But his continued advice from the likes of former president Moi is worrying, especially when it comes to matters of peace.

One thing I never tire from reminding is that

Kenya

was never peaceful during Moi’s rule. Kenyans were forced to hold their peace. You do not have peace under dictatorial rule. Kenyans like the one ex-PM RAO made a name for themselves then because they had no desire to lay low. And as we remember, when they chose to say their piece they were herded down the Nyayo house basement and awarded permanent bodily blingblings.

If it was up to that history, Raila von Odinga should be held in heroic status. It’s only that his political path and his persistent lack of consistence throws him off the path of righteousness into a perpetual incompleteness way too often. Call it his endless love-hate relationship with the nation he purports to love.

What worries me is after the terrible political havoc created, pathetically so, at a funeral mass for school children where the president’s moment to make up with the some of the people who did not vote for him after he did a first one by actually giving a presidential order for the airlifting of those seriously injured to a better equipped hospital and promising to give financial aid to the families of the dead and the injured, you would have expected a heroic welcome for the son of Jomo. Of course that didn’t happen. Kenyans never disappoints.

But his actions did not pass unnoticed. If not by the concerned families and their county, the opposition saw it for what it was and did not waste time in hatching a plan to denying the president what was his. That he opted not to appear in person can be looked at two ways, it was either cowardice or gentlemanly. Cowardice because he dared not face his disparagers or gentlemanly because he saw the havoc coming and chose to avoid it out of respect.

Much was said after what happened and I thought it would end there. But something caught my eye, the president and his government were accused of taking

Kenya

back to the times of dictatorship. I don’t know where that came from and I still don’t. Needless to say, these were the days of the then president Daniel Arap Moi. Reading later that Kenyatta met Moi to discuss regional peace makes me wonder. We did leave KANU or didn’t we?

President Kibaki who is the immediate former president is in comparison better acquainted with the current state of affairs and should probably be a better adviser to the digital president at this time, but am yet to here that the two have met to discuss anything of national importance.

Mr Kenyatta needs to seriously look into matters through a digital, and by that I mean a modern, eye and stick his ear hard on the ground before he looses touch with the younger nation dependant on him for the formal transformation of the Kenyan state. It can not be easy to suddenly be the president of a country like

Kenya

but it would benefit him more by listening to Kibaki than Moi because the latter failed where the former succeeded.

He could tell him something like, “kamwana, wewe wachana na hao, hao ni bure! Wanaongea huko huko tu! Huko ni huko, lakini wako hapa hapa..kwani wataenda wapi?” especially in the case of one Diana Kilonzo also known as Kethi though we might need a real and legal document like an ID or a valid passport to confirm her real names.

In the mean time am deeply concerned that lack of sincere advice might derail goodhearted actions.

Njoro.

A Tribute To Millicent Omaya.

2013-05-21T06:14:00.002-07:00

The firm frame, in it the picture of the bold and ever smiling Millicent Omaya’s face, challenging. The short candles, like flags at half-mast, timidly flickering, the flowers around, though at the time not close to the beauty and the dominating presence. Not defeated, a smiling beauty even on her death bed lay, mocking its sorrowful omnipotent reaching.

Kenyan

s in Stockholm are in a state of shock after the passing of one of the community’s member. A prolonged mourning after several others lost their close family members almost in a chorused chain. But it is her passing that has delivered the strongest blow, leaving the community in a shaken stupor.

I met her several times. Times I now count as too few, and her friendly, welcoming and favourable karma was unmistakable. Those too few times were enough for her to leave a mark just as expressed by many others.

With her, there is no difficulty of words or the need to exaggerate, she earned and deserved. The huge presence at her memorial/fundraising and the smashing financial and verbal contributions are true testimonies.

At the facebook blog dedicated to her, I found the best words to express the feeling among friends and family members. Here is a tribute to MILLICENT OMAYA.

..……

The opening. Gorgeous ones, it’s one of those days you would want to wish away.
Our very own Milly Omaya, a mother, daughter, sister, wife, cousin, aunty and friend closed her eyes in death this afternoon.

The sting of death cannot be put into words; it’s only felt by the heart, and no, it doesn’t get better with time; but our hearts learn to find new ways of coping in the absence of a loved one.

Amillo mami, we have shared hearty laughs; we have shared tears.
Sometimes we had a lot to talk about; sometimes nothing at all
Sometimes we felt the need to meet, catch up and spend moments together; sometimes we didn’t.
Still, you always stayed warm in my heart.

I can’t tell really if it was your smiles or easy personality that made me fondly think about you.....
Maybe it was the pure heart you were.....
I will never really know.

But now even in your absence; you remain warm in my heart.
It’s been a sad day today; still it’s hard to erase your laughs from my head.
Something tells me it’s well with your soul; and that it will be well with your boys....and the entire family.

