Erratum to my previous blog post …

In the last blog, I misquoted the amount involved in Uhuru Kenyatta’s two ‘typing error’ episodes. I said ‘million Shillings’ when I should have said ‘BILLION Shillings.  The order of magnitude is 1000 times guys!  Ten Billion Shillings is like $133 Million DOLLARS …   ( X 2 ?).

Are we having fun yet?

But just another quick note: It is starting to look to me like there’s a simple solution to identifying the main corruptioneers in Kenya: “just watch the guy who makes the most jokes during press conferences ” … ……….

The other approach to watch is the brusque, no-bullshit, businesslike manner, as in “There has been NO discussion of compensation for … There was been NO … There has been NO …”

I’m inspired to believe he’s talking the truth.

Anyway, enough of this.

I’ll write later, maybe next week. It will be a travel piece: I am hoping to get a cheap flight to Zanzibar next week with the idea of spending two days in Stone Town (the very original landing place of Mswahilini asili – the original Swahilis), and then I’ll go on to my cousin Carol’s place in Dar es Salaam.  Cool city. Cool cuz.

I’ll write soon.

Peace and love,

B-)

Reasons and responsibilities

It started off looking like I was entirely wrong about the Education Ministry’s embezzlement of primary school education funding, and the amount involved was a mere 100 million Shillings (see blog: “In-DFID-ent ..”). I was mortified – nay, slightly embarrassed - that perhaps I had quoted the wrong figure. I mean, 100 million Shillings is only 1.Something million Dollars! That’s a very small thing in Kenyan corruption terms. Hardly worth mentioning actually …

But now the truth is out, and it seems I didn’t mishear the original report from DFID. Yes, the education corruption scandal has seen the theft from Kenya’s kids of a mere 10 billion Shillings (only 133 million US Dollars!). I guess it is not such a small thing …

Of course, Permanent Secretary Karega pleads absolute innocence as the does the (very) Honorable Minister for Education Ongeri. Again asked their views in polled opinion on KTN, a small 83% of Kenyans say the two gents are lying about their innocence. The remaining 17% of SMS’s were probably paid for, to be sent in the Ministry’s favour.

But coming hot on the heels of this scandal comes another:  This time it involves the alleged payment to ‘Big Fish’ of various huge sums of money. This, for the vacation of (illegally ‘invaded’) land in the (now decimated) Mau Forest (land that is being reclaimed for its ecosystemic importance).

Minister of Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta, flatly denies that this payment is being effected.

But can he really be believed? He escaped, unscathed, with a 10 million Shilling ‘typing error’ in his first budget. Actually, there have been two ‘typing errors’ in his recent tenure as Minister of Finance. I cannot even remember the details of the second one. He is also accused of more recent shepherding of a ‘preferential’ tendering process in the supply of 140-something new VW Passat’s to government’s 42 Ministries (the highest number of ministries in the world).  

So I am sure his denial of Mau payments is true.

(Note: ‘Typing errors’ can occur because government is not computerized here. This due to a concerted avoidance of technologies that will permit ‘paper trails’ to be found for any and all transactions).  

But denials, and other jokes aside, I almost get the idea that the Kenya government actually pursues new scandals with great vigour. This, so that the previous scandal simply disappears from the news (as always seems to happen!). No sooner has one scandal hit the streets than another comes up. And the story of the first scandal gets lost forever in yellowed newsprint on Kenya’s kitchen shelves.

It is so easy to do here, and wouldn’t that be an amazing strategy:

Government of Kenya 101:

1.) You shall steal from the people of Kenya

2.) To get away with one huge scandal, simply create another that is even bigger!

3.) Then call on rafiki sana (our good friends), the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (sic), to ‘investigate the matter’.

4.) Go back to 1.)

But the point is this, really: One scandal is simply replaced by another. There’s never any follow up of these, from any quarter:

Surely, one could hardly expect honest follow up from this government. They are all in on the act.

And the KACC remains a joke for now.

