Nothing Can Hide Idiocy!

Florence Jaoko - Who Are You Kidding?

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) re-published its report on Post Election Violence and gave me one more reason why no Kenyan should go before any kangaroo tribunal set up by Kibaki and his cohorts.

How can I support a list of names issued that has somehow manage to exclude the name of the then Internal Security minister John Njoroge Michuki? The shoot to kill orders issued publicly by this man would attract 'crimes against humanity' or even 'genocide' charges! We know that this man participated in several meetings at state house in which plans to rig elections in favor of Kibaki were discussed. He is reported to have dismissed possible protesters as 'mere jaluos who will run at the site of a gun'

Others who attended the said meetings were:

The Chief of Defence Staff
All the Provincial Commissioners
The Police Commissioner
The Head of the General Sevice Unit
The Head of the Administration Police
A wide range of former military servicemen

We also know why Kibaki travelled all the way to Machakos to visit Gen. Jackson Kimeu Mulinge.

Mwai Kibaki - The Hypocrite

Last week, amid publicity, Mwai Kibaki and an entity unknown in Kenyan law and public administration by the name 'First Family', sacked an ordinary citizen from his job at State House. His offence: Buying more luxury cars for the President, President's wives and children at a time of austerity! For this Kibaki was wildly cheered by his court poets and hangers-on.

When the cheering was over, Kibaki decided to 'secretly' create 13 new provinces and stuffed them with highly over-payed mandarins at the level of directors or some such level. It is to be assumed each of these mandarins will - as usual need three luxury cars. One - a Mercedes - so that the big man keeps speed when riding in presidential motorcades whose minimum speed I am reliably told is 230 Kilometers per hour. Any small Japanese car would never reach those speeds.

The second car - usually a Land rover or Ranger Rover - is for the chieftain to use when 'inspecting projects' in the rural areas.

The third vehicle - usually a Volvo is for the big man's wife or put differently for the provinces 'First Family'. This apart from facilitating the movement of the First Lady of the Province, ensures that children are delivered and collected from schools and kindergartens, attend parties and generally feel comfortable.

A new province will come with new officials. New buildings would have to be put up. I am informed that the cheapest new province will cost 1 billion Kenyan shillings just to set it up and much more to run.

Please do not forget that there are now 210 districts in Kenya. Most of these districts are illegal.

So Kibaki makes the saying 'giving with the right and taking with the left sound strange. It really is 'giving with one finger and grabbing with all fours'.

I have been reliably informed that Kibaki is planning another coup - this time with Uhuru as the beneficiary. Such moves as these convince me the man is serious. I watched Kibaki prepare to rig the 2007 elections. He knew that it will lead to bloodshed. He simply never cared. To this day, Kibaki remains unapologetic about his actions. He has never found it in his heart to look at his age and contemplate the future of his family. Humanity can be very brutal and unforgiving to the offspring of a dictator. The same humanity would bend over backwards to accommodate the child and grand children of a humble and beloved - generations after he passed away. If Kibaki or one of his supporters can show me the prospering son of a former dictator, I would say let Kibaki go on killing Kenyans.

Finally, could anybody tell me what Kibaki hopes to gain from increasing the number of districts and provinces? The word on the ground is that he is out to grab Kalenjin and Masaai territory for his tribe. I am bound to agree based on the past actions by Kibaki and the fact that I can hardly think of any reason why he would be setting up new districts.

For the record, not a single minister has surrendered his / her mercedes since Uhuru Kenyatta issued his anti-big car edict. Journalists who kept vigil at the gates of state house for any news from the unusual cabinet meeting were witness to the greatest opulence ever seen in a poor country. Every minister came in a mercedes. I have yet to hear what Uhuru used.

The Cost of Having a Prime Minister

It is official and in print: The tax payer shall cough out a whooping 33, 000, 000 to refurbish the private homes of Raila Odinga who is also the Prime Minister of Kenya.

If anybody still thinks Kibaki is a fool, that person better think twice.

Here is the big picture:

1. Kibaki has just rejected 5 or more luxury vehicles. The vehicles were not even personal but belonged to the state which then allowed him (Kibaki) to use. He would be required to surrender them on the 29th of December 2012 or upon resignation or death (whichever comes first).

2. Raila has just accepted to have his private home to be refurbished using government money. None of the improvements will belong to the government. He will keep the improvements and reap all the benefits whenever he leaves office. In event another prime minister comes to office, the state would have to spend the same or more money to bring the new person's residencies up to Prime Minister level.

A number of questions arise here:

3. Is Raila aware that real people are dying in Kenya as a result of food shortages? How does this play to the donors and others well-wishers who are being asked to bail out Kenya? Does he need a house in Mombasa as well?

