Mbunge La Mwananchi under threat from Government

Comrades,

In solidarity with Mbunge, it is clear that the police are trying to break Mbunge. We should not give them an opportunity to.

Whereas I agree with Onyango Oloo and Muthoni Wanyeki, - who have elsewhere elaborately given many good lessons and raised concerns on the matter of organising; of exercising caution; of diligence and keeping their cool in the face of bare aggression from the state; of avoiding singular pseudo-heroism stunts; I am afraid the charges against Gacheke and 22 others [arrested in Kiamaiko at a tea kiosk, held and later charged with belonging to an illegal sect -mungiki] is a continuation of the "arrest and kill all young (and more often Kikuyu) persons and bury them at night" scenario so practiced since the octogenarian then Minister for Internal Security, one John Michuki declared that we will be hearing "burials here and burials there".

It has nothing to do with strategy of Mbunge la Mwananchi (since taking tea - in a group or otherwise-has never been a criminal activity)I think we should more focus on the grand idea of the government, of the NSIS and all: to break Mbunge.

We should, on recognising the unique place of Mbunge in the organisation of the civil society, seek to strengthen it, to create opportunities that enable Mbunge members to do their work in the best way, to equip them with skills, not to tame them, but to help them organise and organise effectively.There are very many hard lessons there (in Mbunge) and alot of anger and alot of dissatisfaction, and so many hungers.

If there is anything a person of conscience can lose very very fast in this country, it is their temper. And it is hard to cry alone in the bedroom - for those who have such. We are lax at organising, and at collectivising our voice, and at bringing ourselves to think together.

I have attended several meetings called by the civil society, some of them planning meetings, but there are two distinct voices there:

1. Some people feel the civil society likes and thrives on meetings and meetings, that in these meetings people theorise and never act.
2. Some people feel that meetings are important to consolidate ideas, get buy in, and mobilise the people and the space.

Both voices are right, but the trick is in balancing the two, not in demonising either (as has been the case usually) and NOT in having one and disregarding the other.

xxxxx

Some lesson from Nigeria:

During the chaos in Nigeria as captured in Wole Soyinka's You Must Set off at Dawn under the chapter "Uncivil Wars: The Third Force and Mid -West Incursion" there was alot of political machinations ala present day Kenya. On January 16th 1966, Wole Soyinka was so annoyed at the sham elections and with the fact of Ladoke Akintola's of NNDP and NCNC's "un-grand"coalition to take over government in the huge Western Africa Country, that he, SINGLE-HANDEDLY, raided the national radio and exchanged the tape containing his own taped speech with that of the "president's acceptance speech". His vehement speech against what he saw as "political thuggery" was broadcast on national radio! And by the time it was being noticed and he was being sought for, he was headed for the nearest border.

xxxxxx

But was he working alone ? NO! He was working with insiders and outsiders, most of them blinds (the guy who took him to the radio station -and instructed at gunpoint to take off after 30 mins if Soyinka did not return - only knew what Soyinka was doing when he heard the national broadcast!) But the movement knew, everybody knew what they HAD to know, not everything; and it consisted of all and sundry, from border guards to taxi drivers to orderlies in offices to operators of machines to high ranking executives...

And this is the lesson we must learn: That people have various uses, capacities and personalities. Let the movement for a free and democratically governed Kenya use them, but let us never seek homogeneity! We can never be the same, yet we must organise and be organised.

The take over of our social movements, of the space for action by politicians through plagiarism (remember 'bado mapambano') infiltration, use of co-option, use of divisive politics and the use of terror MUST be resisted.

WE MUST BE ALIVE TO FIGHT TOMORROW, BUT IF WE DIE, WE MUST DIE FIGHTING A GOOD FIGHT

Some people have no EARS

As a youngman, my mother used to send me to stiches when at times she got so annoyed with our misdoings and after beating us to crying (we loved to be beaten, it was a show of love...actually sometimes we went out looking for a beating)...anyway my mother used to say "some people have no ears" and i would halt my tears and burst out laughing...i could not imagine a person without ears, not really about hearing, but about the shape of that person's head...

i mean really, imagine someone without ears...closer home, think about Matakwei and the earless of Mt Elgon...and you would know the absurdity of that phrase and the pain of not having ears.

but I am telling you that the people running this country have no ears for hearing.

consider this, ICPC, CRECO Membership, KNCHR, FIDA, IRF and many other civic society actors said: ammend that law on the tribunal before it is debated; amend it so that it can be acceptable; ammend it to remove the amnesty clause and to protect it from legal challenge, ammend it and take some time to build consensus and ensure that it is not shot down, please ammend it so that it can get a national buy-in; don't rush it because you will fall in the six month trap....

they refused to listen, they went ahead, and fell into the pit...one karua called it collective responsibility...i don't know what that means, but it is a nice way to fail

come to think of it, have these guys failed, or as a people are we just myopic and unable to see the forest for the trees (whatever!)?