But it leads me to question seriously the integrity, tenacity and investigative skill of journalists in this fair country too. And do not tell me that journalists are ‘threatened’. That is what is supposed to happen with journalists. Especially in a country that needs the ’winds of change’ (from wherever they blow) so desperately.  Journalists have a social, moral and very ‘civic’ responsibility to pursue these issues with great zeal and energy.  But I don’t see any of this here.

I used to read South Africa’s Weekly Mail (now Mail and Guardian) every week. It was a serious force for change during its early days and remains an important source of the facts in an increasingly corrupt South Africa.

Kenya? Journalists gani?

Journalists win substantial international awards and gain international recognition for serious investigative work. But I am not packing a Kenyan flag for any ceremony just yet …

 Sure, the public have a responsibility to act and agitate as well. But the channels are simply not there. Youth ‘movements’ in Kenya have historically been controlled by The State. But John Githongo says it’s all changing.

I chatted with some senior members of Bunge la Mwananchi (‘The Peoples Parliament’) the other night. They are inspired for sure. And motivated to do something.

But what?

They don’t see ‘avenues’ for expression at all. Hey, where’s the “spirit of adventure” guys? Even my simple suggestion of Kiswahili sticker-slogans - to stick on every matatu - was met with undue surprise. Come on ...

Sheesh, I remember unlawful marches in the streets. I remember baton charges on campus lawns. I saw live rounds being fired at close range. I saw friends knocked from their feet by dogs and water cannons. I remember tear gas tossed at anti-Apartheid concerts. I remember a church, wrapped up like a present, with a bow, on the bleak landscape of District 6. I remember the security police searching my red Datsun (with the letters ‘KGB’ in the number plate). I remember Terror Lekota, in hiding and ‘on the run’, staying at various safe houses in our village.

I remember, too, kitambo sana (a long time ago), when Soweto erupted, and when Steve Biko died. When David Webster was assassinated and when Neil Aggett disappeared from his house. I remember when Tokyo Sexwale was assassinated too. There were others. Sana.

But I also remember, very very well, the day that Madiba got out. And I watched it live on ITV, London. And I remember ‘coming home’ and standing for hours to vote. For the man I most admire today.

Kenya, you are “as mad as hell”. Surely.

But when will you say: “… AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!”

Kenya, anything is possible “for an idea whose time has come” …

Your time has come.

Maybe one day (as I once heard) someone will say “we’re a mile wide and a hundred people deep. Shoot me, and there will be others”.

But, right now, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step …

Kenya? Future gani?

Amani na upendo,

B=))

Happy Christmas all.

Sheng Kali

I first discovered the theory of ‘semiotics’ during my post-graduate studies. The discovery was a great boon to my academic career. It let me get away with murder!

Let me explain:

‘Semiotics’ says that all words have two aspects: The first is that they have no precise meaning of their own;  a word is always a ‘metaphor‘. The second is that the ’metaphors’ vary (with place and time).

So, simply, words have no ‘meaning’ of their own. Only the ‘reader’ can create meaning from a word. For example, Chinese means nothing until you learn Chinese. Yes?  The ‘meaning’ of a word therefore exists in the mind of ‘the reader’ not in ‘the word’. 

And, obviously, readers vary.  Therefore, … meanings vary.

My strategic use of these two concepts allowed me to interpret essay topics in a variety of ways and, as long as I skirted the real issues with a bit of semiotic claptrap, there was not much any lecturer could say about it. As I said, I got away with murder. However, I also earned a bad note in my academic record for my troubles. But that’s another story …

Putting this sad academic history aside for a moment, let me regale you with a lovely example of the semiotic thesis in action. It’s an example from Nairobi Sheng – the slang, street Kiswahili of this city - and it (mainly) concerns the term “jua kali”.

The term literally means “hot sun” and can be used as an exclamation of outside temperatures in Nairobi:

“Jua kaaaaaaali!” [as in, “Sheesh, the sun is hot today”].

In this case, the truth of your comment might be affirmed by:

“Saaaaaaaaana!” [very!]

[Accompanied by a little laugh.]

