Monday, August 22, 2011
Catherine Kenyatta explains that all their land was bought thru bank loans
having acquired over 500,000 hectares.. at a conservative 10,000 per acre, President Kenyatta must have borrowed over 5billion shillings in 1964 (75billion by today's standards) to finance his land purchasing ambitions. Given a repayment period of 20 years and zero interest rate, the family must have been paying over 250million shillings (3.75billion) a year in loan repayments. Considering most of the land is idle to date, this must have been an easy feat
Implementation of the new constitution pathetically slow
the current impasse over deadline for passage of key laws to bring the new constitution into force lies squarely on the door of prime minister raila odinga. as the coordinator and supervisor he has demonstrated that he is an obvious fire fighter, a poor planner, focussed only on becoming president
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Rasna Warah tears into facebook
This is an excerpt from an article in the Daily Nation by columnist Rasna Warah
...as Time writer Lev Grossman so rightly put it, while the Internet allowed people to lead double lives – real and virtual – Facebook “smooshes together your work self and your home self, your past self and your present self, into a single generic extruded product.”
What is worse, “On Facebook, there is only one kind of relationship: friendship, and you have it with everybody. You’re friends with your spouse and you’re friends with your plumber.”
Moreover, writes Grossman, “relationships on Facebook have a seductive, addictive quality that can erode and even replace real-world relationships”.
....
Facebook also has a narcissistic quality about it. Tom Hodgkinson wrote in The Guardian in 2008 that Facebook appeals to “a kind of vanity and self importance” in people and encourages a “disturbing competitiveness around friendship” where “quality counts for nothing and quantity (i.e. the number of friends you have) is king.”
Critics have argued that instead of connecting people in meaningful ways, Facebook actually isolates people, who spend more time online rather than doing things that strengthen relationships, such as talking or sharing a meal.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Why%20you%20will%20not%20find%20me%20meeting%20%20friends%20on%20Facebook%20%20/-/440808/1086722/-/jjtqd5z/-/index.html
...as Time writer Lev Grossman so rightly put it, while the Internet allowed people to lead double lives – real and virtual – Facebook “smooshes together your work self and your home self, your past self and your present self, into a single generic extruded product.”
What is worse, “On Facebook, there is only one kind of relationship: friendship, and you have it with everybody. You’re friends with your spouse and you’re friends with your plumber.”
Moreover, writes Grossman, “relationships on Facebook have a seductive, addictive quality that can erode and even replace real-world relationships”.
....
Facebook also has a narcissistic quality about it. Tom Hodgkinson wrote in The Guardian in 2008 that Facebook appeals to “a kind of vanity and self importance” in people and encourages a “disturbing competitiveness around friendship” where “quality counts for nothing and quantity (i.e. the number of friends you have) is king.”
Critics have argued that instead of connecting people in meaningful ways, Facebook actually isolates people, who spend more time online rather than doing things that strengthen relationships, such as talking or sharing a meal.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Why%20you%20will%20not%20find%20me%20meeting%20%20friends%20on%20Facebook%20%20/-/440808/1086722/-/jjtqd5z/-/index.html
Consultations between the Principals to Pick the Chief Justice - Part 1
Kibaki: Habari Raila, na wewe ulipiga kelele mingi sana?
Raila: Hapana mzee, unajua tulikua tunacheza siasa!
Kibaki: Anyway i'm told u have proposed a structured approach to negotiations
Raila: Yes his excellency, to avoid any disputes in the end
Kibaki: How about we start by defining the scope from which we can pick the Chief Justice.
Raila: Thats a good idea, after all we don't want to leave the king naked
Kibaki: He must be a judge of the Court of Appeal
Raila: Thats OK
Kibaki: He must either be a man or a woman
Raila: Yes we must be gender sensitive
Kibaki: He must have been born from Nyanza or Central
Raila: Thats OK
Kibaki: Ok lets get more specific, I insist that one of his/her name must begin with K
Raila: <thinks quickly> Lets include R and O
Kibaki: Fair enough. Ok the last letter of the first name must be an A
Raila:<thinks quickly>Yes that's fine with me
Kibaki: I like the progress we are making. Ok, one of the letters in the first name must be an 'I'.
Raila: Thats OK
Kibaki: He must be below 60 years old
Raila: <Picks up his phone, makes a call to Dennis Onyango and then...> His excellency, i object to that. We must blend youth and experience. Unajua wengine ni vijana lakini akili ni mzee. Wengine ni vijana lakini anaamka asubuhi anaenda kuvuta bangi. mwingine ni mwizi, leo ako Korti hii, kesho ako ile
Kibaki: I agree with your thoughts, the Right Honourable Prime Minister. Now, I think we have covered much ground for Day 1, how about we resume consultations tommorrow?
Raila: <Visibly excited> Ni sawa mzee..naona we're finally acting in the best interest of the country. I pay tribute to you..
Muthaura and Dennis walk in...carry away their boses note books...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Laws that intrude into your space
I live in a country that has gained fame for its fun loving people. We like to have fun day, night, during an eclipse, whenever. We are free to speak, eat, sleep, drink whatever we like whenever we want, wherever we want. We are aware life wont last forever and try to make the best of it before that day comes.
