ITS KENYANS WHO ARE ON THE WRONG NOT ONGERI

Why Kenyans are wrong on Ongeri’s resignation-Amugasha Kalengeka

“Each candidate behaves well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the city had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election. And the weak, even if virtuous were too frightened to run for office”.
Niccolo Machiavelli

At the time the education ministry is spell pound by massive accusation and counter accusations in the ministry it behooves us to look deep into the words of this phenomenon Italian writer and statesman.

Yesterday several activist led by the vocal yet unbowed Okoit Omkiya Omtata were arrested for barricading entry to the education minister’s office. But the general feeling here is that Kenyans are placing too much a burden on a few people-the activist.

We elect leaders with no history of integrity. They buy us off like cheap commodities into their office.yet with all that posturing and clear indication of graft glaring at us at the preliminaries we gladly vote them in.
We vote in people with illegally acquired wealth who seek power not to serve the people but to protect their interest.

George Orwell the celebrated English writer equated the people in powers to pigs. In his book the Animal Farm Orwell says, ‘They looked at the pigs, then at man and to the pigs and they did not seem to see any difference.’

All this boils down to the sentiments of Lord Dalberg Acton to Bishop Mandell Creighton. During the Roman Catholism Crisis of 1870, this historian and self proclaimed moralist wrote of the doctrine of papal infability all power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely . A phrase that is famed for to date.
So like the pigs in the Animal’s Farm, leaders usurp powers onto themselves, lock out the subjects and engage in loot en masse.

But as I said earlier the blame lies squarely on us. When the so called leaders traverse the country campaigning for themselves ,our eyes are so much engrossed in their pockets and what comes out of it rather than on their lips and their eyes. That is where we begin losing out.

We forget the general utopian ideal to vote into office leaders with integrity and later live to complain and demonstrate on the streets rather than build the nation.

Superstar up and about the town

 

This Saturday Bungoma was a burst with the best of entertain flavors from the crème de la crème of the Kenyan music industry .Talk of Refiga,Tierra G,Chupi and of course the world famous Wyre the Love Child.

In an exclusive interview with West Fm,Wyre revealed another side of him that is less known to the outside world.

Born in Athi River the mellow voice singer who has been doing music for the last 16 years has earned admiration in the country and beyond for his versatile music and superb vocal. This has put him a class of his own as a musician with a rare finesse.

Wyre fondly known as the love child has churned out chart-busters after another with notable ones being Chuki,Make A Choice and Gimme More distinguishing himself as when of the continents best talents.  He has collaborated with renowned musician like Uganda’s Bebe Cool,Two Face Indibia from Nigeria,Nazizi  among many others.

A charming and collected character Wyre can pass just like any other boy in the hood. He does not carry the usual swagger that accompanies most big names. As a matter of fact he describes himself as a simple guy that can do anything for music.

Asked who is his favorite politician, Wyre is quick to distance himself from politics but believes in the youth’s capability to take on the reigns of leadership in the country .he is involved in various youth empowerment programmes geared towards enlightening the youth through his music. He says his ultimate goal is youth empowerment.

Hey but don’t mess up with Wyre, he reveals that he is a trained Karateka and also burns up excessive calories in the tennis lawn.

Wyre records his own music and juggles between production and performance and says he currently is spending time in the studio to come up with a song to educate the public on the need for peace to avert the possibility of recurrence of the 2007 clashes.

I WILL RESTORE THE JUDICIARY’S LOST GLORY,MUTUNGA SAYS : STORY BY AMUGASHA KALENGEKA

Justice Willy Mutunga has vowed to restore the judiciary’s lost glory, moments after he was sworn in the country’s new chief justice.

In a ceremony presided over by President Mwai Kibaki and PM Raila Odinga Justice Mutunga went down in history as the first chief justice to be sworn in under the new constitution.

In a statement immediately after the swearing ceremony, justice Mutunga has called for corporation amongst all arms of government while maintaining separation of power as required by the new constitution.

Mutunga emphasized that the country and those in the judiciary must uphold the rule of law without equivocation and further reiterated the need to for a level ground for every one before the law.