Now the metaphor starts to shift:  Because the local metal foundries and informal furniture factories are usually situated in roadside sheds, and the work is largely done in the hot sun, employment in the informal sector has become known as “jua kali”. If you work in the ‘informal sector’ anywhere, you describe your work as “jua kali” … even if you are forging US Dollars in a dark basement.  Isn’t that cool?

Now, because of the range of occupations associated with the ‘informal sector’, the term has gained overtones of being ‘home-made’ and perhaps a bit suspect. In this sense, one would differentiate the work of someone considered a ‘fundi’ (Kiswahili for ‘expert’) from the work of ‘jua kali’ (in this sense, ‘an amateur’).

[Accompanied by a slight shrug, as in: “Well, you choose who you want to do the job”.]

Ruth’s brother, Steven, showed me his two-year-old USB Flash Drive one day. It was wrapped so severely in insulation tape that it had started to become round. His comment, with the usual dry wit, was that his repairs over the years have been a bit ‘jua kali’.

Over the last few months, Kenya’s hard-core ‘street rap’, called Genge, has been dominated by an artist calling himself  ‘Jua Kali’. His meaning of the term is most likely ‘home-made’, more akin to ‘home-grown’ talent.  Just another addition to the lexicon of the term.

The term ‘kali’, too, has a few meanings in local use. In Sheng, it can mean ‘hot’ as in ‘overt sexuality’. It can mean ‘hot’ as in cha’ngaa (moonshine). It can mean ‘hot’ as in ‘hot tempered’ (as in Somalis).  These uses are all common.  Hard drugs (and strong medicine) are both ’dawa kali’.  But, my sources tell me, if you’re prone to chemical abuse you are likely to earn the moniker of being kidogo “chemi-kali”!  I love it.

And, as always in Kiswahili, it is less about the word itself than how you say it:

“Kaaaaaaaaali ………. !!!

………………..

…………..

…….

“ ………………….Saaaaaaaaaaana!!!”

… is used like the use of “Mambo Mbaya” and the rejoinder, "Sana”, that I rejoiced some time ago (see prior blog). It’s a mutual affirmation of how totally ‘wicked’ the situation is.

Ever beautiful, ever dynamic, the people play with their shared language and make it new. On the streets of Nairobi Kiswahili mutates into a joyous, shared communication, across tribe and ethnicity. The Swahili language takes on a new, urban flava. The flava is Sheng. And when your use of Sheng has ‘an edge’, it’s “Sheng kaaaaali!”.

The language is hip and happening.  From what I know (which is very little), it is a patois that is evolving very fast. Hip mums, trying to stay ‘with it’,  use the terms all messed up when talking to their teenage daughters.

They land up using adjectives where nouns should be!

[accompanied by a slightly embarrassed teenage giggle]

Amani na upendo

B-)

In-DFID-ent to Childrens' Education

Today (Tuesday 15^th December), the UK’s international development fund, DFID, announced it has suspended further support for education in Kenya. It is withholding quite a few billion shillings until the Kenya government can account for the few billion that has so far disappeared. This while kids all over Kenya are trying to get an education without textbooks.

This is what I meant a while ago about Kenya’s government stealing from the people – and this time it’s their children! I seriously suspect this is the first of many such changes in the future funding of Kenyan politicians and government officials. Changes are coming but it's the people that are going to suffer, not the politicians!

And President Kibaki today got on a plane to Copenhagen. He’s going to lecture the international community about climate change, no doubt in order to ask for money again. Just like Prof. Saitoti and the urgent need for police reform (see below).

Asked whether DFID should reconsider its position, a whopping 69% of Kenyans who texted their response to KTN News said no, DFID was right in their withholding of funds!

One viewer commented:

“Asking the Kenya Government to administer funds for education is like asking a hyena to look after your sheep”

The Kenya people know exactly what’s going on. They have seen it for years and years. The question is WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Sheesh. I just don't know how Kenyan officials (of any description) can even show their faces in public ....

