Kenya, a new country

Violence has erupted in various parts of the country after Kibaki was today declared president in highly disputed results. It appeared he had been sworn in during the day before the results were announced. Kivuitu the ECK commissioner announced the results shortly before nightfall yet Kibaki's State House had bright sunlight. It means the broadcast was a replay.

A petrol station is on fire in Kibera where Kibaki's main challenger is MP. Kitale, Nairobi's South B and Eastleigh estates are engulfed in smoke. Kenya is a new country. God save us all.

Voting in Nairobi: Mourning Benazir Bhutto

This is a leaflet at the polling station where I voted today. I exercised my democratic right and I hope it will send Kibaki home. Already there are serious flaws in the voting. My favorite candidate's name was missing from the voter's register. Being Kibaki's main challenger, I cannot see how a major presidential challenger to Kibaki can have his name missing in the register. Finally, Raila Odinga went back to his constituency and voted, but not until he had kicked up somem dust.

Rigging takes some brains.



Related to today's voting in Kenya is the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a woman I admired a lot for her courage. Like her father before her, she was killed at the altar of political power. She was shot dead today as she entered her car after a rally. The details are scanty but her death is a stark reminder that leaders who cling to power will stop at nothing to hold onto it.

With hindsight, we can see her return to Pakistan was a grave mistake. Pakistan is not ready for her, and her death was probably calculated to deal democracy a fatal blow. I hope Musharaff who recently shed his military skin has a good explanation for this sad event.

Enter Zumi the ogre

Democracy can be a terrible animal. So Zuma is now president of ANC biding his time for 2009 to take over SA? What a prospect! For a man who survived rape charges by the skin of his teeth, is on his way back to court over corruption and is barely literate to rule SA, I tremble on behalf of the continent.

Like Ebrahim Harvey, I will still insist that Zuma is a mistake courted so assiduously and crowned by ANC voters, SACP and Cosatu who should have known better.

Sometimes errors turn into sweet dreams. I hope Zuma will not turn into a nightmare. Oh, did I hear he was elected by 2000-plus people? I thought S. Africa had so many people, or is it democrazy again?

A week to go

We have nine days to the General Election, a much-awaited event in Kenya. The main contenders, Raila Odinga and Kibaki, are out, wives in tow. To a journalist, the events are electrifying. Every single day, there is a never-to-be-missed story out there waiting to be discovered.

The other day, it was the president's wife slapping an emcee. Although she helped journalists to discover the incident - by walking briskly to the hapless man and slapping him in the face - the reporters failed to capture the event. Or rather, they did but the presidential security ensured they had nothing to show for it. Their cameras were briefly confiscated and the footage erased.

I'm told digital cameras store such things even if someone erases it. Hopefully, some computer geek will help us put Lucy Kibaki on the world map for the umpteenth time, slapping a face here or damaging a camera there. If there are women who will define Kibaki's re-election or lack thereof, they will be Lucy and her nemesis, Wambui. It was Wambui (her alleged secret co-wife) whose name sparked the outrage in Lucy as the emcee introduced the First lady thus: Your Excellency, President Mwai Kibaki, First Lady Lucy Wambui..."

Needlesss to say, he did not complete that sentence. A slap did the rest.

I will not forget how a friend of mine in Riyadh laughed his head off when I related the story to him. He believes our Fast Lady is in the wrong profession.

I'm watching the ANC election in South Africa, so if you will excuse me....

Back, finally

I'm not sure anybody missed my ranting. If you did, raise your hands and say Phew!

I haven't posted anything on this blog for about a month. That's about a light year webwise. I was on leave and one of the things I do when I'm on leave is to take a break from everything. Well, almost. So I also avoided comps, cybercafes and anything that remotely resembles things I use in th office. I often joke when I sneeze in the office that I'm allergic to work (I'll be fine when I get home, hehehe!)... I'm sure you understand.

During my break, I got round to visiting my aging parents in the countryside. Haven't seen them in a while, so it was refreshing to be with them and to see them talking to my kids. I will not forget the privilege of taking my children to see their grandpa and grandma. I mean, how many orphans exist and here I am with my parents and a grandparent alive! It is more than good cause to thank God.

