KAJWANG'S DEATH- KENYAN POLITICS!!

After the death of Otieno Kajwang’, key politicians and leaders allied to Raila Odinga are raising questions on his death. The Homa Bay Senator who was in parliament yesterday, collapsed and died just minutes before midnight.
First to arrive at the hospital were key Jubilee loyalists and politicians led by Senator Kithure Kindiki. They even announced that the Senator died of heart attack not even patient enough to wait for postmortem. They rushed to the media selling the story of heart attack without any official doctors report. Something which the corrupt Kenyan media immediately bought and ran with.
While Otieno Kajwang’ attended an ODM rally on Friday in Oyugis, he had a serious accident with a Toyota Land Cruiser which he hired from a Kisumu car leasing firm. He didn’t sustain any injuries but his bodyguard fractured his hand and is still in slings. He proceeded to the rally without going to hospital. Some have claimed that the accident might have resulted in a blood clot which might have caused the “heart attack.”
But would a heart attack due to blood clot cause excessive bleeding? Even while lying dead at Lee Funeral Home, Senator Kajwang’ has been bleeding heavily even people who viewed his body at Lee Funeral home were surprised.
Did the Senator swallow a poison at Bunge bar where he was seen as late as 10pm having a drink with others? Did the poison burst his heart? Having been a member of the Cabinet sub-committee on ICC, his death just like that of former MP John Thuo, raises many questions.
Otieno Kajwang’s death also comes when news emerges from UK how some of the top electoral leaders demanded “chicken” to fraudulently award contracts and print more ballots than needed for the 2013 general elections. Is the death a diversion?



Thoughts by,
Cherotich Mercy
638865 

Garissa attack: Kenya government tries to restore confidence

The government in Kenya is trying to restore public confidence in its security forces - one week after nearly 147 people were killed by Islamist Militants at a college in the north of the country.
Amid criticism that it could have done more to prevent the attack, the authorities have suspended the accounts of scores of individuals and companies suspected of having links with the Somali militant group al-Shabab

THOUGHTS BY,
639103

ORGANIC HEALTH

Once found only in health food stores, organic food is now a regular feature at most supermarkets. And that's created a bit of a dilemma in the produce aisle.
On one hand, you have a conventionally grown apple. On the other, you have one that's organic. Both apples are firm, shiny and red. Both provide vitamins and fiber, and both are free of fat, sodium and cholesterol. Which should you choose? Get the facts before you shop.

Conventional vs. organic farming

The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution.
Farmers who grow organic produce don't use conventional methods to fertilize and control weeds. Examples of organic farming practices include using natural fertilizers to feed soil and plants, and using crop rotation or mulch to manage weeds.

Organic or not? Check the label

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has established an organic certification program that requires all organic foods to meet strict government standards. These standards regulate how such foods are grown, handled and processed.
Any product labeled as organic must be USDA certified. Only producers who sell less than $5,000 a year in organic foods are exempt from this certification; however, they're still required to follow the USDA's standards for organic foods.
If a food bears a USDA Organic label, it means it's produced and processed according to the USDA standards. The seal is voluntary, but many organic producers use it.

Products certified 95 percent or more organic may display this USDA seal.

Products that are completely organic — such as fruits, vegetables, eggs or other single-ingredient foods — are labeled 100 percent organic and can carry the USDA seal.
Foods that have more than one ingredient, such as breakfast cereal, can use the USDA organic seal plus the following wording, depending on the number of organic ingredients:

• 100 percent organic. To use this phrase, products must be either completely organic or made of all organic ingredients.
• Organic. Products must be at least 95 percent organic to use this term.

Products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients may say "made with organic ingredients" on the label, but may not use the seal. Foods containing less than 70 percent organic ingredients can't use the seal or the word "organic" on their product labels. They can include the organic items in their ingredient list, however.

Do 'organic' and 'natural' mean the same thing?

No, "natural" and "organic" are not interchangeable terms. You may see "natural" and other terms such as "all natural," "free-range" or "hormone-free" on food labels. These descriptions must be truthful, but don't confuse them with the term "organic." Only foods that are grown and processed according to USDA organic standards can be labeled organic

THOUGHTS BY,
639103

One person has been killed and a dozen others wounded when hundreds of protesters clashed with UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, local authorities have said.
The demonstrators on Friday in the town of Kaga-Bandoro, about 350km north of the capital Bangui, were angry that the UN MINUSCA mission had failed to stop raids by ethnic Peuhl pastoralists.
"The protesters attacked the town's aerodrome. To beat them back, the Pakistani blue helmets used tear gas and guns," the town prefect Gaston Yendemo said, adding that the injured had been taken to hospital.
Among those hurt was a Pakistani peacekeeper.
A statement from MINUSCA said up to 400 people, some armed with weapons, attacked the camp. They threw stones at peacekeepers and tried to force their way through the camp barrier, which they set on fire.
"Given the scale of the attack, the blue helmets needed to react by firing in the air. We deplore the death of one person and several injuries among the attackers," it said, adding that it was the second attack in a week against the base.
Thousands have been killed and around a million displaced from their homes in violence that has gripped the impoverished landlocked country since the mainly-Muslim Seleka took power in March 2013.
The group gave up power last year in the face of diplomatic pressure and violence by the "anti-balaka" militia, who are mainly Christian or animist, and an interim government was installed.

cited from Aljazeera,

Thoughts by
639103

Terror attack, threats of more violence raise security questions for Obama’s Kenya visit

Al-Shabaab’s deadly attack last week in Kenya, and threats of more to come, raise new security questions for President Obama’s planned trip to the East African country this summer – though the White House so far is making no changes to the schedule. The president’s planned visit to his father’s homeland was announced late last month. It would mark Obama’s first as president to Kenya, a country he hasn’t visited in nearly a decade and he skipped over two years ago during an Africa tour despite stopping by neighboring Tanzania. At the time, the White House cited concerns over Kenya’s elections and the indictment of President Uhuru Kenyatta before the International Criminal Court. 