B-)

Boda boda na bara bara

Like Kampala and Kigali, Nairobi is seeing the emergence of the ‘boda-boda’ – the motorcycle taxi. Found mainly along the really intolerable stretches of Nairobi roads, they are almost all of Chinese origin (as opposed to the Indian bikes in Kampala).

It makes sense to use a motorbike to get through the interminable traffic in Nairobi. But the boda-boda is certainly not without its risks. Matatus (minibus taxis), in particular, pose a grave risk to the cycles and, so far, I have only seen motorbike accidents involving matatus. 

The matatus seem prone to turn in front of the boda-bodas (or bump them off the road from behind), throwing the rider off and sending the bike spinning in another direction. Mercifully, so far, the riders I have seen have all been back on their feet (albeit limping) after the brief ordeal.  

But there was one sad, and avoidable, fatality reported on radio the other day. It involved a young woman. She was recently from the salon and had refused to wear a helmet because it threatened her hairstyle.

She had died after a boda-boda skirmish with an unnamed (and guilty) vehicle, si jui gani (of unknown type). 

The boda-boda driver was OK and was interviewed briefly:

“I am sorry for the madame. But she didn’t want to wear the helmet. Boda-boda na bara-bara (motorcycle taxis and the road) … Hatari sana (very dangerous!) Boda-boda users have to wear boda-boda hairstyles. And wear the helmet  ... ” he said.

Thankfully, most riders here have sense enough to wear a helmet, even though it is generally not an enforced legal requirement.

But from my limited witnessing of these events, I would guess that at least the owners of the Chinese motorcycles are less likely to crash than Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki riders.  Kwani (because why)?  Simple really:  It’s a statistical fact that when you push your motorcycle on the sidewalk a lot of the time, you are less likely to crash on the road! The Chinese bikes are notoriously unreliable.

Interestingly, I don’t recall seeing anyone pushing their cycles, in Kampala or Kigali ... I don’t recall seeing any accidents either. Maybe it has something to do with the Nairobi matatu’s style of driving more than anything else. They drive well, but 'reckless' ain't the word. It's the unkept state of the roads (due to the 'amazing disappearing road fund'), of course, that causes otherwise decent people to go just a little crazy on the blacktop.

Better roads = better behavior on the roads. Surely?

I hope so. Nairobi roads are getting better, eventually!

Amani na upendo.

B-)

Dead Evidence

In February this year, the UN’s Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston was in Kenya to investigate, and report on, the spectre of so-called ‘extrajudicial killings’ in the country (see prior blog). It seems the UN had become quite concerned about what it was hearing about lethal fire being leveled (more-or-less at will) at members of the Kenyan public: You see, an extrajudicial killing occurs when someone dies at the hands of the security forces without recourse to due process in the law. No charges are laid. No evidence is led. The person is simply shot down and purposefully killed.

"Killings by the police in Kenya are systematic, widespread and carefully planned”, Alston said. “They are committed at will and with utter impunity.”

The Kenya government's reaction was simply typical:

"The government finds it inconceivable that someone who has been in the country for less than ten days can purport to have conducted comprehensive and accurate research on such a serious matter".

I mean, what did Alston actually need to research? It's all pretty much in the open and freely reported. You don't need a Ph.D. to hear or read all about it ...

Take last week Wednesday as a case in point. It was a rather spectacular example that I woke up to on radio news (and was later reported in one or two sidebars in the newspapers): Five ‘suspected thugs’ were gunned down and killed in the ‘vicinity of’ the Delamere farm. This, after police received ‘an anonymous tip-off’ that they were ‘going to rob’ households in the area. ‘A pistol was found in their possession’.

‘Anonymous’ means, of course, that the source cannot be traced. That they were ‘going to’ commit a crime means that no crime had in fact been committed. That a lone pistol was found with them perhaps points to the same pistol I have mentioned before (see prior blog). No mention was made in the reports of any rounds of ammunition.

