Why the Westgate cash will be pinched

PHOTO: Courtesy

Kenyans spirit of togetherness and love was best captured in the ensuing moments after terrorists attacked shoppers in Nairobi’s premier shopping Mall few weeks ago, and man, people gave their all, including money, assurance and even blood, in a public show of solidarity.

However, there is a new twist to the finances collected in aid of the victims.

In a land where everything turns to a full blown scandal in a matter of days, fresh fears have emerged after mobile phone service providers which initiated the assistance program announced that monies collected surpassed the expected amount by far, opening a new gateway for people with sticky fingers to reward their pockets.

300 million in days

It was reported that Kenyans raised a whopping 300 million within days, though questions were raised over whether the response could have been te same had poor Kenyans, the riffraff of the society, had been in the thick of things as has happened before.

Just a quick preview, tragedies of even bigger intensity than the Westgate have rocked Kenya, from the Sachang’wan fire tragedy where more than a hundred perished as they tried to salvage fuel from a burning tanker, to unknown numbers of others dying out of hunger and starvation in far flung Turkana.

Burnt to death

Still, dozens were burnt to death as they tried to siphon petrol from another tanker in Nairobi’s Industrial area.

However, most Kenyans watched, and pointed fingers to the victims who, quite reasonably, had shed the fear of death in a bid to feed their families, oblivious of the danger involved.

 No one came to their aid, save for the humanitarian organization, The Kenya Red Cross, and a few politicians eager to make a name out of it. So the question goes, why was the recent tragedy treated with kid gloves?

Why did it raise so many hullabaloos?

Was it because the Big fish were involved, who consequently whipped the small fish into helping them?

Why did it take so long for Kenyans to respond to the Turkana starvation?

Interestingly, the Kenyans for Kenya initiative which was formed to aid those affected by the killer drought in Turkana raised more than half a billion shillings, and though there were a few hushed questions over whether the amount was embezzled or not, that was just extra ordinary.

Back to the West gate affair. How ironical that the money, having exceeded the amount required, now lies un used, and the handlers of the said cash cannot figure out what to do with the cash?

Revolving fund

Something should be done. There are still pockets of people sleeping hungry all over the country; others have been detained in hospitals after failing to pay the hefty bills.

What about forming a revolving fund for helping those involved in such tragedies, like a fund which is always there, where people can contribute throughout?

The fund could be managed by the Kenya Red Cross and could come in handy whenever Kenyans find themselves in such tragedies.

Enough said!

Coming to terms with the ‘White Widow’

Her name has been floated since the Westgate attack. Some claim that she might have been involved, others say she was a financier, while others just mention her name not knowing the role she played or even whether she was involved.

Samantha Lewthwaite is her name. She is also known as Sherafiya Lewthwaite or the “White Widow”.

And why the White Widow? Some may ask.

Samantha was married to Germaine Lindsay, a 7/7 suicide bomber who bombed a train in London killing 26 civilians.

Samantha, who converted to Islam at the age of 17, is said to have condemned her husband’s move, claiming that he was mislead by a few  extremists since he was a new convert.

And the White widow is not new to controversy. She is reported to have sold a story to the Sun for $30,000, a story claiming that she did not know her husband was involved in such acts of terror.

Forensic investigators into the incidence are said to have implicated her to the bombings saying she planned with the attackers’ way before the bombings.

Lewthwaite is also said to have been very serious about Islam after she converted.

She was so serious that she started isolating herself from others students and donning full length Islamic attire. She became an introvert, BBC reports.

Born in Banbridge, County Down to a former British soldier, Samantha was raised as a disciplined child, and her parents’ marriage was in constant problems, she is said to have been affected by that, thus seeking solace from their Muslim neighbors where she thought she could find peace, before converting to Islam.

Their parents finally separated and Samantha moved to Aylesbury,Buckinghamshire.

She met Lindsay in an Islam internet chat room and they consecrated their marriage months later in an elaborate Muslim wedding.

Lewthwaite is now believed to be a fugitive running from justice in Kenya, where she is accused to have been behind last year’s Mombasa bombing, where hundreds were attacked were watching the Euro 2012 tournament in a bar.