Mami, if you find it possible, SHINE over your boys.
It was a delight knowing you Milly Omaya.....
I sign off; with a sting of tears in my eyes.
Nind maber Nyargem...xoxo: Beryl Otunga.

……..

Whether death is the worst of human miseries or the blissful phenomenon for all souls, only u can tell us...for us, it is a thief and liar that reaps where it didn't sow.

Your are probably one of the kindest aunties there is. Your infectious smile will forever remain with us. Your generous heart will continue inspiring us.

Your death has left our hearts punctured and exposed our own human frailty.

...But we know, as believers and as you believed too, that death is not the end. Keep smiling coz now you see God face to face. Till we meet in eternal bliss...:Wang’oma Mola.

……..

SADNESS ..that's what I feel right now, still a bit in denial…such a beautiful soul gone so soon, held our hands and prayed really hard for The Lord to give us a miracle and heal you. I didn't realise that the miracle was u; just knowing you has been a blessing, you’ve genuinely touched my heart deeper than I thought a friend could; always kind, ever smiling even when you were hurting.

The only one who called me by a name that’s not mine but I always answered, mmmmmmmmmh "nduko" how I wish I could hear u call me that just one more time, but don’t worry mama has your back she said she'll call me that so don’t stress..

We shared a lot of happy moments together, treasured the movie nights when we'd seat n chat till dawn, I fell in love with you, your spirit and your easy-going nature. So I choose to live in those happy memories, coz that means you still live in me, my friend, gym partner, shopping and movie mate, neighbour, I will deeply miss u. God has just but given you rest, we shall meet again soon. Maybe u can give me a tour when I get there since I always called to you when I needed directions in Stockholm. May he guide your children and comfort your family especially mama who has shown great strength in these times. I will love u n hold u dear in my heart: Synthia Rutsinda.

.......

“I've lost will, lost someone I can’t live without, and my heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that I’ll never completely get over the loss of my beloved Millie. But this is also the good news; Aunty you will live forever in my broken heart that won't seal back up. And I’ll come through. It’s like I’m having a broken leg that will never heal perfectly—that will still hurt when the weather gets cold, but one thing is for sure, I’ll learn to dance with the limp.”

AUNTY MILLIE YOU WILL ALWAYS REMAIN IN OUR HEARTS. LOVE..: TopManyotta Baba Desire.

…….

My eyes filled up with tears as I heard the news
It never occurred to me, how much I could lose
I find myself wishing that it wasn't real
Every time I think about it, pain is all I can feel
Tears fall from my eyes, I can barely see
But my heart tells me that you will always be with me
I’m glad you feel no pain now-you live in a perfect land
I can still feel the soft touch on my shoulder of your loving hand
I lie in bed and cry at night
And I don’t feel any better in the morning light
And I will love and miss you Milly forever
Until the day we are again together.
Together in that perfect place above,
Filled with caring, sharing and love
But until that day comes- I will wipe my tears away.
And hopefully see you again someday...................: Wendy Mashanelle.

…….

I did not know you like everybody else did but one thing I'm definitely sure about is that you left an impact in this world that none of us will ever forget. I mourn, cherish and remember of all the times we had with your friends and family. I know it's better on the other side I'll see you when I get there. 4Eva Loved: Toven Onyango.

.......

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the mornings hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there,
I did not die: Terry Baduu.

…….

What a special mother!!!!!!!!!.

She's as soft and graceful as a butterfly, yet as strong and courageous as a grizzly bear.
Her heart is large enough to hold everyone's pain and joy.

Her hands are always gentle and soothing. Her arms are always warm and tender. She works hard to make a home feel like home, and she strives to make life pleasant and comfortable for those she loves.

She never fails to go that extra mile to make the holidays happy and memorable. Her job is the most difficult and demanding ever known to any human being, yet she's fully dedicated to the task.

She's always there for her family, guiding them and keeping them safe from harm. She owns a magical way to raise spirits and make everything feel better.

And her sympathy, unselfishness and forgiveness are unending. All that anyone is or could ever hope to be can be attributed to a mother. She instils the teachings that will last a lifetime. She sows the seeds of virtue and morality, and in the process, she opens up love and vast horizons. She's always watching and hoping that her children's goals will have meaning. She always listens and tries to understand even when it's difficult to do so.

She's a true friend in every sense of the word. She's noble and sublime, and holds all the beauty of a golden day, yet even during the storms, she always shines bright like an evening star.
Her name should be honoured well, for she's the closest thing to God on earth.
You might be gone but you will always remain in our hearts dear!!!: Collince John Decombs.

……..