I would have supported a new house being bought for the Prime Minister which would remain state property even when Raila ceases to be PM. May be somebody could have spoken to Moi to allow his former house in Kabarnet Gardens to return to the State for use by the PM. The government could also reposess some of the buildings and plots it once sold to well connected individuals in the 80s and 90s at throw away prices, well, on the same terms as they were sold. Whaever the case, more questions arise:

4. Does Raila and ODM still think they are on the side of wanainchi and Kibaki is not? Is Raila aware that 33 million is what it takes to educate 55 university students with each earning a Bachelors degree?

We have seen some level of wastefullness on the part of Raila that is fast creating a pattern that will be too hard to run away from.

Sorry Mr. Fix It

You would have to come here.

Me and Toa Toa Princess

I was tipped off and sneaked to RCB to read this by Toa Toa Princess.

I now believe people do not understand why I have to leave RCB for good and hope it dies of natural causes.

She has stumbled on one of the reasons but still wants me to stay put. Touching.

I am leaving to protest against loaders (like the infamous moderator) who produce nothing but are ever present to undermine those who produce.

The moderator I am protesting about is known for simply deriding what others produce. I have never once read any opinion (beyond derision of other netters and what they post) from him on any issue. He posts highly tendetious one liners which try to show:

1. He is very wise
2. Others are unwise
3. He is not a tribalist
4. Others are tribalists
5. He loves Obama despite Obama being a Luo (see below)

He pretends to be a fan of Barry Obama and for that is an expert in posting links to stories and videos of Obama. I would believe him too if he wasn't trying too hard.

That, he thinks is what the RCB BB is all about. When a netter comes up with an original view - which distantly appears to be critical of his tribe - he loses his entire head: He derides the posting misuses his power as a moderator in several ways among them removing such a post from 'sticky' status which some other moderator would have given it.

Limited intellect is his problem too. Not every article that mentions tribe negatively is tribalistic. It requires a degree of intellect (which I hold that the said moderator lacks) to make a determination of what is tribalistic and therefore to be struck down and what is essentially harmless debate.

Well, the last time I had quite a run in with Toa Toa Princess. So I am surprised. I can't post my blogg on RCB, but it is freely available here and you can leave comments:


Yesterday 23:46:05

Toatoa princess
Frequent
Offline

Re: Elections and Me

Too bad Tingisa.

I joined Bowen about a year ago for a number of reasons, including seeing one of your posts that addressed the issue of emotional child abuse. I remember thinking that here was a place where Kenyans have fun, but also discussed serious issues.

Maybe one day you will tell why one person has gotten under your skin so much. It's hard for some to understand how cyber relationships can turn so sour.

Either way, good luck with your Blog. Maybe you can post it here for us to follow?

Arrow in the Thigh Man

I don't have the man's account number. If you do, let me also know. I'd like to contribute



A doctor who needs to learn some PR. Reminds of Dr. Kaviti to who a judge on behalf of all his 'patients' expressed gratitude that they only consulted him in death.

How Do You Quell A Riot

I saw this topic on my way out of RCB.

I assume the writer was saying something else like if a government is going to get indicted by the ICC for quelling a riot how then may that government legally snuff out a riot without attracting a warrant of arrest?

I found this : http://www.answers.com/topic/riot for Mr. Fix it.

He might want to read about the various definitions of riots. He should pay great attention to the meaning of 'Police Riot'.

Note also that the establishment likes to use the word 'riot' and not for nothing. 'Riot' is a an offence for which clearly spelt out sentences exist in all countries. Organizers of such gatherings on the other hand like to use the word 'protest'. Again this is not for nothing either. Protesters are a protected lot by law.

So usually the government would first convert any peaceful protest in to a riot then feel 'justified' to quash it. However since this tactic is now known, it constitutes an offence to give orders to attack peaceful protesters.

The ICC and Rich Countries

A RCB netter wrote:

"ChingaKabisa Today 10:25:23
ChingaKabisa
Member
Offline
Topic: "Kwani Hague ni nini?"

Who can forget Ruto's smirk when he contemptuously wondered "Kwani Hague ni nini?"Now that Waki Envelope is with Ocampo, Ruto seem to be ranting like a mad dog. He wants people to sympathize with murderers on the premise that they were protesting a 'stolen election!' I think its only in Kale-land where words murder and protest are synonymous.