Those charges have since been dropped. And Kenya is now etched onto Obama’s itinerary, with the U.S. president planning to travel there in July for bilateral meetings and the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit. 

But the terror rampage at Garissa University College was a grim reminder of the logistical and security challenge for the president’s team, and of the growing threat posed by al-Shabaab. The attack on the northern Kenya university killed nearly 150 people and was followed by a warning from the Somalia-based terror group that Kenyan cities “will run red with blood,” according to the SITE intelligence group. 

“Their objective right now is to get attention,” said Peter Pham, an Africa expert at the Atlantic Council, adding that the terror group is “changing its model” from a “major insurgent threat” to, increasingly, “a transnational terrorist group.”  A presidential visit would, for a brief period, put the international spotlight on Kenya. Pham said al-Shabaab, while good at hitting “soft targets,” so far has avoided government buildings and other fortifications and would likely not attempt to “storm any majorly defended target” like the meetings Obama would be attending.  However, that might not stop them from plotting an attack against Kenyans while the president is in the country, for the kind of attention they’re seeking. 

 “It doesn’t necessarily need to be associated directly to the presidential visit, other than the timing,” Pham said. “Anything they do … will get them what they want, which is more media and exposure to the big leagues so to speak. The more reporters in the country heightens the risk.” So far, the White House insists the July trip will not be affected by terror concerns. “We don't believe that this will impact the president’s travel there later this year,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters on Friday. “We feel very confident in the security precautions that will be in place when the president travels.”

 Obama’s father, the late Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in Kenya, and the president still has family there. The White House has not said whether Obama plans to visit relatives while in the country. The president on Friday called Kenya’s president to express condolences over the recent attack. According to a White House statement, Obama also affirmed he looked forward to meeting with him in July, in Nairobi. The trip, according to the White House, is meant to “build on the success of the August 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and continue our efforts to work with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security.” Al-Shabaab, which rose from the ashes of civil war in neighboring Somalia, has been linked to Al Qaeda and was also responsible for massacring non-Muslims in June and November 2014 as they were traveling on buses in Kenya near the Somali border. 

Before that, the Islamist group was responsible for the attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013, killing 67 people. Aside from launching attacks on non-Muslims, the group has also vowed revenge against Kenya and other neighboring nations for sending troops to Somalia in 2011 in support of the weakened central government there. But Thursday’s attack on mostly Christians at the college was the deadliest act of terrorism in Kenya since the Al Qaeda bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, which killed 213 people, including 12 Americans, and injured 4,000. It calls into question whether the Kenyan government can keep its people safe, and whether al-Shabaab might try to stage an attack to take advantage of the world’s attention during Obama’s visit. 

Robert McFadden, senior vice president and counterterrorism analyst with the Soufan Group who served as a chief investigator for Naval Criminal Investigative Service after the USS Cole bombing by Al Qaeda in 2000, told Fox News.com that it “would absolutely be a goal for any violent extremist anywhere” to disrupt an American president’s visit. 

“But there is a big delta between what [terrorists] would like to do and its capability and its capacity,” he added.  He believes that Kenyan security forces – though criticized for their response in the West gate Mall attack – are robust enough to meet the challenge of securing Nairobi ahead of the July conference, which will also host a number of international dignitaries and industry leaders. Those forces already have launched attacks against al-Shabaab positions in Somalia after the college massacre.  

“The Kenyan government has a good handle on the security posture, but will also be augmented by the full capabilities of the United States,” McFadden said. Further, “the president is not going to go anywhere that his most trusted advisers and the people at the very top of the [U.S.] security apparatus advise against.” 

While Obama has traveled to countries in fragile circumstances before, like Afghanistan and Iraq, those places offered the benefit of an entrenched U.S. military presence. There is a tiny U.S. military footprint in Kenya but no large American bases, and certainly not in Nairobi. But Kenya is not at war, and its government is working closely with the U.S. amid this ongoing al-Shabaab threat, McFadden said. 

“The threat level right now for the country isn’t much beyond what it is for some of the neighboring countries – Somalia notwithstanding,” he said. Plus, “the amount of information, intelligence, care and planning that goes into these trips for the president and vice president is absolutely extraordinary anywhere they go.” 

That planning is typically led by U.S. Secret Service, which will marshal its resources months ahead to plot a wide perimeter of security around the president during his time there. When contacted by FoxNews.com, U.S. Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback said he could not talk about the “means and methods” of that planning.

635742

 

Kenya mourns as families queue to find Garissa victims

Relatives identify bodies at morgue as government says gunman in killing of 148 people at university was official's son.

Family members have lined up at a morgue in Kenya's capital Nairobi to identify the bodies of loved ones they believe were among the 148 killed in the attack on the Garissa University College campus last week.
As relatives queued on Sunday, Kenya's interior ministry announced that it has identified one of the al-Shabab gunmen who massacred students at the northeastern university on Thursday as the son of a government official.
In Nairobi, the Felix family were among many lined up at a mortuary, trying to find 20-year-old Veronica, a student at the university who has been missing since the attack.
Her mother Florence found her body - one of dozens lined up on the floor.

Garissa residents say Kenya forces could have done more

"Those children died a very painful death. I can't even identify my own child from her face," she told Al Jazeera.
"She has wounds on her skin all over her body. Her skin has burned, she has no hair. I just identified her with her folded toe and the scar on her thigh."

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Al Jazeera's Malcolm Webb, reporting from Nairobi, said the ordeal for families like the Felixes was only just beginning, with post-mortems to be carried out before victims' bodies can be released and funerals can be arranged.
"The people coming out are extremely distressed. The process of identifying the bodies is very traumatic. What I saw when I was in there was definitely the worst thing I have ever seen," Webb said, after going inside the mortuary.