My dearest sister, best friend and mentor, you were a true friend to your friends, the life of every party, the most helpful and caring soul we have known. Indeed we feel privileged to have someone so remarkably selfless, as part of our lives. You brightened up all our days with your infectious smile and laughter.

You lived through your most painful moments in health as if they were ordinary instances in everyday living, inspiring everyone around you.

Today, we feel an emptiness which can never be conquered, a void left by your absence that can never be filled and our perennially wet eyes keep seeking you every where. Words can never be enough to express our pain and loss.

We console ourselves that you left us for a better and beautiful place - God's home, where there is abundant peace and love. We comfort ourselves that you no longer suffer the pain and helplessness which took over your pristine existence. We are eternally grateful to God for sending you in our family and enriching our lives with your presence.

I just want to say that I think about you often and I feel sad, I did love you & am glad I didn't let a chance go by without letting you know that I loved you and you have my eternal RESPECT for what you achieved against the odds: Juliet Omaya.

………

You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she’s gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
or you can do what she’d want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on: Juce Babu.

........

You were here Milly; you touched many, many hearts and made a difference. You will most surely not be forgotten: Daisy Obondi.

In Loving Memory Of Millicent Omaya, Rest In Peace. Compiled and edited by P Bryan Njoroge.

How Many Friends Do I Have Left?

2013-05-05T09:10:00.001-07:00

It has become the norm for me to recount my friends after every general election in Kenya. Even after moving so far away from my beloved country, the cancer that shamelessly eats into and drags our nation behind refuses to hide its face and most poisonous fangs in the broad day light thousands of miles away.

After every election, a segment of my friends kind of drifts away from me after they suddenly discover that I am a ‘one of them’. The ‘them’ here to mean what the rightfully former PM every now and then when it suits his phrase calls madoadoa. For example, before the political campaigns intensified towards the last election I and my friends were all hustlers until I would mention Uhuru.

The ‘them’, fifty years after independence, which by the way their forefathers with others fought for but a contribution that has never been duly recognised, are still the national menace, the thieves and murderers of Kenya, never been of any good even after one Kibaki’s ten years of national success.

I was a hustler like everyone else and mtu wetu in all social places as long as I did not mention my political stand which was and still is pro Uhuru. But the minute I argued the pillars of my conviction, valuably as such notwithstanding, I would become ‘one of them’.

I was shocked in several instances when people I considered as good friends suddenly and without my effort of a provocation would draw a line to the friendship by vehemently spouting the ‘abominable’ kikuyu connection.

Good God! It’s not enough that some social media spaces have dedicated they time in highlighting the seemingly eternal sins that ‘the tribe’ has and continue to commit to the great nation of

Kenya

. A fly can not die peacefully in

Kenya

of natural causes without a kikuyu hand being seen as having something to do with its demise.

And these as I have remarked earlier has so shamed some members of this one big ‘Kiambu mafia’ that they have denied their membership in ‘them’. Others silently take the scourge in what our founding father mzee Jomo would have found straight up outrageous, “suffering without bitterness” again.

Before and after the 07/08 general elections, the UN after carrying out a national investigation found the kikuyu tribe the most endangered tribe in Kenya. At the time of course was because the talk of the madoadoa and the 41 against one sponsored by the former PM had spread to the Great Rift and all other regions but the central or mount Kenya part of the nation where the 1 was concentrated to form one giant doa.

I thought that was water below the bridge but come the year 2013, right into the 21 century, and still ‘it is the Kikuyu’!

I have now realised just how naïve I must have been all this time. I mean I have never, believe it or not, looked at any other Kenyan by his tribe. And though I may have contributed to what I figured was usual common tribal talk and jokes which is inevitable in a nation made of 42 tribes, and though I am aware of their tribal orientations, I have never judged anyone including the former PM; the head of the anti-kikuyu movement, by their tribe or the actions of some of their tribesmen. Also believe or don’t, but it’s my truth.

And this has made it very easy for me to socialise with any of my friends across the board. I was shocked in my naivety, to hear the talk of the “sio

Kenya

” in close quarters.

At a lesser gathering, a good friend of mine suddenly chimed ‘nyinyi wakikuyu’ at me to the total embarrassment of our mutual friend and his tribesman while trying to explain corruption in

Kenya

! How did I get there?

I had to defriend another from my list of friends on face book after she posted with total disregard to others’ feelings (probably still does) an endless chain of kikuyu condemnations after her candidate the same former PM of course, lost in a general election he could never have won and the supreme court petition there after! Btw whatever happened to “we will respect the Supreme Court decision”? But then the kikuyu bribed the good lords?

Is it not enough with Muthama who amazingly still walks the street of

Kenya

a free man after his tribal vitriol outbursts or again Rayila’s “thieves have taken over”?