As an African i am suspicious of ICC intentions. For one, the ICC seem to have indicted Africans ONLY (and a few Serbs) while other like George Bush and Tony Blair get away with so much. But then it was Robin Cook (British FM) who actually said that ICC is not designed to make President of USA or British PM accountable. The ICC normally is used by the global powers to punish and reward lesser nationals.

Having said that, i say that as an African we have brought this situation on ourselves. Take Kenya for instance. Since 1991/92 to the Present some people have been committing murders, rape, evictions with unparalleled impunity. No one has ever been prosecuted even where the warlords make public statements encourage mayhem. In such an scenario, i wonder what being "patriotic" and "sovereign" is all about. If being sovereign and patriotic is to let warlords get away with all sorts of evil, then i want nothing to do with "sovereign" and "patriot".

If ICC can just indict and arrest just THREE Kenyan warlords, then their foot-soldiers, hanger-ons and other warlords wannabe will think twice before undertaking such mayhem again. Thus, welcome O'Campo & Co. to end impunity."

http://kenya.rcbowen.com/talk/viewtopic.php?id=119098

The Crimes Against Humanity List

There are two sides to this issue: PNU and ODM.

The PNU view is that Kibaki won the elections fairly and then Raila incited people against him and his people the Kikuyu. For evidence PNU cites the many IDPs and deaths of Kikuyus in Rift Valley.

ODM on the other hand says Kibaki knew he was going to lose the election just as he had lost the referendum. He decided to avoid defeat at all costs even if it meant people dying. So he started planning how to rigg elections and how to beat any protests against him. In this he was assisted by instruments of state terror such as police, GSU and the APs.

But first to the list

Everybody including the government of Kenya is speculating on who is and who is not on the Crimes Against Humanity List composed by the Waki Commission on Post Election Violence. Here is Tingisa's list:

1. Emilio Mwai Kibaki - Duly Elected President of Kenya
2. Raila Amolo Odinga - Duly Appointed Prime Minister of Kenya
3. John Njoroge Michuki - Duly Appointed Minister
4. George Saitoti
5. Uhuru Kenyatta
6. Brigadier Ali - Police Commissioner
7. GSU Commandant
8. Stanley Murage
9. William Ruto
10. Frankline Bett

Of these people, Ruto will be the first to be sent to The Hague. That is because the perception in the public mind created by Moi and sons as pay back for beating them on their own home front is that everyone believes he is guilty of something. However Ruto will also be the first to return from The Hague triumphantly.

Of the remaining lot, no charges will be preferred against Raila, Uhuru and Bett. They will however never get a clean bill of health from the ICC. By that their international reputation will forever suffer from blemish. However Kibaki, Ali, Stanley Murage and this GSU commandant may be a long time in The Hague.

Register More Voters

If I recall right, Kenya did not get such a bad name by the failure to register enough voters. In fact the opposite happened! There were more registered voters than living Kenyans.

So you can imagine my surprise when I read that political parties gathered for breakfast with Kenya's Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) and all they could say - out of a million burning issues - was "please register more voters".

Why is it that Kenyans never want to learn from mistakes? Why can't the IIEC simply address the reasons Kenyans got rid of the Kivuitu team in a hurry?

Let me be part of the solution:

Multiple Registration:

This is not just a RCB problem (courtesy of a certain moderator), it is a perfect Kenyan problem. People go to different parts of the country to register over and over so that on election day, one such individual is capable of electing an MP single handedly. The process where human beings go through the entire register manually to detect and remove multiple registrations is simply not up to the job.

Solutions:

1. Computerize the voters' roll
2. Introduce biometric registration where the finger print and/ or eye of the voter combine with the name and face to positively identify a voter with no margin of error
3. Introduce 2 above at every polling station
4. There should be a paper trail in addition to all this above in event of a dispute

Somebody is going to mention cost. To that person I ask, how much does your life and that of your child cost? In any event we are now paying out billions to commissions to fix what transparent ballot boxes could have prevented.

I expect an IIEC that would stay a head of modern technology. The Kivuitu team not only feared technology, it hated any moderate advances in electoral practices.

Mutula Kilonzo and James Orengo Bring Down Bricks on their Bosses

If you have ever known a clumsy person, then you also know that such a person can be dangerous to limb and life. Both ODM and PNU must be feeling like they swallowed several live wasps who are now working their stomachs.

It all started with the decision by Mutula Kilonzo to head to The Hague. He must have had a very low opinion of Koffi Anan. He somehow managed to convince those who matter that taking the short trip to The Hague would see the idea of an international tribunal to try the big names behind the election violence in 2007/ 2008 dead and buried. Mutula is not a man given to thinking small. His grand vision of events in The Hague comprised of an ICC prosecutor who would accede to every demand by Mutual Kilonzo. In fact he was so sure of his success that he took time off to tell off Koffi Anan. The Standard drew attention to the tiff in tabloid fashion: Mutula Scoffs at Annan...