It is widely suspected here that these killings are simply a means for Kenya’s government to rid itself of unwanted opposition, spent resources, or ‘evidence’ in certain cases (see blog on ‘John’ the Baptized, below). It has not yet happened with Maina Njenga (but he is reportedly very scared after having spoken to Alston). It DID happen a few weeks ago with Mungiki’s second-in-command after an alleged ‘argument’ at a downtown shop. The man was shot dead by his unidentified assailant (in a society where virtually no one other than the police carries a gun). No investigation followed ...  It never does.

What bothers me the most in the ‘Delamere incident’ (other than the deaths themselves) is that there was absolutely NO report as to who the dead actually were. No names were released. No press reports detailed the grief of their families. No claims were made by family members themselves. I would imagine that the ‘suspected thugs’ were actually ‘gunned’ beyond recognition and that the family members are simply too scared to ask what happened to their father or brother. The victims might well have been senior Mungiki members. And, if so, I’d say that they might have had a few facts pertaining to the sponsorship of Mungiki by senior politicians during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007/8 ... Facts that the government doesn’t want out in the open right now.

So why all this now …?

The International Criminal Court is due to act against certain (as yet undisclosed) ‘names’, placed in an envelope by (ex) Chief Justice Phillip Waki nearly two years ago. These ‘names’ are purported to belong to senior politicians (MPs and others) suspected of having organized and sponsored the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007/8 - violence that left more than 1300 Kenyans (of all tribes) dead.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the man who successfully prosecuted members of the Argentinean junta some years back, is the chief prosecutor at The Hague. He now has the envelope with the ‘names’ in his possession. He evidently loves horses. But you can see, just by looking at him, you wouldn’t want to face him in a court of law. The words gritty and tenacious come to mind.

Quite a few senior Kenyan officials must be terrified right now.  They should be. The pursuit of justice at The Hague might not be swift but the results are likely to be enduring for the main protagonists of the post-election violence. You see, they are to be charged with genocidal acts and crimes against humanity! And Ocampo says he wants to make ‘an example’ of Kenya.

Ocampo came here a few weeks back to establish whether a ‘local tribunal’, to try suspects in Kenya, was going to be established. Word from Harambee House (the Sate President’s office) was that no, it was not going to happen. Fine, Ocampo said, and promptly jumped back on his plane to present pre-trial evidence at The Hague.

Kenyan politics can sometimes be so transparent that it’s laughable* … I don’t think Ocampo’s plane had even landed back in Holland by time President Kibaki and others were backtracking and saying they WERE in fact going to establish the local option. Too late, Ocampo cried.

Aside from Kibaki’s sham statement, there actually have been a few attempts to establish a local tribunal to try suspects. So far, they have been without success: the scheduled debates are being boycotted in parliament. So far, there has not even been a quorum of members in attendance (for a variety of reasons).

The international community sees a local tribunal as the preferred option (rather than the ICC) and just two days ago, Hawkeye Annan bemoaned the fact that the local option had not been established. But if Hawkeye knew anything about the reality of politics, and the current judiciary, in Kenya, he would actually be rather glad … The most likely outcome of the local tribunal would be that the envelope gets stolen!

But, jokes aside (and I guess it’s not really a joking matter), if anyone were actually to stand trial locally (already a very doubtful prospect), it would be beyond 2012, for sure. You see, things here move slooooooowly. But 2012 is the year of Kenya’s next general election and the habit here is to treat parliamentarians like gods. The result would be that everyone of note (by then re-elected public officers) would be found innocent. This would be for a variety of fabricated reasons.

The most likely reason for lack of convictions would simply be due to a lack of evidence. Well, not exactly a lack of evidence but, as I have tried to say above, …

… a large pile of dead evidence ...


Extrajudicial killings may be ‘aimed at’ (if I may use the term) slightly less desirable members of this society. But, if truth be told, the instigators of those killings (not the ‘executors’ themselves) are perhaps a lot less desirable in this society. If this society is to break the shackles of enslavement from years of political, economic and social repression, it has to rid itself of the forces that purport to be its ‘elected’ leadership but which are really just nefarious individuals (and groups) playing a very dangerous game of power politics, for personal gain.