Gunman identified
Mwenda Njoka, an interior ministry spokesman, said on Sunday that Abdirahim Abdullahi was among four gunmen who attacked the Garissa University College campus.
After besieging the university, the al-Shabab gunmen lined up non-Muslim students before executing them in the armed group's bloodiest attack to date.
"The father had reported to security agents that his son had disappeared from home ... and was helping the police try to trace his son by the time the Garissa terror attack happened," Njoka told the Reuters news agency in a text message.
The Kenya Today website identified Abdullahi as the son of Abdullahi Daqara, the Chief of Bulla Jamhuri in Mandera county. It described Abdullahi as a former gifted law graduate who had studied at the University of Nairobi.
As Kenya began three days of national mourning and dedicated Easter prayer services to the victims of the attack, reports emerged that Kenyan special forces were not deployed to the site of the attack, near the border with Somalia, for at least seven hours.

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Kenya's major Nation newspaper said it took until just before 2pm for the main response team to reach the scene, despite alarm bells going off in Nairobi as soon as the first reports of the pre-dawn attack emerged.
Njoka dismissed the criticism. "If you look at how we responded it was not bad at all, say, compared to Westgate," he told the Nation.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday  pledged that the attackers  would face justice for the "mindless slaughter" and vowed to retaliate for the killings in the "severest way".
Five men have been arrested in connection with the attack.

635742

Is it really necessary??

I have come to realize that our leaders ask for unnecessary attention. Whenever they are using a road, highway that ordinary citizens use, it has to be closed completely. are we really that dangerous that if we use the same road with these dignitaries we will attack them? are we that desperate to be in contact with them that we will jump in front of a moving vehicle in order to have a few minutes of their attention? It is so sad that we have developed a culture so immature that our leaders are using it to their advantage. I remember there was a time when the president passed by you school and he had no intention of coming in to give you a speech , students had to parade themselves besides the road and dance for him or simply cheer him on. You are disrupting learning to cheer on a leader, how sad?
Today a friend of mine had to be delayed because a dignitary was passing through the famous or infamous( depending on how you take it) Thika Superhighway. interestingly, the road he wanted to use, was not the one the dignitary was using. in shot, if our leader is using the underpass then all the other roads have to be closed also. Sadly, if you look at the history of real, people centered leaders like the late Nelson Mandela or Thomas Sankara, you will realize that they wanted to in contact with those whom they serve. They enjoyed the personal contact and the exchange of smiles. 
My question therefore stands, is it really necessary to have people so far away but yet you demand their attention by preventing them to carry on with their usual activities? Is it necessary to stay so far away yet those who have given you the opportunity of leadership are the ones you need to be in close contact with? We need our leaders to change. 

Thoughts by,

634366.

KENYA LAUNCHES AFRICAS FIRST WATER FUND TO COMBAT HORTAGES.

NAIROBI, MARCH 20, 2015.


Kenya launches Africa’s first water fund on Friday, a public-private partnership aimed at raising $15 million to provide clean water to 9.3 million people by protecting the basin of the country’s longest river.

The nature conservancy, a U.S- based charity backing the fund, says it will provide $2 in benefit for every $1 invested.  It said the fund could serve as a model for other water stressed African nations dealing with the impact of climate and population growth.

“Our civilization will survive or will cease to exist just because of one element-water,” The nature conservancy’s director of field programmes in Africa, Charles Lucian, said at the launch. “At the moment there is very little investment, and this is a way of trying to begin to shift the mindset”.

Kenya swing between drought and flood virtually every year, with vast sums on aid as crop either wilt or are swept away, along with people and homes. The Tana River basin supplies 95 of the capital Nairobi’s water and provides half of Kenya’s hydropower generated electricity. It also supplies water to a million farms.

The fund plans to invest I agro forestry, drip irrigation, terracing and planting vegetation on riverbanks. It has started a pilot in which 5,000 farmers belonging to the Green Belt Movement, founded by Kenya’s Nobel peace prize winner, the late Wangari Maathai, are planting trees.

“This is the next step to the legacy of Professor Wangari Maathai,” said Aisha Karanja, head of the Greenbelt Movement. “I think this is the best conservation and environmental thing that has happened to this country because everyone is involved”.

Deforestation and quarrying have caused massive soil erosion at the source of the 1000 km long Tana River. Sediment is washed into the water, reducing both quality and supply.

Kenya’s population of around 45 million is predicted to erosion by 2045, according to the World Bank, increasing pressure on the water supplies.

The fund will also make it cheaper to produce hydropower and clean water. Kenya Electricity Generating Company will earn an extra $600,000 annually while Nairobi City water and Sewerage Company will save $250,000 a year through lower water filtering costs.

These Government-owned companies are supporting the initiative, as well as Coca-Cola and East Africa Breweries.

640921.

Lecturer treating Univeristy students like nursery children

I recently went back to school for my university degree after 10 years of waiting since I finished high school.  It has been a long wait, hoping every year that I can finally afford to pay my own fees. After waiting so long I am there to savor every minute of the next 3 years.  Thankfully in private university you can finish the degree in a shorter time frame. The last thing I expected was a lecturer that needs students to behave like they are kindergarten, not that I know how kindergarten kids behave since I went to a nursery school. Whatever the difference of the two is I have no clue!

Being my first semester I have been very excited and eager to learn, not so much learn from books only but learn things I had no opportunity to learn elsewhere.  Thank fully I work during the day and go to class in the evening with students whose time is as precious as mine. One of my lecturers started treating us as though we were in nursery school, no phones on your desk, no talking to each other in class, no writing anything outside what he taught in the exam, now this is where I couldn’t take it anymore! How does he expect us to work the whole day then spend the rest of the time cramming his notes? The reason why I chose a private university was to get quality learning.

