The European christian missionaries of Nairobi's shanty towns

I watched the news yesterday both in shock and utter dismay.All of a sudden and after 20 years of purported child molestation Father Renato Kizito is in the limelight for all the bad reasons.I have never met Fr.Renato in person but i know so many positive things he has done for desolate and hopeless ghetto picken of Nairobi city.Take for instance Koinonia....who in the ghettos does not know Koinonia?

Koinonia has changed lives....from rags to riches sort of change.I remember when Radio Waumini was launched.It put reggae in its programming schedule and there was this massive outcry from "self-righteous" Kenyans. The bearded priest was instrumental in the setting up of this Catholic FM radio station.Everybody was asking why a Catholic radio station would play reggae??But to the slum people this was another clever way of the so called pedophile priest of bringing inspiration in the scrap metal and carton box jungles of Nairobi.

Just two days ago someone was arrested trying to print out pictures of naked children in a studio in the Hurlingham area of Nairobi.The big question was, what is the rationale of acquiring photos of naked minors??Techno savvy readers of this blog know that there is a variety of powerful graphic software in the market e.g., adobe photoshop,Illustrator et cetera.Street wise readers also know that in Kenya, just like Nigeria; extortion, blackmail and kidnapping amongst other misdeeds are a common phenomenon.Someone might have played around with photoshop to blackmail Renato.Iam not insinuating that Renato is innocent but most of us must have heard of the phrase "burden of proof" and "innocent until proven guilty".Lets give due process a chance...and we can then know "beyond reasonable doubt" whether Renato is or is not guilty.

Finally, i would like to big up Martin De pares and Daniel Comboni missionaries for all the good job they did in downtown Huruma.

Back to Basics

I arrived in Nairobi on Monday in the morning and headed straight to Muthurwa Market just to experience the chaos associated with this corner of town.I was impressed that the smoking ban was still operational and the sight of smokers bundled in a small area- "smoking zone", puffing away their lives was nostalgic.

Muthurwa lived up to its name and it was amazing to see the number of coming from that direction into town.At this point i realized that Nairobi is an overpopulated city.The smog in the air reminded me of Beijing and all over a sudden i had this feelin...sadness to be precise that the city had sunk too low.

I boarded a matatu to Umoja Estate to meet my favourite friends who still reside in the country ( all the others ran away to America).Once with my friends we headed straight to the pub to catch-up with one another.It was 9AM. We all concurred that the new look Guiness stout bottle sucks

Fischer's lovebird (Agapornis Fischeri) can no longer be spotted in Nairobi

Fischer's lovebird (Agapornis Fischeri)is a native of East Africa.This colourful and noisy bird was a common site in the city of Nairobi until recently, when certainly, it was no more.

Lots of trouble for our country Kenya

I know most of you who have access to Kenya's press (print/electronic and audio visual) know that Kenya's forest cover is now 1.7% of 582650 square Kilometers that is the total geographical area of our country.Just to break it down for all of you dear readers who were kicked out of the math class in high school just because the math teacher didn't like your face......the total land mass under forest cover in Kenya is 9905.05 sq.Km (582650 * 1.7/100 = 9905.05 sq. km....damn i feel smart...or 990505 hectares or better still 2447591.158 acres)www.hmnet.com/africa/kenya/kenya.html

http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/forests-grasslands-drylands/country-profile-96.html
Of the highest concern of these forests, is the Mau Summit which is 2/3 or approximately 66% of 9905.05 sq.km.The mau has been invaded and something needs to be done ASAP.Images of fires gutting down the eucalyptus and cedar plantations in the forests is enough proof that this wanton destruction did not start this year neither did it start ten years ago.As far as the Maasai elders are concerned Mau was originally made up of indigenous African tree species not the cedars and the Eucalyptus that are burning down today....i accept the fact that once an indegenous forest is gone there are very little chances of re-generating one...so the soft-wood plantations are better than no forest at all...to cut a long story short....all people in the Mau should move out and give the forest a chance to regenerate by itself.

