THEIR KENYA…

Kenya, independent since 1963, with seamless power transitions that have seen only three men preside over its state of affairs to date. She is an island of peace, devoid of any civil wars or coup d’états.  A stable country if you ask its leaders, a country that is progressive and sensitive to the needs of its citizens, where the quality of life is good for the citizens. The famous free primary school milk program and the free education policy are more than enough testament to this.

In the eyes of those who govern her, that is Kenya for you. They are right you know, when you compare beautiful Kenya with other countries in Africa that have had annual regime changes through coups and assassinations, Kenya is indeed a  bastion of stability, only Gabon, Zimbabwe and Libya have been led by fewer leaders over the past 40 years. In their Kenya, the leaders lead and the followers follow, no questions asked. That is their interpretation of stability. They say that instability arises when the followers start doubting the words and wisdom of those who lead. That is how they explain Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea Bissau and Cote d’ Ivoire.

Leaders in Kenya are the law, regardless of the fact that there exists a set of laws known as the Constitution of Kenya, which are meant to govern the land. In the leaders Kenya, chest thumping and arrogance is equated to power and this explains why the Constitution is treated with the dignity of a tattered pocket sized dictionary. Their edicts have seen them  carry out evictions in the name of protecting the “environment”, banning individuals from setting foot in point A or B “in the interest of public safety” and declaring themselves fit to decide the interests of the nation even when faced with scandals.

They are such warriors who would prefer fighting their battles to the end; like the late great Omar Bongo, they would rather die in power than accept any shortcomings on their part. How would we expect them to have any shortcomings when they know that they have none? They receive tax free incomes, drive top of the range cars, their lives are perfect, they are perfection personified. In their perfect world there are no crises, just small problems that need not be blown out of proportion.

With their perfect vision, they constantly neglect that tiny, minute, irritating blind spot that seems not to bother them. A blind spot consisting of inflammatory statements, corruption, insecurity, environmental degradation, poor and displaced persons. They are so decisive and divisive in their speech, as witnessed during the post election violence, so indecisive in their actions, as demonstrated by their efforts to reconcile the nation in the wake of the violence.

For four and a half years of their five year term, their Kenya is good to them. They remember our Kenya during the last six months of that term; that’s when they need us to return them to their Kenya. That’s not right.

OUR KENYA

Our Kenya is vibrant, diverse, innovative, and entrepreneurial but their Kenya impacts negatively on our Kenya. Their indecisiveness and divisive talk has the rest of the country living on the edge, debating their next move. While they are the masters of double, triple or quadruple speak, our Kenya is made up of people who walk their talk, people who know that actions speak louder than words.

With the free lessons in how not to lead a nation broadcast in the print and electronic media on a daily basis, we are learning vital lessons on how to address the issues at hand in a sober manner without reverting to our tribal and class cocoons. This may appear like a herculean task but one day we will be successful and the country will be back on the long abandoned road to prosperity. This is a respectful, god fearing Kenya where the resilient citizens toil hard everyday just to earn an income while contributing to nation building. We pay taxes, experience water shortages, mind numbing traffic jams, constant power outages but you will not hear us complaining. Instead we pick up the pieces and soldier on no matter the circumstances.

The Kenya that I live in is progressive and tolerant; its citizens view each other as brother and sister despite our different ethnic backgrounds. Having witnessed the 2008 post election violence first hand, there cannot be any room for hate or discrimination. We must all get along despite our different ethnic, political, gender and religious backgrounds.

Heck! My circle of friends is as diverse as the rainbow!

The Kenya that I live in tolerates inter ethnic marriages, allows women to be in positions of power and influence, allows the youth and society in general to think outside the box and earn a living pursuing non traditional professions related to their passions and natural talents, and not necessarily related to their educational backgrounds. This is not to say that education is not important.

Corruption is the blemish of their Kenya and they insist on passing the baton to our Kenya by reneging on their pledges to serve the nation honestly and with integrity. They pass the baton when they play the politics of greed that sees them amass wealth in embarrassing proportions. They seem to forget that leadership is servitude, well, we in our Kenya are well aware of the fact that a leader is supposed to serve and that while in a position of leadership there cannot be any room for corruption. We refuse to receive the baton of corruption and other ills being forced into our hands.