Another one of my friends commented on the same book of faces that one of his friends, “a guy I’m sitting next to” had declared that “Raila will never be Kenya’s president” which he had finished off with a “guess what tribe” his friend is. I ask, was it really rocket science to perceive that Raila could lose in that election? And from there come to the conclusion that that was the end of his presidential quest?

And the latter friend has now made it a habit to point out sarcastically that I must be a very happy man since ‘our own had won’. Does it have to be this low? I am a kikuyu and just as Uhuru can’t help that he was born a Kenyatta and thus an “innocent inheritor”, I can’t do anything about it, but is there a chance that I may have seen the better president in Uhuru than Raila without any regard to the tribe? Is there an iota of a chance?

And just for the record, it is very possible that unlike the Otonglo kid, now son of Uhuru, my personal, especially financial status might not improve just because “we” now have mundu wa nyumba, or muthamaki if you keep insisting in the big white house on the hill. Very very likely, I dare say.

Another one, straight to my face while we were discussing the Mutula death insinuated that “he was killed by them”, remembered that I am one of ‘them’ and pointed out “si nyinyi”.

Haiya!… The cat that was stuck in a jerry can for four days, that was us?

Still on record, my perennial mention of Raila and my anti-rayilaism is deeply founded from the man’s own personal crusade against the Gikuyu, his inconsistent statesmanship, his political incoherence and to sum it all up, his grand disrespect of constitutional institutions.

My number of friends, I have fathomed, has been diminishing after every general election which thus begs the question; how many friends do I have left?

Eh..should I now start considering all Kalenjins my best friends out of the Uhuruto dynamo?

Earlier On...Ethnic Profiling Has No Place In A Democratic Kenya.

Five years ago...House Of Mumbi Heritage Or A Curse?

P Bryan Njoroge.

What Happened Digital.

2013-04-11T13:30:00.002-07:00

Interesting stuff is what. There was this story I was telling you about, the Botswanesse minister, remember? Word going around is that the what-they-say-over-there-just-before minister has since some way or other been informed about my rant on a blog very far away from Africa. Well, he was not amused at all at all!

He, with pretentious boldness told his wife the whole thing and then they both went and complained to the real president that the sovereignty of the

Botswana

nation was on trial. So in solidarity, the whole family decided that nothing much was at risk because

Kenya

was far away from

Botswana

and it would have to go through big brother

South Africa

which is a mutual friend if it was to do a KDF on them.

So the real president who is not yet married said ok, we'll chill this thing coz I don’t think the younger president is even following the news, I saw him playing with his digital things and he didn’t seem to want to stop.

So the many-wifed-fattened minister, for the sake of the Botswanesses called the press people a third time and said I have not apologised! Who said so? The press people asked, was that all? And he said yes and they said we thought there was news? And he made a face and they left.

While am briefing you here, a while ago, the younger president-elect now president, from now hence forth known as Muthamaki, was told that the

Botswana

minister had stolen back his own words. The younger president asked eh..? waiting for more information but it was not forthcoming so he said, never mind I’ll check it out later. But when he visited The Brief, there was no such item.

So he said,. that thing you were telling me, about this Botswanesse eh.. bwana Skeletoni right?..What about him? And they told him neeeeh, nothing much sir it’s just that he has said he did not apologise. Aha ok..but he did apologise right?.. he asked, and they said ohh yes that he did but then again he said he did not. Haiya eh?

Where is that list of ministers, where did I put it? Here sir. Oh ok I thought I had lost it. Look, I have a lot of work, what was it about this Skeletoni fellow..? Not Skeletoni Mteule, it’s Skelemani, but the guy at The Brief did disclose the possibility that he was indeed a bony figure before he married the real president’s sister, right before he became the many-wifed-fattened minister. In fact it was after he saw the report of that conversation on The Brief that he created the feeling and they declared that their sovereignty was on trial.

Right,..have they moved to the supreme court yet? No sir, we are talking about the Botswanesse. The younger president looked seriously at the official that was giving him all these information and said, then let’s forget about the issue, those people are not the west and their president needs a wife, right?

Give them peace, they mean no harm at all at all, so we don’t need to prickle their minimal pride. But wewe inform me if they try another, we can always tell Kaguta on them. By the way did he give back migingo?

But while we let that case rest, the question, what is going on with ministers still lingers and refuses to go unless a warning comes from the NASC. Thousands of miles away from Kimemia, a Swedish minister has been caught between a rock and a hard place. The four eyed blond minister, while commenting on the ongoing hunt for the paperless lot has issued several statements that did not impress his boss, the hairless prime minister of

Sweden

nor the subjects of the Kingdom of Sweden.

In one of his string of ill fated ill worded ill intended irreversible and irritating statements, he said the hunt was on and those targeted were not the blond and the blue eyed! Jeez!