Media and security reports have linked Miss Lewthwaite to the September 21 attack of Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi.

She is 28.

Tough times as VAT law defiles Kenyans, condemns them to starvation

The stories of women roping their stomachs to appease the deadly pangs of hunger in far flung counties, of dying children and the blood cuddling pictures of starving, hunger stricken old women awaiting death now ring through the minds of most Kenyans as tough times reckon, this time round instigated by the same government that promised to shield its citizenry from starvation.

Tough times indeed for the common man.

It is now clear that Kenyan Members of Parliament (M.Ps) threw all caution to the wind and passed the now frowned upon and devastatingly unpopular Value Added Tax Bill (VAT Bill) that among other things sought to increase the prices for essential commodities like milk and flour, the staple for the common man. Consequently sending the cost of living to the rafters, and condemning Kenyans to a certain death knoll, death through starvation.

Death through starvation

It is common knowledge that most Kenyans live below the poverty line, or what the United Nations (U.N) describe as living below a Dollar a day.

And the move by the government can only sound like a sure death sentence.

The aftermath of the ripples created by the said law have been felt in every nook and cranny of the country, gripping a population with shock and disbelief.

The cost of everyday essentials, the basic needs like food has risen to unprecedented highs with a liter of processed milk now retailing for Shs.130, up from the previous cost of Sh. 75, the equivalent of one Dollar, while that of other commodities continue to compete on a free rise as unscrupulous traders connive with the government to rip off the already suffering Kenyan.

Majority of Kenyans eke out a precarious existence, some living off garbage while a raft of others sleep hungry hoping against hopes that tomorrow will be better, amid an avalanche of problems including run away corruption, high cost of living, poor sanitation due to a rise in population, mass unemployment, diseases ,poverty and deprivation.

Living below the poverty line

Unless the U.N redefines the popular cliché of “living below the poverty line” and sets it at three dollars a day, a colossal amount that most Kenyans will definitely not afford, it seems that one dollar can buy you nothing in Kenya now, save for a few rolls of chewing gum to assuage the dreadful pangs emanating from the empty stomach.

Or a  few rolls of toilet paper, a move which will be self defeating in that the trips to the lavatory will be infrequent and far between.

Tough times ahead

It beats logic to realize that a government cannot raise funds to finance its budget thereby resorting to hurting the already overtaxed Kenyan and subjecting him to untold suffering and hunger leaving him staring starvation, and death on the face.

And tough times are yet to come.

If Kenya Power, the company that supplies electricity decides to make good their threats of raising the cost of power due to the now effective VAT taxes, everything will shoot up, dealing the final and fatal blow to a population.

VAT Bill

The VAT Bill was passed in April 2013 and the president of the Republic of Kenya gave it the green light by assenting to its provisions, setting the stage for and seating as a judge in a case condemning Kenyans to” Death by Starvation”, and watching from the high table as the riffraff of the society, yours truly included, suffer from anguish and deprivation.

The Bill is reported to have imposed tax on previously zero rated items including foodstuff, bicycles, and a barrage of other basic necessities, only months after the new government assured Kenyans that the cost of living will be driven to an all time low and that essential goods will never be affected by the bill.

My crystal ball tells me that a hungry man is an angry man.

Kenyans are watching. Soon, push will come to shove and they will demand for justice.

Hut tax

A friend opined to this writer that during the colonial and postcolonial era, there were all sorts of taxes being levied to poor Kenyans, from the infamous hut tax, bicycle tax to a myriad of others, the government of the day defiled its populace left right and center, not only making life unbearable but also removing dignity from the very life, a scene that might sadly come back, half a century later.

I end where I started. The Kenyan scenario resembles the proverbial mother devouring her young ones.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. 

photo credits remain with respective owners.

What an Uhuru-Ruto presidency means to Kenyans

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What an Uhuru-Ruto presidency means to Kenyans

The proverbial two horse race in Kenyan politics has now taken shape and no one can deny that the battle lines have been drawn between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka on one side and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyata and Eldoret North MP William Ruto on the other.