This became clear after our first assignment, for which he gave no guidelines and expected a specific type of answer; no more no less. I cannot understand this type of backward thinking; this lecturer thinks all the students in the school are over privileged spoilt brats, little does he know I waited 10 years to get my education because I couldn’t afford it. I am only blessed now to work for a company

 that can pay part of my fees.

I am terribly disappointed that in this day and age someone still wants me to cram a text book and not learn out of it. I tried to reason with him a few times and it did not change anything. I will not stop, I will still try to pass my point across, even if I will not benefit from it, someone else will.

645287

Moving on from theft!

It has become common in Nairobi for someone to walk into your house and carry your things out as though they belonged to them in the first place! Beyond the robbery is violation of property, however if this is a story from someone it doesn't make sense until it happens to you.

A few nights ago I walked into my living room to find an empty space where my television used to stand. I am lucky they only took one item, rather 3 item, they had enough time to grab the remote and my hard drive LOL! I found that very funny since they were doing this in the middle of the day, they did not fear being caught while they looked for the remote control. To be fair how would they sell the TV without its remote?

OF all the things, the theft didn’t pain me as much as much as the violation of my privacy did, what also upset me was that our guard 'didn't know these people' and he left them walk out with such an item without consulting the owner. The security firm and my landlord tried to put the blame on me to avoid paying for the security guard’s incompetence. I have never been so angry at people for no taking responsibility. I genuinely don’t expect them to pay me back, the least they can do is accept that they were on the wrong.  If the guard isn't to blame then what’s the point of having him there, they could as well leave the gate open and anyone can walk in and out as they please.

Losing something you had no plan of buying for many years to come is painful and takes some time to come to terms with it, the only thing keeping  me going is that I will not die without it and my God shall supply another one J.

Now when someone tells me they lost their staff, I feel their pain. Only yesterday a friend told me she lost all her electronics to again in Nairobi, someone broke in while she was at work. I was able to relate and encourage her, because now I know what it feels like.

The TV stand looks so bare, as though it misses the TV too! But it’s time to move on and let go , the last thing I wanted was to involve the authorities  and spend the next few months sucking up to them so that  they help  me, only to one day tell they couldn't trace the items.  Right now insuring my house items makes so much sense, how foolish I was thinking these things only happen to other people  :D !

645287

What Direction is Kenya headed?

 

Kenya, i have to admit is a beautiful and rich country. Starting from its people, to the very land that brings about bitter words to people's lips. It has beautiful scenery, animals and well the infrastructure is also a great addition. However, it is sad that we (the citizens of this lovely country) do not bother to care for Kenya. She suffers a lot from the litter we refuse to dispose off properly. I have heard of people complaining that Nairobi, the heat of Kenya, is very dirty. The same same people had so much hope in the devolved government, in that they new the respective governor would do something. I found this a bit funny, because one man to me, though enough to bring change, could not clean the whole of Nairobi without the people helping him/her. If the said governor did clean up, would that stop someone from throwing a sweet wrapper on the street and yet there are garbage bins in town? Would that prevent or curb the culture of simply throwing paper outside the window of a moving vehicle?

it all depends on us, the people who keep complaining and not acting. I heard a joke once that Europeans and Americans should have us (Africans) take lessons from them when it comes to action and in turn we give them lessons in complaining. I do not know how true this is, but i do agree if there is any level of honesty. I think to protect this lovely land of Kenya, it is necessary for the inhabitants to work together. Next time you want to throw a sweet wrapper on the street, just put it in your bag, i am sure your destination will have a place to dispose of it. next time you see a person throwing a paper through a car window and you are in the car with them, stop them!! If it's you, think twice. Just think twice for you country, love Kenya. Please, treat her like you would treat a lady, if you are a man, o how you would treat your man, if you are a lady.

Thoughts by,
634366

What Makes Love Make Sense By Pst. Kitoto

Saying “I love you is never enough to convey true love.” In 1 Corinthians 13 the Bible shares three phrases at the introduction of this chapter that made me reflect on the issue of love in relationships. As much as love involves feelings that may be attached to some level of attraction to the person you claim to love, it only makes sense when we step beyond this claim to living responsibly with or before this person.

First: “speaking with tongues of men and angels”
For most people, love has remained as a mere expression of well organized words that lack a deliberate lifestyle to support the confession of love. Telling a woman or to the contrary, a woman telling a man “I love you” in itself is a statement of intent and not complete until such is followed by what love is or demands.

While in school we would say statements like ‘nakupenda kama peremende’ - meaning 'I love you like a something sweet.’ So, when a lady fell for such a trick from a man, one thing led to another, and soon it was time to raise a baby out of wedlock. However, such statements, had a much more psychological twist to them than could be seen with the natural eye. They had a selfish agenda behind them. In fact, where a two young people ended up with a baby, no matter whether they were in school or college, once the baby was born, she/he was delivered to the boys home. This is where we learnt that words we speak if not back by responsible behavior, led to unpleasant consequences.

Second: “Faith that could move mountains”
"If you watch prime-time TV or check the sales statistics on romance novels, you will have all the evidence you need that Western culture is obsessed with love” (Focus on the Family). There are moments our words can create enormous faith in others and even move them to an action that may not be interpreted as love motivated. We can make promises, make deals and stir up the relationship to suggest a move towards greatness.

Despite all the talk about love, the reality is that children go to bed every night feeling unloved by their parents, and while husbands and wives go to bed feeling unloved by their spouse. The trouble is that, our culture is largely becoming ignorant of the true nature of love and its effect on our relationships. Could our problem be associated with how we use and respond to the word ‘love’. For example, we may say, “I love eating rice”; “I love Bacon”; “I love my car”; “I love You”. What is the difference? What makes loving the car different from loving your spouse? At times we treat each other casually because of the way the word has been used.