This brought an uproar only comparable to the famous Arab rebellion that saw to the death of the ever wannabe-president-of-the-whole-long-Africa-united; Gaddafi, with people saying things like shame on you! This reached the kind blue eyed prime minister who said, that minister better start watching how he throws words, sio kuregarega, bloody bure kabisa!

And that’s what happened, whether I know it or not.

He also went on. Tell him that I refuse him very much and I want him to explain himself through himself alone directly and immediately! Ama pap! Yeye kwisha!

We are not racists or are we? He seemed to ask. No, he answered himself. We do not stand by his words now or ever! Bloody….let me not say that. After that severe outburst, the thoughtful minister who found himself between confusion and disfavour had not many other choices, so he has been seen trying to impress and win favour subsequently. My advice to him would have been, smell the coffee, know where it comes from, hold hands and sing we shall overcome!

Besides that, as I also happened to mention the thing about the papaness, the men who have been on this earth for far too long decide to go it safe and not tempt the gods. Halleluiah to that! The new papa steered off the name Peter and excitedly proclaimed,. from this day of our lord, I hereby hence on forthwith declare that I shall be known by the name Francisco the one! I also swear that it only sounds girly but I like it that way, I am Francis the papa otherwise.

And the earth was added some more days to rotate and revolve around the sun just like that!

But the mutual headache is not yet over for the humble people of the republic. Raila is not happy, Kalonzo wants to kupitia katikati again, shamelessly so I should say, and Wetangula is still boring, even after a four day fake vacation in the Southest Africa. Though there is no remedy for that, Kibaki has affirmed that

Kenya

is in the hands of a dynamic duo!

The mutual headache thus remains about the one who was bought by thirty promises to sell her people cheaply to the west, one Fatouh Bensouda. But in this we have a good friend who is ready to rally the rest of the continent against this colonial institution, our neighbourly president Kaguta M7.

On this he courageously said, I salute the Kenyan people on the other issue; the rejection of the blackmail by the international criminal court, and those who seek to abuse these institution for their own agenda. I was one of those who supported the ICC for I abhor impunity.

However, the usual opinionated and arrogant actors using their careless analysis have distorted the purpose of that institution. They are now using it to install leaders of their choice and eliminate the ones they do not like! What a fire! I nominate President Kaguta for the presidential order of the burning spear!

With that, we most probably don’t need no more to think about the other president of the states of unity, remember the one whom w’all Kenyans have some fatherly connection to? Who happens to be the first ever not pink president of the states of unity and also who’s name has first initial same as that of our right honourably former PM. That not pink president has been doing his best not to step in his fatherland. We say shame on you to such people.

But did our good friend M7 step on a Kenyan toe? We’ll see.,we will most definitely look into that.

P Bryan Njoroge.

EARLIER...

What Happened!

Life Is Short, Value It.

2013-04-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

Life is all about now. Tomorrow, we are too often reminded, is not ours. Life (our), as we know it is actually a tiny (much less than a dot) irrelevant bit of the multi universes that exist. You are nothing. Unless you believe.

But am not writing this as God. Neither so I am in the category of the YOU. I write this as me, just me, another one of God’s own creation. With knowledge and a right to choose right or wrong. Where are you?

That said or asked, how long do you think you gonna live? How long have you planned your life? How long are you prepared to live and on, on, how long have you prepared yourself to live?

A friend of mine stormed into my living room the other day. No he was not mad or all that no. He just had a lot of stuff to get off his chest. So I say to this common fellow, “looki hia mister”! “There ain't no trouble a mile you can see… so make no trouble here mister coz there ain't no trouble needed neither..,seen?”

Well, tha fella, him being what them Englishmen call a gentleman come on and say “sorry..,” “sorry sir, eh.. I did not mean to cause any trouble at all”. What a hogwash…seen!!

Anyway, I say to him “get your tired butt a piece of seat to land". I say to him, "be cool at it coz what you looking at now is a cool group of friends, seen?”

There ain't no trouble in that now is there? No. Just what I thought. So I ask this qualified gentlemen what his argument was all about or what ever the amount of trouble was bothering him. “What is?” I say, “what is?”

“I ain't got no trouble man…and I got no trouble friends…. no trouble at all ladies either” he says and I look him hard in the eyes. I look him hard and know that this here man ain't talking the real shit! So I let him have it! “What shit man, what shit is cooking you up!!?” I vibrate!

“Hear dis” he says, “when I die, take me home back to

Kenya

and bury me there..” He adds “there ain't no talk about it, that there be my wish and ya better treat it right y’all!”

There is nothing wrong with that. But this. “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.” Ecclesiastes 11.

Think not of death whereat you still are young. Enjoy your life without the thought of death. The preoccupation with death is appropriate to those who have this life lived enough and tired. So plan not your death in fore-time less you be calling nigh your own end. Invite not death where need not be.