Yours truly looks into what an Uhuruto president will bring to Kenyans now that they remain the only competition for Raila Amollo Odinga and company, and constitute one of the two horses in the race to assume the tenancy of the vacant house on the hill.

Uhuruto and The Hague

Uhuru and Ruto have become synonymous with the International Criminal Court, thanks to their case; a mention of their name stirs memories of the post election violence.

Truth be told, no one will like a situation where his or her president, and his deputy, leave office from time to time to attend to hearings at the ICC, if at all they hearken to the call.

Two scenarios

There will be two most likely scenarios come March 5 or 6. Scenario one will be, Uhuru and Ruto are finally elected to state house and the duo, in their characteristic aura of impunity dismiss the ICC as a white man’s court as they have done time and again and defy orders to attend court, making Kenya to be declared a pariah state by the international community and most importantly, donor countries.

Uhuru and Ruto are facing the worst ever charges in the world, crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Hague

This is the biggest hurdle to their quest for presidency and just in case they make it, it is certain they will not honor their pledges to appear for hearing. Kenya will be a failed state if it has not achieved that already.

Here is why.

Poor Country

Kenya is a poor country which depends on donors to pay the most basic of her bills. From the unbelievably high MPs salaries to those of striking nurses and teachers, to paying ghost workers and imposters in the police force, we literally beg to even feed our population.

Such donors like the US and the UK, Norway, Germany, Japan, France, and Canada have already expressed their dislike for the impunity that is rife in Kenya and have vowed to withdraw their aid and slap Kenya with sanctions.

Secondly, Uhuru and Ruto will be banned from travelling to all those countries where they could sell Kenya’s agenda and though the incumbent Mwai Kibaki had moved east, the bulk of our aid comes from the US and the UK.

Greedy hyenas

Thirdly, rebel groups, extortionists and secessionists groups will come out in broad daylight in a bold move and take advantage of the failed state and wreak havoc in a country that has struggled to secure its people even when peace is abundant. Look at the Tana Delta and Baragoi, look at Garrisa and Eastleigh where explosive devices are hurled at will to hapless Kenyans when we have a functioning government.

Chinkororo, Mombasa Republican Council, the Mungiki, Bagdad boys and a myriad of other unlawful groupings will rear their ugly heads, slumping the country to unprecedented levels of anarchy, Democratic Republic of Congo style.

Arson, terror, assassination, murder, and theft will be the order of the day.

Joblessness.

Most youth, 75 per cent of them are largely unemployed. These are bad statistics for a sanctioned state whose leaders seeking political office have done nothing to address the situation.

The youth who make up more than 70 per cent of the adult population will surely rise against this.

While a laborer in the United States earns $8 (KSHS 868) per hour, a Kenyan equivalent earns Kshs 300 per day. In other democracies these youths will be classified as jobless because the amount cannot feed them leave alone sustain them, thus rendering them hand to mouth laborers.

A rebellion is likely to happen as these youths protest against being used while their leaders continue to steal millions.

Nurses, doctors, teachers, hoteliers, masons, drivers, pilots and people from each and every trade and profession will down their tools leading to the mother and father of all rebellions, and ultimately, a civil coup that will bundle the ineffective leaders out of office.

Impunity

Who will obey the constitution when the top leaders break laws at will and run away with it? Free press will be gagged; political assassinations will be order if the day, opposing forces will be killed for game and Kenya, following in DRC’s footsteps when all communities will rise against each other citing generational injustices over national resources, land, etc

Scenario two

Kenyans will use their heads not their hearts this time round and vote in worthy leaders and avoid all the above, for a peaceful, visionary and productive Kenya that will unite its citizen to steer the country into the next level.

At this point, I borrow a quote from squealer, a character in the book, “Animal farm” who always used this phrase to convince animals showing signs of opposition towards the rule and justification of the pigs, and I quote thus, “Or do you want man to come back and rule us?”

Obviously no one wanted man to reclaim his farm and the answer was a No.

Squealer could always win after posing the question.