Our Kenya has a unity of purpose; together we are one and as one there is only so much we can achieve, progress. Our Kenya is one Kenya…but their Kenya bogs us down.

I heard them say the revolution will not be televised
whoever said that oh..they were ill advised
this revolution will reach the masses
it is cutting across the classes
its time for us to be the leaders of the revolution
you see…
the revolution’s here..no matter what they say
as we change the world..they cannot block the way
they will fight us..spite us…but we will carry the day
we are changing the world..they cannot stand in the way
like Luda says its time for them to “get out the way”

this is a revolution for the disillusioned youth
let down by leaders who are so uncouth
they specialize in lies..they are alien to the truth
that’s why when they’re faced with the truth
they cannot handle the truth

with extreme precision…they’ve mastered indecision
making incisions into our hearts without inhibition
selfishly in pursuit of their dreams and ambition
they are trying to mess up with our beautiful vision
but this revolution is coming to fruition

we are tired of the conniving and the contradiction
we long for the days when we were served with conviction
when honesty was such a sweet addiction
when systems worked in sync…without contradiction
when we mingled freely…without fear of eviction

this revolution is not only political
it should touch every part of our life…that is critical
because change starts within…let us not be hypocritical
if I can change…if you can change…the world would be less cynical
that’s a true revolution…a revolution that’s clinical

a revolution that preaches integrity…
a revolution that teaches us how to respect humanity
a revolution that says no to impish unity
impunity…disunity
a revolution that promotes a harmonious community

I heard them say the revolution will not be televised
but it don’t have to…
the revolution is happening right here…right now

Mstari Wa Nne/Maik Kwambo © 2009

I would like to consider myself a peace loving person, someone who is tolerant and objective. I have often been accused of taking a moderate approach towards many issues in life. I plead guilty to that charge and to all those who love throwing accusations,here is a newsflash , ” I don’t care!”

My environment is clogged with presumptious conspiracy theorists who always believe that everything, every incident carried with it a hidden, often ulterior motive. I find myself dealing with all sorts of extremists who believe that their view alone holds water, yours means nothing at all to them.

They will speak, force you to listen to them and probably even force you to join their chain of thought. Woe unto you if you opt to go astray by standing your ground. You will be abused, belittled and accused of all sorts misdeeds. This is my Kenya. It’s not only the politicians who are filled with such bile, but the ordinary citizens too. Signs of extremism and intolerance are evident daily in online discussion forums, bar conversations to name but a few.

I find it quite ironic that we accuse our politicians of being insensitive, intolerant and extremist yet we are the worst. What does it gain us to refuse to tolerate views different from ours? What does it cost us to appreciate our diversity, the various talents and skill sets that we have? Absolutely nothing!

I cannot force everyone to be a moderate like I am. I can only urge all of us to be tolerant of each other. It’s not hard, try it and see how far we can go as a country

Vision 2030 is just the state of their eyes
it is a vision I don’t think that they shall realize
you see I’m
waking up in the morning
and the mood is like we’re mourning
has it hit them? is it dawning?
do they need so many warnings?
they spoke about
water for all by the year 2000
it is 2009 they ration water in the city..

electricity’s a good commodity to have these days
only when it’s not blacking out like the village drunk…for days

my government…it’s ministries..
they work hard..they’re full of industry
their end result…a mystery
their salaries..our misery

they amazed us the way they used public funds
to fly and watch television far away in Obama’s land
they had the audacity to appeal for famine relief
yet they wallow in opulence that simply brings us grief
they ride in fuel guzzlers..to the big house to muzzle us
they turn a blind eye…the public interest they defy
they reinstate vandals associated with scandals
they are posturing creatures who threatened striking teachers
the economy they spoil..with shortages of oil
food prices they raise..by withholding maize
waiting for disaster at Likoni to rush to the jikoni
wanatime hiyo kisanga ndiyo wanunue ferry wanga

fire fire burning in the city..many people dead..what a pity
state response..kinda shitty…death toll…nearly fifty

they sow seeds of greed..people die from this misdeed

over a hundred dead in Molo..have we buried our morals?

angry people..hungry people..state response..kinda feeble
leaders blame one another for all kinds of alleged evils

they spend their time in political prostitution
forget about things like a new constitution
they engage themselves in self gratification
they are the masters of political masturbation
blind to the facts of instability and starvation
they are extremely out of touch with the nation

vision 2030 is just the state of their eyes….