Third: “though I give my body to be burnt”
Many times persons who have fallen in ‘love’ have said things like “But he/she was there for me when i was …”; Or you would hear, “She/he supported me with money to ….” Indeed, as much as the gesture may indicate a level of sacrifice, it ends up just as an ‘act’.

Jesus’ rebuke in Matthew 5:20 could relate here well - “For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees…” These people seemed to do all the right things like praying and giving alms and fasting just like we do. It seemed as though they were the ones who were exceedingly righteous and yet the righteousness that Christ demands far exceeds theirs. This is the measure that Paul brings to us when he talks about love in 1 Corinthians 13. In fact our Lord is requiring a righteousness that is beyond man’s capacity, a divine righteousness that comes from God, a standard that man himself is utterly unable to attain.

When you look at marriage from the Bible point of view, Man needs to love the way he love himself and also as christ loved the church. On the other hand, a wife submits as she submits to Christ and as the Church submits to Christ. This make the marriage an earthly relationship governed by biblical principles. Therefore, our measure of love must go beyond speech, empty actions of faith, and sacrifice that has no meaning.

So Paul goes further and tells us that, love only makes sense when it:
it suffers long
is kind
does not envy
does not parade itself
is not puffed up
does not behave rudely
does not seek its own
is not easily provoked
thinks no evil
does not rejoice in iniquity
rejoices in the truth
bears all things
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
never fails

632757

House Agents Ripping Tenants Off!

                                      

We all wanted to grow up faster so that we can move out of home into our own space. This was a motivating factor to work harder in school as "work hard and get a good job" didn't make sense since all adults seem rather disappointed with their jobs.

 Many of us had the image of a gated house with garage space and a garden :), now we get to understand that even being able to live in apartment is   a great thing !

I moved to the capital of Kenya a few years ago and lived with relatives and friends for as long as I could remember, regardless of how hard I had worked in school, it takes time to be able to sustain one's self financially unless it is being supported by other people. Which beats the purpose of independence and the people supporting you will always put you on a leash one way or another.

About two years ago I was blessed enough to be able to move out on my own and no matter how many stories I had heard about living alone nothing prepared me for the amount of work it takes, on the flip side the joy of making or not making decisions was amazing it was worth all the bills.

The most disappointing part of moving out in Nairobi is that when starting out you can only afford houses in certain locations , this depends on whether you want to live near work or live slightly further and commute for longer.

I have never been a fan of waking up in the middle of the night to make it to work in time, so I chose the former; this then means you pay more to live near town or business areas. After one year of living near the noise and paying more than I care to , I decided to try something new. Move away from work but closer to serenity , this comes cheaper but means less hours of sleep. I am still trying to come to terms with the idea of taking more than 20 minutes to the office, but I guess the experience away from the noisy town area will be worth it in the end, we'll see.

Did I mention the one year I lived near town, I had foolishly signed a lease that bound me to that house and if I moved out earlier I would be penalized?  True to their fears, I hated the maintenance of the house after a few months, everything was falling apart and I had to fix them, they basically bind you to a lease so that you can repair all their cheap fixtures.

Every other month someone was moving out because they did not see value for the money they were paying, some were willing to forgo the deposit , others  just didn't pay rent until they were kicked out.

One year has never been so long for me, the day I handed in my notice to vacate   was one of the happiest for me this year, I even paid rent before the other month started. Yes , you cannot live on your deposit either! Such nonsense, 

The houses away from town are in abundance and better in quality it just depends on how much distance one is willing to put between them and the city center. Usually it would be the most distance possible, however in Kenya , the transport system does not support living far from the business district  and the roads are not built for the amount of traffic we have.

For this reason I chose a place that can give me serenity but not too far from the office, 7 kilometres is far enough so I think. When I went house hunting, I was more open to living farther from the road and looked at quite a few houses, I found one that blew me away from the rest, it was just smaller than I had hoped. Other than that it would suffice until I found a bigger one with better qualities.

I decided to pay for it the next week as great houses depending on what your definition of great it, are taken very fast. Not all landlords use quality material to finish off their houses , this is rare and is only found very far away from the business district, in place like Syokimau, Thika and the like , place that would take over 45 minutes to get to town.

When I went to the agency's office to pay for the house, I was armed with questions after my bad experience with the current agency. To my shock the agency was very laissez- faire  about things , the ladies sitting at the reception had a to go into an office to verify the answer to literally each and every question I had. This was very annoying especially when we started talking if I can paint the house and payment terms. Because I would like to add some color to the house and not have white walls I need to pay another month's deposit. As for paying deposit for the house, I was being told I have to pay the next month's rent yet I was going to occupy the premises 3 weeks from the day in question. They were adamant that they cannot take half the money and take the other half a week later. 

To top it all up, once I finished the discussion one hour later, I requested the account details as they initially said I can issue a cheque then changed their minds that they don't do that for first time clients, they told me to go bring the money to their office or a bankers cheque . I was so furious, they seemed like legitimate business people , however their backward behavior made me storm out of there and lose interest in an amazing house.

The agency's incompetence and refusal to embrace technology made me wonder if landlords know how much business they are losing due to ignorance and unprofessionalism of agents. My heart broke for landlords because a day has come when people who are willing to live far away from town will not began agent despite how beautiful their houses are. It is one thing to be thorough about who you lease a house to , it’s a totally different thing to frustrate someone’s life  by making up superficial rules like you cannot pay rent via standing orders, or Mpesa because it is not a physical paper!

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Growing up  in Nairobi  in  the 90's TV used to be a luxury for some of us, for a while we had to watch at the neighbors , then our parents had mercy on us and bought a red gratewall that we cherished dearly.