With that, I am requesting anyone who has one, please to send me a used (but not TOO USED) South African bulletproof vest for Christmas. I saw on TV the other night that they are the best!

B-)

(* On exactly the day that Kofi Annan flew in last week, Minister of  Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, found it necessary to make a comment on the urgent need to reform the police force. A strange coincidence indeed, because Saitoti has not said much about this urgency before Annan’s arrival. But, he added, Kenya just cannot afford the reforms and will need help from the international donor community. Funnily, he fell short of telling the world that Parliament is about to redecorate its chambers at a cost of over a Billion Shillings!)

Dignitaries and fashion 'dignity'?

There’s quite a lot I could write about the recent departure of Kofi Annan and Graca Machel from the shores of Kenya. I could write about misguided faith in the judiciary. I could write about their level-headedness while the nation is screaming. I could write about the truth behind petty politicking for powerful positions. I could write about the fact that the nation is NOT divided at all; the divisions are created by the politicians for their own miserable ends. And so on, and so on.

But I am not going to write about any of this. It is too frustrating and almost brings tears to my eyes. A nation flounders while the rich drown in the fruits that belong to the people.

Instead, I am going to write (very briefly) about something that has just come to my attention ... through something said on Capital FM. It is vitally important to the future of this country:

The woman of Kenya need to get some dress-sense beyond the straight-laced grey, brown and black suits that they wear every day to work. Why is it that a nation of such beautiful women land up wearing such dreadfully dreary clothes to work? The point was noted on the radio and suddenly I was hit, like the proverbial bolt from the sky.

“That’s it”, I thought. “That’s why, despite all these beautiful women, everything looks so dull on the streets”.

As I have noted before, it happens at least once a day that I am struck by some woman’s beauty on the street. And Kenyan women know they have pride of place in the African beauty stakes, for sure. But why do they all dress so conservatively? I know it’s a church-going nation, for sure. But, hey, Jesus never said you can’t wear a bit of colour in your cloth …!

Sheesh. It has taken me an absolute age to realize the absolute dreariness of the fashions here. I am amazed I didn’t see it before. I must have been blinded by the ‘order of things’ in Kenya, and perhaps by the facial beauty of so many that live in this incredible country.

I mean, God populated Kenya with 42 tribes in a very particular way. Here are a few of his preferred choices:

He put the Kikuyu here to run things, and to make sure business boomed (despite the greed of the leadership).

He put the Luhya (and gave them a surly disposition) to work mainly in the police force. Never smiling, always seemingly miserable, they keep order on the roads particularly.

Then He put the Maasai to look after the cattle and goats (and also to prevent unwanted visitors at your home). And He thought the little colour they give the place would help (in the face of dreary fashion sense).

He put the Kamba here to look after the inside of your house and the garden. He also put some of them here to spread a little ju-ju when things get a bit too materialistic!

He put the Kisii here just to upset things every now and then with a temper tantrum. To help them he put the Meru – just in case anyone gets too big for their boots (the Meru arrogance usually sorts it).

He put the original Swahilis here just to smile on, benignly and knowingly (and to chew a lot of the miraa).

Then, finally, he dragged the Luo from the Nile basin and put the men here to buy the shiny suits and drive the Hummers (even when there’s no food at home). He even put one of them here so he could become president of the United States.

Then, in one of His last decisions, He put the Luo women here to keep the place looking goooooooood when all else fails.

He in His infinite wisdom.

If South Africa is the Rainbow Nation then Kenya is the Kaleidoscope.

What a beautiful country. Wild, for sure.

Beautiful people (lakini, kwanini hakuna fashion sense?).

But a fantastic place it is. I love it ...!

With that, amani na mapenzi to all.

B-)

‘John’ the Baptized

As of Sunday 6^th December 2009 he shall be known as ‘John’ Maina Njenga; for he has been ‘born again’ and baptized such at Bishop (and Assistant Minister for Housing) Margaret Wanjiru’s ‘Jesus is Alive Ministries’. Until recently, he was boss of Kenya’s horrific Mungiki sect (see a few previous blogs). Now he says he’s “a fish”. ‘John’ is clearly a changed man.