And I ask, do we want a failed state?

We do not want a failed state, do we?

Not yet Uhuru!

Not yet Uhuru!

My own rendition…..Of a bewitched Uhuru and a confused Mudavadi

Deputy Prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta is a man of many firsts. From rising to power in a record time to his latest installments of political melodrama and the list is endless.

That in 1997 he sought to represent Gatundu south in parliament is common knowledge. And that he was beaten hands down and his political ineptness exposed in spectacular fashion is something we cannot deny

But in  a period of two good years the political novice that was the son of old Jommo had risen to unprecedented heights of political power. In 1999, he had been nominated to parliament, appointed a government minister, given the chairmanship of the all powerful KANU, and it was an open secret he was been groomed to usurp the tenancy of the house on the hill, thanks to retired president Daniel Moi.

There was rightful disquiet within political circles when Uhuru Kenyatta, then a political minion, announced his intention to vie for the country’s top seat, as many wondered how fast he climbed the political ladder, again this coming as an eye opener to all and sundry as we slowly and bitterly learnt that Kenya had owners.

Needless to say the man lost to one Mwai Kibaki who, staring defeat from Moi’s all powerful and handsomely funded project, concocted a coalition with all the political heavyweights to clinch the presidency as Uhuru Kenyatta, once again, lost.

It was in the young years of the coalition that Uhuru Kenyatta was absorbed back into the government as he sought to contest the presidency in 2007, but again shelved his interests in favor of the then incumbent Mwai Kibaki who was facing stiff competition from Raila Odinga and a revamped anti government club of stalwarts who were riding high after defeating Kibaki, and the government in a referendum vote.

Lets jump to his latest installment of his political fairly tale , as he seeks once again, to commandeer the house on the hill, half a century later after his father, Mzee Jommo Kenyatta pulled the country’s strings when it was at its tender, young independent toes.

A few days ago, Uhuru Kenyatta, then the most serious presidential candidate poised to give prime minister Raila Odinga a hard time in race for presidency, cottoned up to a marriage of convenience when he teamed up with DPM Musalia Mudavadi seen as a compromise candidate and the much needed replacement for Uhuru should he and Eldoret north MP William Ruto be hauled to the Hague to answer charges leveled against them by the international criminal court.

In a  roller coaster wedding punctuated by vows of “Jubilee”, Uhuru is said to have been under duress, or whatever that is , or as he claimed, to be under the control of dark forces , maybe those of Satan or “Madimoni” and agreed to back Mudavadi for presidency.

according to Uhuru in his latest testimony to the people of Kenya, he claimed that Mudavadi told him to step down due to his impending case at the Hague that was making him a really hard to sell commodity., and Uhuru bought that, rightfully.

It was after a bit of soul searching that the son of Jommo decided not to vie and not to knock Ruto out of the running mate position.

Drama unfolded a week later when Musalia Mudavadi came out crying that he had been shortchanged in the Jubilee coalition and even wanted out. According to Mudavadi, Uhuru and Ruto drove to his riverside Drive home after realizing that Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga had teamed up to create the cord coalition, and wanted the former to enter into a collation with them where they allegedly promised him of the presidential position on a jubilee ticket.

That said , it is a shame to see how the so called leader team up to make political outfits that are not in the interest of Kenyans, but aimed at dividing Kenyans along tribal lines.

That’s why we have elected the bad leaders and locked out those leaders who could have transformed Kenya.

This philosophy muttering uhuru is the same man whose dad sowed the seeds of ethnical discord and hatred and perfected the art of dividing Kenyans along tribal lines.

It is common knowledge that Uhuru is after safeguarding their ill gotten wealth which they grabbed in broad day light,

Look at Mudavadi, he is a charming, even tempered politician who could have trounced all opposition had he been nominated as the jubilee flag bearer, but what did he do when he was in parliament? And when he was a vice president? Nothing!

Here is a list of political marriages that will never stand.