I and a few of my friends had a very cool evening the other day. What is now called chilling. Sitting back on the long sofa watching a movie till darkness fall and midnight call. Just chilling. Two couples liking the soft side of life without the indulgences made necessary by choice. I never had a problem there but we don’t often enough think about life without the additional spices that make it jolly. It was a nice movie too and we had to rewind it several times just to really hang on through the suspensions while breaking in here and there to tell some story out of memories provoked along.

After the movie, we decided that a Friday evening must not necessarily be wasted sober or without some music and dance. Luckily, one of us remembered the area pub which hosted some honky tonk blues, a disco and a karaoke craze. Well, that all besides the real intention of socialization.

The pub is just a walking distance away which was quite favourable to our lazy bodies, already yawning in the weekend. The start of which, crazy Kenyans have translated to Furahiday (Friday). Furahi, for the heathen in Swahili is enjoy; furahiday thus is for those crazy Kenyans enjoyment day or much much better, the day that we shall rejoice and be glad in.

A few meters away from our Friday evening cozy place, we met a very busy policeman searching madly in the bushes by the streets. Oddly, he was doing so with the help of the light from his mobile phone while wildly conversing through his walkie talkie. We didn’t give it much and I remember commenting that someone must have spotted a hedgehog; they frequent the environment when the weather turns momentarily tropical.

We stopped to watch the lawman at work wondering if we should offer our help but he was so busy that he didn’t even seem to notice us. Further down the street at a cross section, another cop emerged, this one with the come-in-handy torch. Him too, busy on the walkie talkie.

We then realised that this could not be a case of a displaced hedgehog as the policemen hurriedly combed the area and even stopped a lone man and questioned him. As we came out to the main road, police cars materialized with the blue lights on. Obviously, something had gone down or was taking scene.

We moved cautiously down the road to the pub, about three hundred meters down the road and we could see about two more police cars and an ambulance parked outside the pub.

Curiosity was now getting the better of us and our pace had unconsciously increased towards our intended destination. A crowd had formed at the entrance to the pub and the police were in the process of sealing off part of the road and the area around the pub.

Just outside the entrance, a policeman and a paramedic were applying first aid to a man who lay unconscious on the pavement. More police oozed about talking to people, searching and collecting probable evidence from what we had by now made out to be a crime scene. While all this was going on, mellow mood continued one floor above, at our intended destination.

Apparently, the man on the pavement had come to our intended destination in the company of a group of young friends. They then embarked on the furahiday theme in much shouting and laughing. Nothing out of the ordinary of a well earned stress release weekend. A lot of high fives and funny stories while beverages left the bottles they came in and made their way down the thirsty throats to settle at the bottom of the bellies of the generously happy youth.

No one could tell that the laughing and calls of brosan and compis disguised the face of the ever roaming devil out to once again try to outdo God.

But somewhere along the merry making an argument had started and the good friends entered into a bitter disagreement. Being young and naturally careless, word changed from friendly to hostile and vocabulary such as ‘din morsa’, ‘dom skalle’, ‘jävla apa’ and the like formed the sentences.

Friends turned enemies and as the fight turned physical, the bouncers quickly came to take control of the situation. The group was thrown out to solve their differences without bothering the other law abiding customers. When they stepped outside, two out of the group went all in, punching, kicking, and wrestling in a street fight without rules.

Suddenly, one of the two drew out a knife that he had nicely hidden under his jacket and stubbed his friend severally in the chest. He seemed to be in a daze as he wildly stubbed the knife in and out of his friend’s chest. Shocked, his friend weakly asked ‘what are you doing’ as he sagged down on his knees.

For a while they stared into each others eyes both of them unable to understand what had just happened. Then one fell all the way down unconscious and the other, overcome by what he had done, run away cowardly.

When the crowd came to, someone called 112 while others tried to save the now fading life of the young man. The police and the ambulance were quick to answer the call but they came too late. The young man died right there, outside the pub, on a Friday night, in front of the people who had left theirs homes to enjoy themselves.

It was hard to fathom, how fast it happened and the fact that these were friends. Who had come happily teasing and occasionally hugging each other without any ill intention on each other or anyone else for that matter. Though no one could understand why one carried a knife with him, no ill motive was available. He was arrested later on after he gave himself up, over come by guilt. And as his friend left for the morgue, he left for the jail.

So much for a furahiday, that is how fast it can go down. Maybe we should think about it a little bit more. Life, fragile, its preciousness and how short it is.

We should, value it.

Njoro.

What Happened!

2013-03-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

Funny times is what. According to the news, there is this Botswana minister who can not tell a cow’s tail from its head. Whatever that means.