Bishop Wanjiru took the trouble of telling us on TV that ‘John’ was ‘serious’ about his new self and that the landscape of Kenya was forever changed. I thought this was quite strange because never before have I heard of a newborn being given high-level support regarding the genuineness of his infant status. There she was, smile fixed on her face, eyes darting from side to side, as she made public her statement on ‘John’ the Baptized. John’s brief swim (in what looked like a cattle dip pen) was reportedly followed by a brief swim by a few hundred other Mungiki members (or should I say ex Mungiki members?). Not all were dipped into the flock. Some will have to come back again next week.

Until 40 days ago, Maina Njenga was sitting at King’ong’o maximum-security prison in Nyeri. He was previously at the infamous Kamiti Prison and while at Kamiti he had threatened to ‘name names’. Among those names were reputed to be senior government officials and MP’s responsible for sponsoring Mungiki in certain ‘dirty deeds’. Maina was moved to Nyeri. Everyone thought he had disappeared. As in, permanently disappeared … But no, he was safe in Nyeri.

Then, just as suddenly again, Maina was released from prison. And he was released on the same day that saw the release of Thomas Cholmondeley (pronounced ‘Chomly’), grandson to Lord Delamere (now-deceased), one of the “Happy Valley” (as in “Rift Valley”) group that the book and movie “White Mischief” was based on.  Cholmondeley had been given a term of 8 months after being convicted for the murder of an alleged poacher. This happened on the 57,000 hectare Delamere farming estate, near Naivasha and was his second charge of murder. He served a little less than the allotted 8 months …

It was of course hoped that by releasing Maina and Thomas together on the same day, the peoples’ outcry would surround Cholmondeley’s premature release and no one would notice that Maina had been sprung too. The fact is that there was hardly an outcry about either release. A bit on TV. A front page of the daily papers on the Friday they got out. But no follow up. No analysis pertaining to why they might have been both released on the same day …

So what is one to make of all of this?  

‘Street opinion’ is that Maina's threat to ‘name names’ was met, quite simply, with a very serious threat upon his life.  But he could not die mysteriously in prison. In this case, Mungiki would have made one of their notorious revenge attacks – perhaps in Loresho or Karen – and perhaps one or two of local MPs’ family members would have been found, sans head, in the street (or perhaps with their eyes gouged out). Rather than face this possibility, it is widely believed that the guilty MP’s thought it wiser to organise the release of the Mungiki leader ...  But with an offer he couldn’t exactly refuse. 

The script would go something like this:

“We release you, and you shut up. You go with Margaret and get born again. Then everyone will think it’s legitimate. Or … we send the hit squad (with their AK47’s) to kill you in the street (as has just happened to Mungiki’s second-in-command) and we say we got a tip off that you were about to commit a crime. And you see this pistol …? We will plant it on you after you are dead, to prove that you were up to no good.

Whaddya say Maina?”

[Maina nods in solemn agreement (in what's known as a 'win-win' situation!)]

Upon handing down Thomas Cholmondeley’s sentence, the judge said there could only be “one justice” in Kenya and there should not be favouritism before the law, just because of historical roots, blah blah blah.

Interesting observation really.

Maina was facing something like 28 charges of murder (not sure exactly how many, because we didn’t get to hear the docket read in court). His historical roots are contemplated with terror by a great many people here. There was no way he was going to defend himself successfully against all the cases (even WITH the threatening of witnesses). And murder carries the death sentence in Kenya. 

Very strange too that he was released after serving much less time than old Tommy (who eventually faced only a manslaughter charge). The police didn’t even bother to defend themselves (not that there was any outcry, as I have said).

Let’s face it. They both should have been convicted and should have served very long terms.

Murder aside, if we look in another arena of ‘equal justice’, it is interesting to note that there has NEVER been a successful prosecution of high-level corruption in Kenya (and I don’t think there’s been much by way of indictment either).