Did I mention that the air at home is absolutely refreshing? If it wasn't for the horrendous road leading home, I would be there every weekend. The only saving grace on the Maai Mahiu-Narok road is the occasional wildlife you come across. That horrendous road is one more reason I want Mwai Kibaki's government thrown into the dustbin of history on Dec 27 when Kenya votes.

Can't wait!

Closed doors, new opportunities

I got an encourager from a friend today. It has reminded me of a testimony I've only shared with a few people. This is the first time I'm putting it in writing.

In 2000, I got a new job and was over the moon as they say. Better pay, better prospects, better career chances etc. Some time in 2003, they moved me to a section where I would have to work on Sabbath.

I had made it clear in my initial interview that I am Adventist and would not be available to work on Sabbath. They had noted it, so I asked my boss why he was moving me to the Sunday section yet he knew I was Adventist. He said it was only temporary since I was standing in for a guy who went to the US for studies.

I missed the first Saturday at work. I had never thought of going to work on Sabbath. I had previously heard of a friend who came to church and went to work afterwards. I had judged him as weak, not knowing that I would face the same situation - and fall.

When I returned, I was put under pressure (no excuse though) and when I talked to that boss, he jokingly told me that 'some of us are greater than God'. Our relations were not helped that I was a union official.

I made my biggest mistake and compromised. I would work hard on Friday and report to work late on Sabbath. I was tense and terribly uncomfortable. Believe it or not, I wished and prayed for a sacking. I talked to my immediate boss over and over asking to be moved but he refused. The guy I stood in for returned and I went back to my boss, they refused to let me go.

One day, it happened. A new boss was brought and he found it strange that I reported to work so late on Saturdays. He got me suspended without pay for two weeks. I came back and continued my routine. Then I got another suspension, also without pay. This time, I went home and we prayed over the letter. I resigned, thanking God silently that He had answered my prayer.

He had seen it fit to close that door. Indeed, He opened another and I have no doubt in my mind that He wanted me to learn something. I value the many lessons I learnt which I will not explain here for lack of space.

To many of us Christians, when God closes doors, we keep banging it thinking we can bang it loud enough to make God hear us. Perhaps the biggest question is how to discern between a closed door and a minor challenge we should overcome and move on the same path.

Another challenge comes when we know a door is closed but we still face 'extreme heat'. God has a reason for exposing us to extreme heat, and it is not to make us burn. It is to refine us, and sometimes, to remind us that we are dust (like He did with Paul's 'thorn in the flesh').

I hope nobody makes the mistakes I made. If you are in a similar situation, I hope you will not burn. I pray for God to give you strength to make a choice that will glorify His name.

Sh*t! This is serious business

WARNING: Do not proceed with this post if you have a weak or fickle appetite.




Nyathi mioro emapielo chieth maduong — Luo proverb.

I don't usually curse, and I'm not in this post too. The translation of the Luo proverb is that 'the child who is sent is the one who piles up big ones. It means the child gets rewarded, usually with food.

Many of us like to talk about food. Nyama choma, chapati na dengu (my favourite), irio na muthokoi, ugali na ka-ugali kadogo, ngwache na sukuma wiki, rabuon gi magira etc, are some of the things that appear on our tables. What happens afterwards is a conspiracy of silence. Let's face it, to munch down a plateful naturally presupposes that at some point it will be got rid of.
That is why I view with deserving seriousness a news item that a toilet conference has opened in New Delhi, India, where participants are discussing the very serious issue of a very basic need. Surely, if food is a basic necessity, toilets must accompany them. Any other way is like trying to stop the Nile from flowing into the Mediterranean.
Today, take your time when you go to say haloo, do so with gratitude. If you are a child from my village, it means you have fed well. If you are a village-urbanite like me, it means you have survived another day with food in your belly. It is not something to take for granted.
In case you are interested, please click here to find out how long you have spent looking at your feet while undertaking the noble business of losing weight without breaking a sweat.

You may want to see the world's most expensive toilet here.
Or the one that beats the new Cold War here.