The Honourable, do they also use that title? Anyway whatever they use down there just before minister so or so woke up one day and switched on his TV bulk which he leaves set on CNN, stretched his feet, the fat protractions of his roly-poly legs, and shouted for one of his wives to quickly bring him some English tea. The fact of the matter concerning the tea is that it was imported from

Kenya

I have an image of a half naked, seventy or eighty year old pot bellied man. His overgrown head, the hair too scared of the shouty mouth is doing its best to retreat to the back, the beginning of his thick excuse of a neck. The said thick neck just a connecting area to the head, with a fattened torso, a testimony of an achievement of years of illicit traditional beer and illegal bush meat abuse.

There, on the bulky TV, he sees this slick, that meant to mean a very well groomed younger man - in fact let me tell you that the younger man was baptised kamwana before his tribe changed that to muthamaki just after he reached fifty - being sworn in as a president elect of the same republic of Kenya.

The same that is said to breed the first president ever in the world with a name that starts with an O who is also the first ever not pink president of those united states. The same

Kenya

, whose runners run faster than the South African school children on a riot during the days of the great terrible apartheid. That was when the races were pink, yellow and brown, before the universal acknowledgement of the terms white, coloured and black to avoid some kind of confusion.

Like I mentioned earlier, the minister had no way of knowing about the tea he drank being from the same

Kenya

just like I choose not to know if they grow tea in

Botswana

. He heard that the younger man called U something being sworn in had some beef with another older fellow, his age mate, with a name that had the same initial as the president of the states of unity.

It even helped the matter some more when he heard that the same younger man was a suspect in some court called the ICC in Europe. And his over seasoned brain told him that the younger man was being naughty. Young people this days!! He shouted, or must have.

So far we can forgive him like Jesus said, he knew not. But it was when he picked up the phone, shouted to be connected to the press, waited for them to settle and then shouted that the younger man (also please read the president elect of the Honourable Republic of Kenya) was not to set foot in

Botswana

if he did not cooperate with the European court that the gourd broke!

As he slummed down his phone, he had no way of knowing that he had just kissed his ministerial post good bye! How would he know with such an analog of a memory space with no hope of digitalisation to allow a hard disc transformation compatible to GB expansion.

By now it might seem like my respect for people that have been on this earth for too long is withering fast but not really, goodness no! Am actually related to some and I even have some friends in that category. It’s just that there is too much at stake left up to them!

Think about these. Right now as you are reading this just after I wrote it, a bunch of them known as cardinals are holding the fate of the whole world in their hands. Imagine that. How? They have to elect a pope.

The story is that the Catholics need a pope after the one that had the papacy declined to be a papa. He gave the same stated excuse; he has been on this earth for too long he could not be papa anymore.

It’s all good because all those cardinals have the ambition to be papa as a last wish. Out of the bunch comes one compromising papa every time the incumbent pope dies or resigns from the papaness. The latter is the case now as you are well aware of.

Now, it’s still hush-hush but it is said that who ever will be elected to be the next pope must not, get that, must not choose the name Peter II. In case that happens, then something bad will befall Rome. Ok I guess you might not have a problem with that but there is more, shocking more! I’ll come back to that.

The minister of

Botswana

could not anticipate what happened next. The phone rang and as he watched the same younger man on CNN, on his bulky TV, yes the same CNN that a mutual friend condemned to Kibera toilets for looking for bad news where there ain’t any. Can’t someone tell them that

Kenya

is and has always been I well behaved nation?

Anyway the rest was like ndrama, vindio! The younger man on CNN, in a very calm voice asked, do you know whom I am? Nop, the fattened minister of

Botswana

answered. And why on Africa would you say something like that? The president elect asked. Who is this, who are you? The very very surprised minister inquired.

Hold on, I have someone on the phone for you, the cool younger man who had just been sworn in as a president replied.

Skelemani! Boomed the real voice of a real president of

Botswana

Eh…Mr…Sir…Excellency…eh…tried the really worried minister who might have been too long on this earth. Shut it Skelemani! How dare you shame me in this proportion on this matter! How dare you shame the land that fills your over expanded belly!? How dare you shame her people!!? Boomed the angry voice of his real president.

Skelemani!..here is your only option right now. Beg the younger president to forgive you. I have never believed you and indeed if it was not for my sister whom you conned into marrying you, you would still be a bony figure loitering about looking for a job as a cobbler!

And you will go back there if you fail to convince the younger president of the greater republic and the blessed people of the land of Kenya. I will hear from him right this moment if you indeed made a very good case for your behaviour. Say right now that you do not know or even understand! Try that Skelemani!

The Excellency had ordered and so the minister had to abide. The younger president elect listened to the quivering now very meek voice of the many-wifed-fattened-minister and softened his not very old heart. His digital generation mind had enough gigabytes to forgive a minister who did not seem to be very aware of things that mattered, to him or otherwise.