I was living with my aunt at the time and regardless of what other things in the house had cost, the red gratewall tv was the most cherished of them all. Maybe this is becuase we treat every new possession like its our only possession until something else replaces it or just beause we were fascinated by the people on the other side of the screen.
632757

The worst illiterate

“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”

This quote from Bertolt Brecht many years ago has transformed lives of many so called political illiterates including me. Its a call for all of us to come out and participate in decision making process in our various constituencies and locations so as to have the leaders we want and keep them checked.

so as citizens we should always evaluate ourselves if we are indeed taking our part and voicing our voice whenever needed either through ballot or activism.
632757

Kenyan TV channels to return to air after digital dispute

 Three popular Kenyan TV stations are due to return to air, ending a three-week protest in which they turned off their digital signals. KTN, Citizen and NTV - including its subsidiary, QTV - switched off their signals in a dispute over the move from analogue to digital transmission.The three private stations had wanted more time for the move, scheduled for February, but the government refused.
Television is the main news source in urban parts of Kenya.
About a third of the country's households own a TV set. The BBC's Ferdinand Omondi in Nairobi says KTN, Citizen and NTV were the country's most watched networks until their protest blackout.
They are due to turn on their digital signals at 1850 East Africa time (1550 GMT), initially broadcasting in Nairobi and surrounding areas.
Citizen TV's website says its viewers will require universal set-top boxes which receive free-to-air signals. 'Discriminatory move' The TV stations had wanted the government to postpone the date for the digital migration to give them more time to import set-top boxes for the distribution of their content.
The broadcasters argued that most Kenyans had yet to acquire set-top boxes - but the Communications Authority disputed this. The government rejected the request for a delayed migration, and ordered the stations to move to digital on 13 February, as planned. The analogue signals for the three networks were then turned off on the orders of the government.
In protest, the stations switched off their digital broadcasts, claiming that the government move discriminated against them. After the stations went off air, K24, a private channel owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta's family, saw its audience figures grow by 173%.
Neighbouring Tanzania went ahead with its digital migration on 31 December 2013, the first country to do so of the five members of the East African Community. The group had agreed to an early switchover to fix any glitches ahead of the June 2015 global deadline to end analogue transmissions.
Jacqueline

Whisked away ... US missionary, Reverend Phyllis Sortor, of the Free Methodist Church, who was kidnapped by unknown gunmen. Picture: AFP/ Stringer Source: AFP

MASKED gunmen in central Nigeria have kidnapped an American woman doing missionary work, with ransom the suspected motive for the attack.

Kogi state police spokesman Sola Collins Adebayo said Phyllis Sortor “was whisked away at about 10am (local time) Monday.”

He said the attack took place in the Emiworo village where the missionary from the Free Methodist Church ran a community organisation within the premises of a school linked to her church.

STILL MISSING: Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram have not been found

US missionary, Reverend Phyllis Sortor, of the Free Methodist Church, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Nigeria. Picture: Free Methodist Church USA Source: Supplied

The kidnappers were “unknown gunmen...(who) came into the school premises shooting sporadically to scare away people before taking (the hostage) away into the bush,” Adebayo said.

“We are hopeful of finding her. Our suspicion is that she was picked up for ransom,” the police spokesman said.

A statement on the Free Methodist Church’s website contained similar details.

“The US Embassy has been notified, and the State Department and the FBI are working with local authorities to find and rescue her,” the statement attributed to Bishop David Kendall said.

“We are calling on the US church to join together in prayer for Phyllis’ safety and speedy release,” he added.

Media in Sortor’s native Washington state, on the US West Coast, reported that her stepson, Richard, attended a prayer service at Seattle Pacific University on Monday night.

Terror group ... Boko Haram, with their leader Abubakar Shekau, have kidnapped foreigners in the past but there has been no indication so far that the Islamists were responsible for the missionary’s abduction. Picture: AP Source: AP

“She believes in God, she’s doing God’s work,” he was quoted as saying, describing the abduction as “surreal, just surreal.”

Foreign nationals have often been kidnapped in Nigeria by local gangs who typically release hostages following a ransom payment.

Such abductions are especially common in the southern, oil-producing Niger Delta, where expatriates working with large oil companies have been a frequent target.

A number of foreigners have also been kidnapped in the north of the country, but those attacks claimed by Boko Haram or the linked Islamist group Ansaru are considered a different phenomenon, and not necessarily motivated by a desire for ransom.

A number of people seized by Nigerian Islamists have been killed by their captors, while others have died during botched rescue operations.

Boko Haram has been blamed for previous attacks in Kogi, including two raids targeting the same prison in 2012 and 2014.

But there was no indication that the Islamists were responsible for the missionary’s abduction. 

POSTED BY 641152.

  SK Macharia, was pocketing Sh 400 million per month now its gone

 Royal Media Services owner, SK Macharia, was pocketing Sh 400 million per month as advertising revenue from Citizen TV and his six radio stations. According to a former Finance Manager working with RMS, Macharia who co-owns the business with his wife Purity Gathoni Githae started making millions after Safaricom and Airtel started aggressive marketing through TVs, Newspapers and Radios. The manager said Safaricom, Airtel, the Government of Kenya, Kenya Revenue Authority, Unilever are some of the institutions that have enriched SK Macharia. He said the reason why Macharia is opposing the digital migration is because his profits will nose dive from Sh 400 million per month to close to Sh 40 million per month because the advertisers will spread their costs to over 44 TV stations which are already in the digital platform. The manager, who is currently working with a local bank, also supported the digital migration saying that this will reduce monopoly by some big media houses and also create more employment for Kenyans.

cherotich 635742

Stephanie 'wonder goal' Roche nets deal with U.S. women's side Houston Dash

Updated 1417 GMT (2217 HKT) February 20, 2015

Stephanie Roche's strike saw her take second place in FIFA's Puskas Award

Story highlights

• Stephanie Roche is off to America to play for Houston Dash in the U.S. Woman's National Football League
• The Irish international striker scored a stunning goal which was nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award
• Roche's goal came second to James Rodriguez' strike for Colombia against Uruguay at the World Cup last year
• The 25-year-old's move to the U.S. follows a brief stint with French club ASPTT Albi

 (CNN)She scored the second best goal of 2014 and now Irish forward Stephanie Roche has landed herself a move to U.S. National Women's Soccer League side, Houston Dash.