We have lived this way since time immemorial and we had ensured it got even better by passing a new constitution (Personally i voted against it...but that a story for another day.) This newly passed supreme law of the land was supposed to ensure that the government is as far away from our personal lives as much as possible, well excluding our pockets. It happens that we are the most taxed people on planet earth.
Anyway no sooner had we passed this new set of laws than a dimwit, named John (no relation to the baptist) Mututho engineered a scheme to deny us the right to consume one of our favorite drinks, alcohol. Mututho (wont refer to him as Mr here) is a self confessed teetotaler, is barely educated and there is no record of what he was doing with himself before he was voted into parliament.
Ok enough with the nonsense and onto my point. I had a busy day at work today. I have this job where i wear many hats and today was one of those days where i was required to wear all hats, in close succession. At 5pm i had to rush to class; my work mates call it 13th floor. It so happens that the 13th floor of our office building is occupied by the Department of Adult Education. Anyway... I left class at 8pm and headed for home. Im tired and need abit of unwinding. Being a Thursday, the most logical thing is to pick up a 1/4bottle of Viceroy Brandy and head home where i can unwind slowly after taking a nice warm shower. After all Mubarak is expected to step down tonight.
My first stop is Nakumatt Supermarket, the parking lot is full, the traffic queue for shoppers swelling by the minute. I motivate a sleepy watchman to let me park in the private residents parking nearby and dash into the supermarket. I quickly pick a tray and head straight for the alcohol counter. I am greeted by two levels of trolleys that effectively block access to alcohol area. I decide not to try anything uncool(a little Johnie Walker bottle lay vulnerably on an accessible shelf) and head out of the supermarket. The sleepy watchman makes his 20/- as i head to the next stop, a convenience store at a Petrol Station. I find it closed. Im not the giving up type so i turn towards town to the other petrol station shop. i find it open but a big sign greets me announcing that the shop enforced the new anti alcohol law to the latter. I plead with the lady attendant to sell to me just one bottle to which she replied "hata ukijaribu siwezi (however much you try i wont sell)"
I oblige and head home, a little irritated now. I spot a certain 4 star restaurant on my way home and decide to try it out. i was willing to spend upto 150% more than usual for a bottle of beer. i was informed by the head waiter that they closed the bar and turned it into a conference room because of the same Mututho law described above.
A dusty, rusty alcohol shop at the edge of my estate was to be my savior in the end. As i prepare to go to bed tonight i reflect on how far back our country has stepped. In a democracy, the responsibility of oversight over one's drinking schedule cannot be dictated by the state.
We have lived this way since time immemorial and we had ensured it got even better by passing a new constitution (Personally i voted against it...but that a story for another day.) This newly passed supreme law of the land was supposed to ensure that the government is as far away from our personal lives as much as possible, well excluding our pockets. It happens that we are the most taxed people on planet earth.
Anyway no sooner had we passed this new set of laws than a dimwit, named John (no relation to the baptist) Mututho engineered a scheme to deny us the right to consume one of our favorite drinks, alcohol. Mututho (wont refer to him as Mr here) is a self confessed teetotaler, is barely educated and there is no record of what he was doing with himself before he was voted into parliament.
Ok enough with the nonsense and onto my point. I had a busy day at work today. I have this job where i wear many hats and today was one of those days where i was required to wear all hats, in close succession. At 5pm i had to rush to class; my work mates call it 13th floor. It so happens that the 13th floor of our office building is occupied by the Department of Adult Education. Anyway... I left class at 8pm and headed for home. Im tired and need abit of unwinding. Being a Thursday, the most logical thing is to pick up a 1/4bottle of Viceroy Brandy and head home where i can unwind slowly after taking a nice warm shower. After all Mubarak is expected to step down tonight.
My first stop is Nakumatt Supermarket, the parking lot is full, the traffic queue for shoppers swelling by the minute. I motivate a sleepy watchman to let me park in the private residents parking nearby and dash into the supermarket. I quickly pick a tray and head straight for the alcohol counter. I am greeted by two levels of trolleys that effectively block access to alcohol area. I decide not to try anything uncool(a little Johnie Walker bottle lay vulnerably on an accessible shelf) and head out of the supermarket. The sleepy watchman makes his 20/- as i head to the next stop, a convenience store at a Petrol Station. I find it closed. Im not the giving up type so i turn towards town to the other petrol station shop. i find it open but a big sign greets me announcing that the shop enforced the new anti alcohol law to the latter. I plead with the lady attendant to sell to me just one bottle to which she replied "hata ukijaribu siwezi (however much you try i wont sell)"
I oblige and head home, a little irritated now. I spot a certain 4 star restaurant on my way home and decide to try it out. i was willing to spend upto 150% more than usual for a bottle of beer. i was informed by the head waiter that they closed the bar and turned it into a conference room because of the same Mututho law described above.
A dusty, rusty alcohol shop at the edge of my estate was to be my savior in the end. As i prepare to go to bed tonight i reflect on how far back our country has stepped. In a democracy, the responsibility of oversight over one's drinking schedule cannot be dictated by the state.
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