For those new to Mutula Kilonzo, he is the minister who planned to construct the largest lego city in Africa - complete with special highways for the President, Prime Minister, ministers and other VIPs. He thought a helipad to give VIPs a headstart on the traffic jams towards the airport was a good idea.

Not to be outdone, ODM threw in James Orengo.

Now there is a reason why somebody decided to include breaks on every moving car.

The team met Koffi Anan. He told them his piece. They had to have the tribunal in place by August or he will hand over the envelope.

Wiser men would have rejected his offer for them to talk directly to the ICC prosecutor. The prosecutor would never move if the former secretary general of the UN sitting together with former presidents Benjamin Mkapa, Joachim Chissano and the wife of a living legend Nelson Mandela is telling him to stand still.

The team went to the Hague and a few days later Anan made his own trip to The Hague with an envelope in his hand.

The mission to The Hague was a disaster.

Richard Bowen's Elections

Phase one of the elections at RCB has just been completed. Looks like all moderators who chose not to resign have been retained. It is unlikely I would have served had I been elected any way. The terms of my contesting were sadly not met.

I stated that if one of the moderators gets re-elected I shall not serve alongside him. He has a huge tally of votes of which I am made to understand none included the many new handles. It appears out of all the new handles four or so voted for me ( and their votes were deducted from my total). Still none voted against me or any other candidate (at the time of going to press). It is amazing that none voted for or against Mla Chake.

Any way a full summary of my take on the election will be forthcoming later. Right now my supporters are more hurt than the candidate. It hurts me that they are so hurt.

I shall go to bed soon and when I wake up, will consider listening to all the good ideas that I have heard this long night. I am not entirely against the idea of patronizing an alternative site. It pains me though that I would undermine the work Nene and I did back in 1996. I urge supporters to stay calm. Do not plaster RCB with complaints. It does not work and works to build the egos of your detractors. Use your heads and consult as you have been doing.

For those waiting for the usual speech, save your lantern oil. I shall not be writing any surrender speeches any time soon until I am convinced that stories about unfairness in the process are untrue.

Beth Mugo and Publicity

For someone who yearns for publicity - Beth Mugo must be feeling on top of the world this week. She got her Swine Flu and nothing attracts the media better than 12 cases of swne flu.

She has had this running war with Anyang Nyong'o over who controls what in what used to be one ministry before Kibaki rigged elections and demanded to share government with the winner.

Stop Press: The British kids were after all free of the swine flu!

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=1144018504&cid=4&

Where is Nene

This is the man who popularized RCB.

Trouble At RCB

I woke up one day to find fire at RCB. As I write the fire brigade has not yet declared the fire extinguished.

They had it coming. For a long time I campaigned against the idea of moderators. I once returned from vacation and found moderators in place. So began the campaign to get the new supervisors act less like village headmen who 'fine' villagers cash and several hens, which they then slaughter, cook and wash down with liquor paid for by the 'fine'.

For starters, I advocated against moderators heavily participating in debates. However since they are free human beings whose rights cannot be violated, I suggested that they simply avoid moderating the debates in which they are participating because such an act amounts to ad hominem. A moderator who suddenly pulls out his moderating hat amid a debate reminds me of the girl I grew up with who would borrow her mother's bicycle for us to play with in some childish competition. The 'game' would go on as long as she was winning but once she starts losing matters would take a different turn. She would suddenly withdraw the bike without ceremony.

I still wonder how Rich could have been so blind not to see the express bus driven by a madman crashing his way.

Kenya is a tribal society in every way you look at it. The President of Kenya uses tribe to decide who sits close to him. The country's key insitutions are now shamelessly headed by his own tribesmen. It no longer requires substantiation and anybody asking me to name names better bring along a huge container for me to pour them in.

Every minister (apart from hapless Mwakwere) appoints tribesmen to all parastatals within his ministry. There are no exceptions beyond the above mentioned. Thus if the minister is a meru, be sure that all parastatals within that ministry will be headed by merus. And if you find luos controlling the parastatals, don't waste your time and money going for a brain transplant. It is no teaser! The minister would be a luo.

So how did anybody expect a place where Kenyans have been gathering for the last 14 years to be free of tribalism?

I hope and pray the site survives the latest tremors. I helped promote that site. The man who should get the credit for promoting the site more than anybody else is a Mr. Nene. This guy sent out emails and so on to every Kenya with a keyboard. I wonder where he is? (see story elsewhere).