Kenya’s Media Owners Association (MOA) has called on President Mwai Kibaki not to assent to the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill passed by Parliament on Wednesday.

MOA Vice Chairman Martin Khafafa speaking at a press conference on Thursday, termed the proposed law that is awaiting President Kibaki’s final approval as draconian and not in line with any democratic principes as it curtails the freedom of information and goes against the rule of self regulation.

“We cannot allow the people who we pay to take away our voice, to take away our ability to think on our own. Freedom of expression is a basic human right enshrined in our constitution since independence. We will fight for it with our very lives,” he said.

”The media today says ‘Mr President, save our country. Please do not sign this Bill into law. Mr Prime Minister, save our country. Please do not agree for this to go any further’.”

Lawmakers collectively passed the Bill on Wednesday ignoring pleas by media stakeholders for them to delete Section 88 of the Bill, which gives the government powers to confiscate broadcasting equipment during national emergencies.

The new law hands power to the Information Minister to dictate broadcast content. It proposes that stations commit a minimum amount of time to locally produced content in lieu of which they will pay a fine to be used to “develop the Kenyan production industry”.

Khafafa said, “yesterday Parliament passed a law to ensure the media can never again tell the Kenyan people about their impunity and irresponsible looting of our taxes”.

He added, “Our politicians have now consigned all of Kenya to a permanent darkness. A darkness in which they will determine what they want Kenyans to hear and see and at what time they wish us and Kenyans to do so.”

Information and Communications Minister Samuel Poghisio supported the Bill, saying was it aims to enhancing the regulation of the broadcasting sector and provided a legal framework to encourage professionalism in the media industry.

In the past week,some MPs had indicated that they would pass the Bill “to punish the media” over the extensive coverage of their failure to pay taxes on their hefty allowances.

“We feel it is a direct revenge against our exposure against their lack of paying taxes,” said Khafafa.

The MOA further accused Poghisio and his Permanent Secretary Dr.Bitange Ndemo of reneging on promises to delete the controversial clauses.

Editors had asked Parliament and the Government to erase draconian clauses in the Bill, which they said could curtail freedom of speech and information. They had said that they would have no option but to go to court to have it repelled.

The Bill was passed by Ninth Parliament but the Head of State returned it to Parliament for amendments after the media fraternity raised issues with the oppressive clauses. It had to be re-introduced in the 10th Parliament.

Below is the Headline Story in the Jamhuri Day edition of The Daily Nation ( COURTESY OF THE NATION MEDIA GROUP)

Don’t sign this bill Mr President

The Government, working through the Postal Corporation of Kenya, can now open your letters without the authority of the courts.

If your MP steals from the Constituency Development Fund and buys a fleet of limousines, your town newspaper cannot look over his fence and photograph them.

If you insult anyone on SMS, you will most certainly go to jail.

And when there is rioting in Kibera and police use live ammunition to put down the protests, the minister for Internal Security can send officers to TV stations to destroy equipment so that reports of the shootings are not aired.

It is the minister for Information, Mr Samuel Poghisio — who, by the way, is being accused by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission of defrauding taxpayers — who will decide what can be broadcast, when and in what form.

He will do so by giving guidelines to a Communications Commission of Kenya made up of people hand-picked by him.

The minister claims he needs the powers to control obscene and objectionable materials, but the new law is deliberately vague, so that politicians will have the leeway to do as they please.

These are just but a few of the examples of the effect of the Kenya Communications (amendment) Bill, 2008, which Parliament enthusiastically passed on Wednesday afternoon.