 He urged other officials in the judiciary not to fall under the lure of corruption and uphold the spirit of the new constitution by promoting fairness, independence and honesty.

Thanking the citizen on the powers bestowed upon him, the new CJ stated that the court will now be accessible to everyone and that all  rulings and pronouncements will be according to the law.

The deputy CJ Nancy Barasa on the other hand expressed gratitude for the people of Kenya for their confidence in her and promised to deliver. She called for the people’s support to ensure justice for all.

However, five judges who were nominated by the Judicial Service Commission for the Supreme Court did not take part in the event following a High court ruling issued on Friday that barred them from participating in the process.

High court Judge Justice Jeanne Gacheche issued the directive following a successful application filed by FIDA and other non governmental bodies challenging their appointment on the grounds of gender disparity.

Keriako Tobiko also survived a heated debate in parliament and protest by members of the public to be sworn in today.

In his speech after the swearing in of the three judicial office holders president Kibaki expressed his confidence in them but challenged them to initiate the changes that Kenyans yearned for. He expressed optimism that they will clear backlogs of cases within the jurisdiction.

Daddy Is Still the Superman

I remember long time ago when I was growing up in the land of small stones and valley, my mother was sick all the time and my dad carried me on his back to school every day. He would then rush to Kizito, that egocentric man whose garden he tended to ensure that my sister and I ate.

Food was scarce and dad would sometime gladly forfeit his meals for our sake. He ensured that we all had our daily fill.

 I was convinced that my dad is a superman. Today I am a grown up, nothing much has changed. I still find my dear old man indispensable. I still look up upon him for advice and guidance whenever I feel lost. It is from him that I learnt some of the life’s greatest of virtues.

“Resilience,” he is fond of telling me, “Resilience..when things get tough relief is close by…gather the pieces and move on.”

Whenever the situation got out of hand and there was nothing for the family to eat, he was always there for us.  Man and his family, Jovial as always. He would tell us stories till we were dead asleep on the floor .Forgetting tenacious pangs of the hunger.

Today my dad is 71.A frail old man, but when I look into his eyes I see the look of a satisfied man who is contended that he has played his role without wavering. It is the look of hope and umpteenth seas of love.

Through his blood and sweat we have survived many a tumultuous moments.

Our fathers may have failed in one way or another; they might have been hard on us  on some occasion but taking a moment to reflect upon it you will realize that it was done in good faith and out of love for us.  

For all those fathers who go to great length, sacrificing their human dignity for the well being of their families, fathers that will go hungry for the sake of their children. Thank you, thank you very much. We your sons are very proud of you.

Can the Little Ones Now Smile?

This is November 16, just another day in Africa. But it is in one such day in 1976 that thousand of children in the black neighborhood of Soweto in South Africa were bludgeoned to death by ruthless apartheid regime when protesting for their rights.

More than three decades to day, it behooves us to ask the obvious of questions, are our children today better than before? Can we stand shoulder tall and claim that justice has truly been done for these young angels?

Writing this is at the backdrop of disturbing media information of archaic behavior of child molestation, hunger and rape all meted against the innocent child. A common foreign media stereotype on the African child which however is frighteningly true in some part of the continent is that of a hapless, tottering kid in ragged clothes, romping up and down the streets begging for food and alms.

But this is not necessarily true for the whole part of the continent. There surely is some light at the end of the tunnels even for the pitch dark parts of the black African continent. The global organ that roots for the rights of the child –UNICEF comfortably declared that child mortality rate has dropped by fifty percent from the year 1960 down the lane to date. That simply means that the number of years a child needed to leave has now doubled in the last five decades. This is not entirely bad news.

More children can now go to school today more than before. Many African countries like Kenya, South Africa and Egypt have elaborately rolled out programmes to facilitate free basic education for their children.

 In ASAL regions of Kenya with tough weather conditions and scarce food water, the government in partnership with sympathetic NGO’S has well executed dietary programmes to help cushion the disadvantaged kids against these harsh conditions. This is an important leap towards the achievement of the millennium development goal -2015 that targets to reduce child mortality.

Africa after all not that bleak. With all the imminent challenges that dogs her we sincerely need to grant her all the due she deserves.

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