And more: Wednesday (December 9^th) is World Anti-Corruption Day. There is a big exhibition today, with displays by the many (and effective!) interested parties. It is being held at ‘Integrity Centre’ (sic), the head office of Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission (sic). I am very excited. I really must go.

Footnote: ‘Equality before the law’ is an ideal towards which every society should strive. But the realization of this hope is really a dream (virtually in every society).

The concept is a joke.

In Kenya the joke is truly hilarious. But as President Kibaki would put it, this is simply "Our Kenya".

With concerned thoughts …

B-)

Clean Water Exhaustion

Like much of Africa, Kenya has been experiencing severe drought. In areas to the north, like Garissa near the Somali border, and the regions of Samburu and Lake Turkana, even the camels have been dying from dehydration! The recent ‘short rains’ have relieved some of the pressure, but the drought is by no means broken.

In Nairobi, the effect of the drought has been the introduction of water rationing on a well-regulated, now-you-have-it-now-you-don’t basis. One minute you hear water gurgling through the pipes … next minute you’re carrying a bucket of water to flush the loo. Plastics companies have made a fortune through the manufacture and sale of storage tanks that stand everywhere in peoples’ houses. And when it’s been a-gurgling there’s a massive rush for everyone to fill up their tanks. One wonders if the rationing has any effect at all with the amounts that are drawn when there IS water.

Be that as it may, the rationing has heralded some quite discomfiting times. There have been days when some areas have been devoid of the sacred maji for more than two days at a stretch! And water needs treatment with Water Guard to prevent bacterial outbreaks while it stands stagnant in the house. Thankfully, PSI (Population Services International) from the US, sponsors much of the cost of the water treatment and it can be obtained for 20 bob a bottle at most small outlets.

Of course, many Kenyans can’t afford even the 20 bob and have had to suffer as a result. Several (thankfully, small) outbreaks of cholera have been experienced. Maybe 100 people have died. Many of them have been children.

Until recently, the outbreaks have been quite mystifying, affecting only small parts of a particular community or perhaps just one small residential area. But, after a while, the source of these isolated occurrences became clearer.

Let me explain as best I can …

There are three main types of tanker trucks seen in Nairobi. The first is the common-garden petrol tanker that takes petrol, paraffin and other flammable, petro-chemical products from Mombasa all the way through to the Ugandan capitol of Kampala or even Kigali, in Rwanda. Using what are sometimes extremely bad roads, these tankers are prone to capsize. Kenyans are incinerated quite regularly when the liquid cargo catches alight as scores of villagers busily fill their buckets from the tanker’s prostrate hull.

Now, because of the drought, it has become common to see ‘water tankers’ on the roads. These blue-painted behemoths bear the legend ‘Clean Water’, emblazoned in white on their sides. They are charged with delivering maji to houses, hotels, commercial areas and residential ‘estates’. And along Ngong Road, there is something of a Tanker-Stop where 20 or more of these tankers can be seen at any one time, waiting for the call to action.

Then there is the third type of tanker: the ‘exhaust tanker’. Because water-borne sewage systems are uncommon in Nairobi, septic tanks require emptying, and residential estates (what the US calls ‘projects’) have to rely on ‘exhaust tankers’ to come and relieve the build-up of human waste and effluents. Also along Ngong Road, one sees these exhaust tankers parked in their plenty too. Many of them carry the charming legend of ‘Honey Sucker’ emblazoned on the side. These tankers are painted … you guessed it … brown.

But, lo-and-behold, there has been the recent, anomalous emergence of a new style of tanker: ‘the hybrid’. This style of tanker is two-tone. It has a freshly painted blue tank that says, like all the others, ‘Clean Water’. However, the tank itself stands on a chassis and frame that is suspiciously BROWN …!

You work it out!

Ever-keen to make a buck where possible, it seems that many of the tanker owners have resorted to what Kenyans are wont to call ‘unscrupulous’ business practices. It’s amazing what a bucket of blue paint can do for an erstwhile Honey Sucker’s business!

I’m just glad that it wasn’t my child that fell victim to the stuff of the two-tone tanker!

With love.

B-)