Roche's volley for Peamount United against Wexford Youths in a Irish league game watched by fewer than 100 spectators became the first goal scored by a woman to be named a finalist in the FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year.

"I am so excited about the signing of Stephanie, we are getting a player that has great technical ability, a superb left foot, and possibly the best goalscorer to come out of Ireland since (former international striker) Olivia O'Toole," Dash head coach Randy Waldrum said on the club's website.

"Stephanie will bring a wealth of international experience to our team, and another great attacking option that is different from what we have already," he added.

"All our Dash fans and fans of women's soccer in general will be excited about this signing."

James Rodriguez won the Puskas Award for 2014, but the Colombian was gracious enough to say that Roche's fabulous volley, which took second place at FIFA's glitzy ceremony in January, just might have trumped his goal against Uruguay at the World Cup last year saying it "deserved to win, but only one can."

Rodriguez's goal came in front of thousands at Rio's Maracana Stadium, with millions more around the world watching on TV.

It was a very different setting when Roche collected the ball with her back to goal, flicked it over her head and crashed it home while playing in the Irish Woman's National League.

Cherotich 635742.

Political transition and sexual violence

In order to understand rape in South Africa today, we need to understand its prevalence and nature in the past. That, however, is very difficult, as rape statistics from the apartheid era – particularly those for non-white populations – cannot be viewed as reliable. This is due to many factors, some of which are the following:

• Prior to South Africa’s democratic transition, police resources were concentrated in white areas, with policing in black areas being predominantly targeted towards political control. Township residents had little faith in a ‘justice’ system that was at the same time being used to oppress them. As a result, apartheid-era crime statistics are biased by under-reporting.
• Worse still, complainants ran the risk of being seen as colluding with security forces. Writing about sexual violence in 1994, Armstrong quotes an informant as saying that during apartheid ‘no black woman would go to a police station … just to be seen near a police station might mean that you would be perceived as an informer, your home would be burnt down and you would be killed.’
• Furthermore, gender-based violence was seen as a potentially divisive problem that could be used politically against black men and thereby divert attention from the pressing issue of racism.
• It is also quite likely that even when black women reported being raped – to predominantly white police officers – many were not taken seriously and their reports not recorded.
• Before 1993, marital rape was not a crime and none of these assaults would have been included in any statistics.
• Under apartheid, the territory that is today South Africa contained a number of nominally independent homelands and self-governing territories, each with their own police force. In total, prior to 1994, South Africa had 11 different police agencies, with widely varying competencies in the collection of crime statistics. Crimes reported in the so-called independent homelands were not included in national figures. Poor record-keeping makes it impossible to even estimate pre-1994 levels of rape in those areas.

If we look at the decade preceding South Africa’s transition, we see that between 1983 and 1993, reported rapes almost doubled from 15 342 to 27 056. Commentators expressed concern in the early nineties about soaring rates of gender-based violence, linking it to the pernicious effect of apartheid in destroying family structures through the enforcement of migrant labour policies and the perversion of South African masculinities. In addition to the militarisation of South African male identities, as mentioned previously, apartheid shamed and dishonoured black men by disregarding their human dignity and denying them access to education, jobs and power over the affairs of their own country as well as in their own lives, thereby robbing them of choice.  White men were shamed and dishonoured by their role as oppressors, particularly those conscripted into the armed forces.  These collective masculine wounds expressed themselves not only in armed struggle but were mirrored in a domestic struggle, where the home and the intimate lives of men became a battle ground for reclaiming power in another sphere.

As South Africa began its transition to democracy in the early 1990s, it again saw a rapid increase in reported rapes and other violent crimes.Cases of reported rape increased from 27 056 in 1993 to a peak of 55 114 between April 2004 and March 2005, reflecting a prevalence rate of 118,3/100 000 of the population. This is amongest the highest reported rates of rape in the world.

Although sexual violence, and crime generally, has been typified as a product of South Africa’s transition, the popular focus on post-apartheid crime figures is probably misleading. Certain commentators linked the rising levels of crime to political, economic and social trends which, although accentuated by rapid political reform, originated before the political transition. In all likelihood, this position is correct. It is likely that the increases seen during South Africa’s transition stem from a combination of three factors: increased reporting, better record-keeping and actual increases in the prevalence of criminal offences.

Consequences for victims

The criminal justice system and rape

In 2010/2011 Rape Crisis saw over 2 700 rape survivors for direct support and this number increased to over 5 000 in 2011/2012. Some of these survivors had reported the matter and some had not. Those who had reported, experienced the justice system in many instances as helpful, with distinct pockets of excellence where dedicated officials went the extra mile on their behalf and made them believe that their case was being taken very seriously. But even where this was the case in one area of the CJS, the opposite was usually true in another, with the result that there was no one case where all parts of the system – police services, health facilities and the courts – worked well and in a coordinated fashion to ensure a successful conviction.