As icing on the cake, he also had to call the same press people and tell them that he was wrong, very wrong and the very president elect of Kenya is in fact welcome ICC or not, to the land of the Botswanese, anytime he felt like dropping by on his way to the other much more important places of the whole wide African continent.

That is What Happened, whether I know it or not.

I was also telling about the papacy, the amassed cardinals and the name Peter II. Peter here is the same one who was known as Simon before Jesus changed it to Peter. I have just learned this way or that, that this same Peter whom Jesus gave the key to heaven is also the first in the line of papacy. He was the first Holy Father on earth, the first pope ever.

The terrible twister here is - and these applies to us all, be an acatholist or not it would not matter - if any of this men who have been on this earth for a very long time choose that name, there would be consequences.

I have to believe that they are informed about the mentioned consequences or we are doomed. Word has it, and this is in the circles of the catholic faith, that the name Peter II is a key. If one of these near dementados by age forgot about the pandora in the key, then Rome would be destroyed and the apocalypse, the end of the world, would begin. Those are the stakes.

Not very long time ago when pope Benedictus XVI, the 111th papa formerly known as Joseph Aloisius son of Ratzinger announced his resignation a great lightening came from the heavens and struck St Peter’s Basilica in the

Vatican

See what I mean?

P Bryan Njoroge.

Kenya Wins!!

2013-03-09T10:28:00.002-08:00

As I opened the 'Daily Nation on line' on Monday the 4^th March 2013, my heart swelled with pride as the long lines like snakes sedately, smoothly made their way to the ballot boxes. As the live text read, 'Today Kenya Decides', my heart jumped to my throat and I choked. My eyes uncontrolled welled, tears of joy threatening to run amok any time.

I laughed joyfully as the huge crowds conversed patiently while waiting to make their voices heard. As the presidential candidates diligently cast their votes and appealed for peace.

Democracy comes with a price to those willing to pay; the perfect day was momentarily shattered as enemies of democracy and peace, agents of chaos and havoc shamelessly begged for attention from a nation and a world uninterested.

Kenya

’s democracy has matured, and the germination of the seed sowed in the promulgation of the beautiful flower of a constitution is now beholden.

The suspense and anxiety that came with the process as all the eyes turned to the live screens delivering the vote count was all worth the while. Kenyans braved on, as hours turned to days and the votes flexed into the millions, keeping the promise of peace. Indeed peace prevailed.

The hour of reckon, finally, dawned on Kenyans and the world that waited, as the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC),Sir Isaac Hassan, after months of hard work, patriotically and dutifully took the podium to shine gallantly with praise well deserved vibrating throughout the world.

On this day that Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was declared officially the winner and the president elect of the republic of Kenya, though not elected by the hundred percent of the Kenyan population,

Kenya

as a nation won. On his maiden speech of acceptance, he promised to serve all Kenyans and to work with all Kenyans.

It is now the beginning of a new chapter in

Kenya

’s history. As we mark the fifty year old independence, the country must now embark on a conscious transformation that will reflect the new young face of a united nation of 42 tribes.

In this aspect and ironically so, the young Kenyatta must now take on and correct the sins of his father, the senior Kenyatta by denouncing and discouraging tribalism, nepotism and marginalisation of the minority tribes. His must rebuild the broken up nation of

Kenya

to one nation that can foster faith and trust in every part of the country.

His biggest challenges will be in the fight against insecurity, corruption and impunity as front line vices that blossomed in the past regimes. This is where Kenyans will weigh his legacy on.

Kenyans all over the world as we celebrate this historic moment, we should not forget where we come from. We should not forget those who took us here. Those men and women who have sacrificed their lives, resources and time for our great nation and state. In this category, we should thus give due respect to the outgoing Honourable Prime Minister Raila Odinga for his part. He was a worthy opponent to Uhuru Kenyatta all the way in the just concluded elections.

With Uhuru in charge, we expect that the foundation of reforms and development laid by the Honourable President Mwai Kibaki will continue in the course of the actualisation of dream 2030. That he will duteously uphold, implement and promote the constitution of the republic as his guide book in carrying out his services to Kenyans and

Kenya

May every Kenyan regardless of the outcome of these elections celebrate this day. Most importantly, we have a new, young, vibrant and willing government in place to undertake the tusk of our nation building. Let us trust that the Uhuru administration will fulfil its promises and deliver as stressed in its manifesto.

Kenya

faithfully entrusts this new government with its well being and future, it must return!!

Congratulations to all Kenyans my brothers and sisters where ever you are. Congratulations to the president elect Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and his deputy William Samoei Ruto!

May total freedom come to the sovereign state of Kenya through Uhuru! God bless Kenya!

Njoro.