1. Uhuru/Mudavadi/Ruto’s Jubilee

People with the same malady are known to gang up together as they console each other of their misfortune. Look at how they poor love to hang out with the poor? Uhuru and Ruto are such for obvious reasons. That was why their political marriage with Mudavadi could not see the light of the day as the later was a clueless outsider who was to be used for their political gains. Who knows if he won the presidency on a jubilee ticket, maybe he would be hauled out of the top seat by a well orchestrated vote of no confidence or he could even be coup de tat’d or even go missing. Go Musalia go! This was not for you. But before you go Mr. Musalia, looks like you have a penchant for freebies? That will never work for you in this country. Go well my brother.

More gloom is however set to rock the jubilee house. An Uhuru presidency is doomed to fall considering the ICC bagaage and the political arithmetics of tribal politics that Kenyans have perfected.

It is an open secret that most Kenyans will not vote in another kikuyu president when the outgoing one is a Kikuyu and while the first president was a kikuyu.

A Mudavadi presidency, a non Kikuyu, was seen by pundits as the winning formulae and the best poised to compete with the organized house that is the Cord comprising of Raila  Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. And with their mention let’s look at the marriage number two that is doomed.

2. Raila and Kalonzo’s Cord.

The storm before a storm.who does not know Kalonzo is the King of Vigeugeus? Or the biggest and freshest water melon around? He is a reknowned fence sitter who knows just how well to pita kati kati yao.

Now that he gave Raila a chance to bear the flag of Cord and agreed to play second fiddle to raila, and now that he has been annihilated by his own arch rival in the battle of the watermelons, this clearly remains a breeze before the storm, there is no way the Tseikuru man can allow such capitulation even after swearing by his mother’s name that his name must be at the ballot. Let’s wait and see the drama as it unfolds. Yours truly will be on the sidelines to bring you the latest developments as Kalonzo departs from the norm and reclaims his position as the king! Hail the king of all water melons.

Prime mister Raila Odinga is another kettle of fish altogether. He is a political schemer, and has a thick skin for your information. Who was not astounded when the self proclaimed reformer joined Moi in 1998 after his party merged with Moi’s.

Raila cuts the mien of a good leader, but his supporters will cost him the  leadership of this country. Who wants a government where some villains will refuse to pay taxes, rent, fare, bills, etc because they dad Raila is the president. This man has done little to remove the speck that his fans have permanently fixed in is character, fatally destroying his credentials to govern.

3. The Tuju/ Kenneth alliance of Eagles

Billed as the best coalition that could have been voted in by a landslide were the main protagonists able to woo voters with their speckles lives in politics and their issue based campaigns, this group remains  a clueless bunch of politicians who do not know what they want. The best thing remaining fir them is to seek lesser seats where they will triumph effortlessly as they reengineer their 2017 campaigns.

As for Kenneth, we love you very much, but for now, get a small seat, maybe a senatorial seat before its too late, otherwise you are well positioned to scoop a ticket ro political oblivion for another five cool years, out of the much needed limelight for 2017 and thereafter.

4. Kamencu and any other aspirant

Whoever gangs up with Kingwa Kamencu in the name of political marriages that have rocked this country is deemed to ear n outright condemnation and embarrassment.

How will you convince Kenyans to vote you and you will ensure they will no longer wear underwear? Someone called this the influence of bhang and a concoction of other drugs that I will not name.

Yesterday, Uhuru kenyata was named the Jubilee alliance candidate to face off with Raila Odinga in what is billed as the most temperamental political contest in the country since independence. According to me, and let me reiterate here, this is my own honest opinion, this is a done deal. You might want to say opinions never count, nor do opinion polls in this country, but truth be told, from what we saw yesterday at Kasarani, Raila will laugh all the way to the revered house on the hill come March 5, or 6. The duo, both suspects at the international criminal court had clearly nothing to tell Kenyans other than to attack Raila and his ilk. No wonder the jeers outnumbered the cheers and this says a lot.

Thats why Kenyans from Kacheliba to Kabartorjo, Kilifi to Kakamega, Othaya to Siaya are becoming increasingly corded faster than Uhuru says jubilee. The voices of most Kenyans remain, NOT YET UHURU, whether you like it or not. Enough said.