I think kibaki and raila wanted the local tribunal to fail -LEGALLY-so that they may get some let up on the pressure to perform and to deal with issues of AGENDA 4 and especially the constitution and matters of impunity. they prayed for the tribunal to fail because they know if kofi anan gives the letter to Moreno, he will take a lot of time to get his act together and therefore the coalition government (that facilitates their collective stealing from the public coffers) survives much longer...after all, it is clear, and there is a bill and the hansard as PROOF, that they tried; it is the mps who are rogue

and the mps, what did they want? they wanted the local tribunal to fail, not to be instituted here, some for the reasons same as those for kibaki and raila, and others for the reason that since they suspect they are in the list (or may be adversely mentioned in the proceedings) they don't have to go to the expense of hiring lawyers...and after all it would all be very messy considering the competition they faced in the last elections: anything that threatens their five year term is an enemy...

so, my mother should know i am not laughing when i am saying this, am really angry and i now know what it means not to have ears(for hearing)...

Kenyans, i pray that we locate the leaders' ears (not for hearing) and pinch them; it is only that their ears (for hearing) can be activated

kianyaga perspective

This is a report

a friend of mine who comes from Kianyaga and goes by the name chomba njeru (literally, his name means european white) called me this morning to tell me his take on the coalition government ...i must admit i was taken aback that he, actually, was reporting this collusion government to me!

said he: I am really annoyed that people have spent about a year, 365 days of the sun rising and setting, trying to discuss the goings on in the coalition government! these talking kenyans are idlers, liars, ignominous characters, charlatans, useless ... (i have edited some epithets for purposes of maintaining the decorum of this blogg)

said i:

said he: i can describe what this coalition government is doing in one word:

ũvĩsĩ

said i: okay george ... oops chomba njeru, i will blogg it.

I donot seem to know what ũvĩsĩ means, (since i actually have no links with Kianyanga except by the virtue of the fact that i know his ancestors, as teenagers, got lost [and so settled] in the land of many ridges when my ancestors send them to follow the ameru to recover some nzavĩ seeds they were given by my ancestors)

but i am sure this person, like many more people around the country, is annoyed at the charade of arrogance the government is parading

the question is; how much longer can this pent up energy be held in the breasts of the people of this country? aren't we an active volcano momentarily subsided by the lie of two hyenas (complete with squadrons of hangers on) agreeing to live in the same house?

citizen,
put your ears on the ground, and lets talk, not about the Kenya we want, but about how to get, unnoticed, beyond the hut housing the two hyenas and their hangers on, and go to the rivers of plenty beyond.

aluta continua

why, why why debate on the kenya we want? WHY?

why belabour the issues of the Kenya we want? come on people, stop using all that tax funds and just listen


Ask yourself, what does raila or kibaki want to hear that will make them better leaders? what don't the people of kenya know and what haven't they said? what new thing/idea will come out of all this? what new thing will moi say? isn't this a circus?

we should be bold and tell our said leaders: you guys talked from 2004 to mid 2008 about things that made us hate and kill one another.

NOW IT IS TIME TO WORK, STOP ENCOURAGING TALKING AS A THERAPEUTIC METHOD OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTROL: act Act ACt ACT! Do something, don't say something!


the problem in Kenya can be sorted this way:

1. raila and kibaki become national leaders- not people captured by party, cronies and family
2. avert threat of famine and drought. arrest maize theives and oil merchants and try them
3. end impunity by making a new constitution (in it ensure all rights, devolve power, and institute accountability)
4. conduct new elections to get new leaders: ALL CURRENT mps BE BARRED
5. retrain the police and throw out the current top leadership they have
6. arrest those perpetrators of violence as identified by Waki and try them now!
7. harvest and store water (pump it from the sea if need be) and irrigate the country
8. promote -in all ways- sustainability in education, farming and industry
9. Dont just sit or stand there talking, do something! walk the talk or shut up!
10. stop this circus of good, meaningless and unimplementable meetings' resolutions

now that is OUR Kenya.

can i hear AMEN?