Politicians should sober up and stop trivializing this issue using their usual tools (politics and tribalism).Top leadership of the nation must deal with this matter squarely and conclusively...indeed this is a litmus test for the prime minister....whether he can make rational and unpopular decisions at a risk of political fallout. (something which Kimuya successfully did but the consequences were that he was censured by parliament).On an ironical perspective, the politicians can let the destruction go on and we will see which ethnic community will suffer most.....( i cannot believe i have just said this)

There are also disturbing news that 76 lions in Narok and Trans Mara districts have been poisoned and killed in the past one month. Again, we say let the politicians defend their ethnic interests as we wait, as a nation, to see what happens when the food chain in the Mara gets skewed

Harambee stars should bring us inspiration

Those who are keen on Kenya's current/past affairs know that Patriotism ceased to exist in our beloved nation ever since the World Bank/IMF coerced the then government to adopt SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme.Patriotism ceased to exist when it emerged that one Saul Kamlesh Patni ( now known as Paul Kamlesh Patni) had siphoned a couple billion Kenyan shillings fron the central bank and deposited the money in his personal a/c in some bank in rural Switzerland.

It is at this period of time that people stopped going to the stadium to watch football.Co-incidentally, it is at the same time that Benga/rhumba/taarab/bango were replaced by old jack/funk as the music of choice.It is at this time that Nairobi experienced the biggest rural-urban migration....it is at this time that Kenya got a second TV channel and people started prospecting the possibility of FM radio.

All said, i think we are at our lowest as far as patriotism is concerned.When the NARC government came to power there were signs of recovery...what with t-shirts branded with the Kenyan flag??What with Kapuka/Genge hitting the air waves....even our representative in Big brother Africa 1 arrived to the house with a Kenyan something (i cannot remember what that Kenyan something was)....Unfortunately due to too much politics that are typical of our nation coupled with corruption in the high offices...we lost it again

Currently,30% of our population is made up of the youth.Due to lack of jobs,poor education system and lack of a culture, the youth are not inspired.Jua cali and his colleagues in the music industry have tried to bring inspiration albeit subconsciously, but the impact is yet to be felt.Obama did it.... but the "Yes we can" fire died out.Harambee stars and even Gor Mahia have brought inspiration in the past and we are praying that they will do it again by making it to South Africa next year.

I also think the top leadership(president and Prime minister)in the Country should make their speeches more inspiring because that is what the youth look forward to whenever they are on TV.

All said...i wish the stars success in their game against Tunisia tomorrow at Nyayo.....


Note:
To all my boys at home....nunua gomba Kijeeh leo Jioni....kula lunch heavy kesho saa nne asubuhi enda Nyayo saa tano juu Jam itakuwa noma....kuwa umeketi Stadi by saa nane....anza kuambua gomba saa nane na by the time game ianze kuwa umeseti atleast ngwai moja

Valentines eve in Nairoberry

Its yet another friday, and as usual am so worked-up... and cannot think of anything other than a few cold beers.Tomorrow is valentines day and am under pressure to surprise my girlfriend with a gift that will show my undying love for her.She dismissed last years gift as "tacky" and it really broke my heart......readers should not get me wrong...i still stand with the ideals of open communication and am always willing to take up positive criticism.

Due to last years blunder, i invested some time and a few shillings to research on what women in Kenya, and to be precise, what women in Nairobi want for valentines.My investigation yielded very interesting results.Apparently, women in Nairobi always conglomerate with their girlfriends after vals to discuss what sorts of gifts their men got for them.A man who makes an effort to purchase something/anything for his woman, and does something special or something out of the way on this day is rated high.Women have a phrase for this, and the phrase is....."its the thought that matters"

The thought here being the pre-meditation of a man doing something or going out of the way on valentines day to please his woman.

Personally, i find this very hypocritical.How does a woman say that "its the thought that matters" and yet dismiss her man's deeds as tacky???