Rape survivors describe their lack of support and consequent disempowerment as stemming from a range of flaws within the justice system, which can best be summarised as follows:

• Rape victims know little or nothing about this complex system before they enter it, and they find it almost incomprehensible at times.
• The system does little or nothing to inform survivors about the progress of their case and what is expected of them with regard to next steps.
• There is no provision made for survivors to receive any form of psychosocial care inside the justice system.
• Officials are often biased against survivors and treat them insensitively or inappropriately, causing secondary trauma.
• The system is fragmented, lacking cohesive links between one service provider and another in the overall service chain – from the police services, to the forensic unit to the courtroom. Many cases fall between the cracks and are lost or weakened as a result.
• Government departments responsible for state service providers are unable to collaborate effectively to tackle the problem at higher levels of influence.
• Survivors are unaware of the fact that they can complain about the system, and don’t know how to go about doing so if their rights are not being upheld.
• The way the system is set up gives the accused more rights and greater levels of representation in court than the victim of the crime.

It is no wonder that conviction rates are low, the rate for Gauteng being 4%[8] and the Western Cape 7%. Rape is prevalent in the Western Cape and in South Africa, but, as already discussed, it is also under-reported. This is partly because communities have no faith in a system that lacks the capacity to address their needs and that allows rapists to go unpunished. The resulting culture of impunity can only drive the number of rape incidents upwards, thereby seriously denying women their right to live free from violence.

Levels of violence

Rape in South Africa has emerged as a crime of extreme violence. Commentators liken the types of rape they see in South Africa to those perpetrated during armed conflict, in terms of the degradation, ritual humiliation and the extent of injuries, such as mutilation, that are involved.

Further indicating the extremity of the violence that accompanies rape, researchers have found that twelve times more women are raped and then murdered in South Africa every year than in the United States.  A recent national mortuary-based study concluded that in South Africa a woman is killed every six hours by an intimate partner, another record-setting statistic.

Studies at various sites have found multiple perpetrator involvement in 25% to 55% of rapes. In 2011, 55% of the rape survivors counselled by Rape Crisis had been raped by more than one offender. Of these rapes, 25% had been perpetrated by known gangs. In multiple perpetrator rapes, the number of offenders ranged from 2 to 30 in respect of any one victim.

 Author 641152.

Teachers Crisis Mandera

I believe we have all heard the news about Mandera and the teacher crisis its facing. If not, then you must have come across last years news about the killings of Non-muslims by Al-shabab. Members from the group(Al-Shabab) shot 36 people after separating them from the Muslims. This act increased the concern on security in Mandera (especially as it borders Somalia) and is the main cause of the teachers refusal to go to work. Many have asked to have the government sack the teachers because of their defiance, but lets take it down a notch. Before reacting with such strict actions, let us try and see things from their perspective. These teachers are human beings just as you and i. this means they have feelings. at this point they are i fear. they don't want to be the next victims. it does not mean that they have ceased to care for the sweet children in Mandera, No. they simply want their security. they want to feel safe. They have families. Right now as they strike their families are experiencing the consequences directly-looking at the fact that there is no pay for as long as the teaches strike. However, being a reasonable human being, would you rather losing a loved one or living in fear because you do not know if they are truly safe where they are? We are looking at the greater good or the lesser evil-depending on how you look at it. these teachers are on strike to protect their families from loss,stress and devastation. Is that not a selfless act?

I have to say kudos to Kuppet for supporting its own. Taking the matter to court in order to protect the teachers from intimidation from leaders in government, is a step in the right direction. The teachers require to know that they are not alone. They need to be heard. Unless security is upgraded in Mandera, these teachers should not be sent back. I have to admit that even beefing up security may not be the answer. Sadly, most if not all Kenyans know about the actions of the police. We are skeptical about our own security considering the poor reviews our police force get. If you and i are full of skepticism and we do not live in Mandera, think of those living there. A place where Al-Shabab have already been. One may say that lightning does not strike the same place twice, but how sure are you?

I heard people being of the opinion of sending back to teachers to teach in the places of birth. This might have been a good idea for a few minutes, but once you say it out a loud, the looks one gets gives the answer. Those born in other parts of the country would gladly do go back but those born in Mandera, would be the first to strike on grounds that the government is being unfair. It's therefore not fair to force the teachers who have sacrificed to teach there for years, in the unfriendly conditions, to go back to Mandera now when they are afraid for their safety. Please go back to the drawing board. Choose life!!!

Author: 634366

ISLAMIC STATE

The current situation in Syria presents a complex governance dynamic. the ongoing conflict lacks a clear definition and begs the question-is it state failure?There seems to be no simple answer to this question. however before going ahead i would like to give an answer to the question i was asked today, what is Islamic State? Before i could give an answer, a random person chimed in and said " Its a group that has taken over Syria and is killing people". I accepted the definition and would have given the person a gift, owing that he is at times clueless. The Islamic State is indeed a radical Islamist Group which uses brutal tactics - including mass killings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities, as well as the beheading of soldiers and journalists - to spark fear and outrage across the world and prompted US military intervention. It then got me thinking, why is it that religion is the main promoter of conflict? is it not the same religion that is meant to unite us and bring peace? It suddenly dawned on me, that there is a loophole, a big, big loophole when it comes to religion. it begins from the very teachers, to the disciples. if those spreading the word, from the scriptures,do not understand what it means, then how do you expect the disciples to decipher it when they are mere followers? these is where terrorism arises from. People are taking it upon themselves to carry out the acts of Allah!But take note i am not saying that Islam (the religion) is the problem. No. its the chosen few, who recruit another chosen few, and well, they increase in number. but why has the Syrian government failed to curb this group? Why is it that the Islamic State has managed to take over so much of the Syrian territory? Some may conclude that its because the Syrian government has failed its people. But has it really? i have to admit that it looks that way, because the fighters that the Islamic Group have , have indeed overpowered Bashar-al-Assad's government. but to show that they (government) will go down fighting, they have asked for help from the United States. A step in the right direction, one would say. Now the world is looking at Syria, hoping and praying that the US will bring this group to its knees and stop its acts of violence.
I hope and pray, it works.

Writer 634366..PLN