That fraudulent law is not really about the media; it is about civil liberties. If you believe that it is right for the Government to read your mail, your SMSs and to decide what you can watch on TV, then you can sit back and relax.

But the nature of civil liberty violations is that once the Government has tasted blood, it will not stop there. It will keep taking them until a perfect dictatorship is established.

President Kibaki took an oath to defend the Constitution and civil liberties. Those were not mere words that he uttered; he must live to their spirit by returning to Parliament for amendment this Bill, which, with the stroke of a pen, would sink Kenya into the pits of infamy.

With one signature, it would take away the freedoms of expression, thought and communications that make our cherished democracy.

Throughout his political career, Mr Kibaki, despite his diplomatic mien, has been known for a certain quiet determination.

In the 1970s, he was the only Cabinet minister with the libertarian instincts to attend the premiere of plays by dissident authors regarded as radioactive by politicians of those days.

His partner in government, Mr Raila Odinga, has suffered personal pain for demanding the freedoms that the Government is now in danger of taking away.

It is not always easy to recognise history as momentous when you are living it. MPs may not have realised how big a blunder, and what an injustice they were inflicting on the nation, when in 1982 they voted for Section 2(A), outlawing multi-partyism.

That decision precipitated a coup attempt and unleashed a dictatorship whose excesses are the cause of the poverty and hardship that Kenyans experience today.

The violations of human rights in the 1980s and the Government-driven development of ethnic hatred and politically-instigated clashes, which culminated in the massacres early this year and nearly broke the country apart, can be traced back to that single appalling vote.

In 1987, very few visionaries saw the folly of stripping holders of constitutional offices of their security of tenure.

Kenya was a democracy only in name, but even in a dictatorship, it is expedient to maintain a façade of respectability to keep the masses settled and dissidents in check.

The arrogance of power had persuaded the Kanu power-brokers that the fear of detention and torture could extinguish the candle of freedom in the human soul.

It flickered on through the darkness of the Nyayo House dungeons, the secret graves and the tribal massacres. Today, it is still burning.

Those who authored the mlolongo fiasco of 1988 thought they were being clever and “strong” by ridding politics of dissidents and enforcing conformity.

Ultimately, that decision — by forcing sections of the political elite to rebel against their own party — cost Kanu power and produced an inter-play of events, the result of which is the fragile politics of today; the weak, insecure state and near economic collapse.

The vote by Parliament to strip Kenyans of civil liberties in revenge because of the media’s coverage of the taxation of MPs’ salaries is an issue of the moment and one whose historic vibrations will be felt well into the future.

President Kibaki must not miss the moment, nor must he delude himself that this is an event without consequences for the country he swore to protect, and for his own legacy.

The law to gag the media — which otherwise seeks to regulate the ICT and broadcast industry — has been passed in gall and anger.

But it is the one act, which finally throws aside the cloak of parliamentary politics, enabling Kenyans to see in stark relief the truth about corruption, evasion of tax and the breakdown of representation in Kenyan politics.

In April 2006, the world was horrified when Kenyan MPs threatened to throw out that year’s budget if their mileage allowances were not increased.

At the time, donors had issued an appeal to feed millions who were facing starvation. What kind of leader would demand a pay raise when the people are starving?

The subversion of the legislative process to serve personal, myopic and emotional or financial needs in this brazen fashion will hopefully draw the attention of Kenyans to an awful truth: they spend a lot of money on elections and maintaining the National Assembly, they paid a high price for the election of their MPs, but these leaders are not their true representatives.

Rather, the men and women in the House work for the interests of their own feudal estate, a class that sees nothing wrong in bankrupting the impoverished mwananchi (citizen) to protect its own shallow lives of excess and extravagance.

Parliament is today a new aristocracy that has no regard for civil liberties, but is willing to go the extra appalling mile to nurse its own vanities and mask its corruption and emptiness.

Kenyans need to know that parliamentary dictatorship is as evil as any form of dictatorship and is to be fought and vanquished at all costs.