Kenya Presidential Debate Vs. Ordinary Kenyans

The much awaited presidential debate is here with us. At exactly 6:30 p.m. (Kenya Time
), the debate will be underway. It is quite a landmark event in many ways some obvious and others not so.

For starters, this is the first time such a debate is being held in Kenya. Compared to the U.S where such debates are the norm, we seem to be headed in the right direction. But that is as far as the similarities go. In true Kenyan style, the first contentious issue will be the sitting arrangement; in particular the angle facing the cameras head on will be fought for tooth and nail. Any illusions that this will be a civilized meeting is misguided as unlike western leaders who tend to answer question shrouded in political lingo, our panelist are prone to use proverbs and  riddles starring animal characters.  

Don’t be surprised to hear the panelist referring to each other or answering questions with statements such as, “My fellow contestants, I hope you appreciate the difference between a horse and a donkey. The way I see it in this race, there is only one horse being chased by a bunch of donkeys.” This will be in response to a weight question such as “How does your party’s manifesto set you apart from the rest of the contestants?”

All in all, the end result will be some leaders will come out as having a good grip of the issues facing Kenyans. On the other hand, most will shadow box and go around questions with a two-year-Old’s explanation capacity.

Kenyans being Kenyans, we will proclaim the funniest and most vague candidate on issues as the victor. Candidates with solid plans will be viewed with caution reserved for people suspected to be suffering from an unknown mental illness. Bottom line, the debate will have little effect on the way a common mwananchi will vote come the big day.

P.S: European Union and the U.S should try and understand the way a given society’s mindset operates before issuing threats. Kenyans are infamous for always going against unsolicited advice. For example, City Councils all over Kenya have placed big dust bins in townships to help in garbage collection and keeping the environment clean. Normally they are labeled “Tupa Taka Taka Hapa” (Swahili for throw your rubbish in the dust bin). In true Kenyan style, you will find the bin empty and a rubbish pile bigger than the dustbin right next to it. By intimidating Kenyans with sanctions if they vote for Jubilee coalition is in fact an added campaign bonus to the team that ensures they will capture the undecided voters’ votes without breaking a sweat.

I may be wrong on all counts but come March 4^th 2013, Kenyan voters will decide……

Kenya 7's

After tramping the mighty New Zealand, Kenya looses 19- 24 to England in the cupfinal. World class showing from #Kenya7s but it just was not our day.

Las Vegas here we come and hopefully this time round we will prosper. Oscar Ouma BIG UP MY BROTHER!!!Outstanding performance and cudos to all your teammates as well. Job well done.

Kenya has proved once again why we are the power house in East Africa.Our resilience is simply unmatchablein this neck of the woods.

KENYA......IMARA KAMA SIMBA!!

Pornography and The Making of a Serial Killers Part 1

Picking up form were I left off in part 1, Ted Bundy had this to say:-

 “…and I want to emphasize this. The most damaging kind of pornography- and I’m talking from hard, real, personal experience- is that that involves violence and sexual violence. The wedding of the two forces- as I know only too well- brings about behavior that is too terrible to describe…Before we go any further, is it important to me that people believe what I’m saying. I’m not blaming pornography. I’m not saying it caused me to go out and do certain things. I take full responsibility for all the things that I’ve done. That’s not the question here. The issue is how this kind of literature contributed and helped mold and shape this kind of violent behavior. “

From the above candid words from Ted, it is clear that his behavior did not result from an abusive upbringing (emotionally, physically or sexually). I know most people equate serial killer’s behavior to an abusive upbringing. This is quite understandable as this coupled with other factors does in some instances lead to such behavior. But according to Ted, there is one underlying factor in all people who are driven towards committing violent crimes.

“…but I’ve lived in prison for a long time now, and I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence. Without exception, every one of them was deeply involved in pornography- deeply consumed by the addiction. The F.B.I’s own study on serial homicide shows that the most common interest among serial killers is pornographers. It’s true.”

Thus far, I can only conclude that pornography played a major role in turning Ted Bundy into a serial killer. 

The ills of pornography especially hardcore porn cannot be stressed enough. Like all curious teenagers, I have had my share of experimenting with all kinds of different stuff (we all do during this stage of life eh?) But what starts out as basic curiosity and fun has the potential of going horribly out of control. Pornography affects all in society from the young to the old, male or female with similar outcome if not addressed in time. 

Having said that, not all people end up going to such extremes as being a serial killer. Other outcomes are also inherent like anti- social behavior, sufferings caused to loved ones and a whole lot of other issues I cannot possibly be able to cover as I am not an expert in nor claim to be immune to.

I digress; let’s go back to Ted’s personal experiences as a result of pornography addiction.

“I was a normal person. I had good friends. I led a normal life, except for this one, small but very potent and destructive segment that I kept very secret and close to myself. Those of us who have been so influenced by violence, are not some kind of inherent monsters. We are your sons and husbands. We grew up in regular families. Pornography can reach in and snatch a kid out of any house today. It snatched me out of my home 20 or 30 years ago. As diligent as my parents were, and they were diligent in protecting their children, and as good a Christian home we had, there is no protection against the kinds of influence that are loose in a society that tolerates….”  

As stated earlier, Ted  does not seek to justify his actions. In the contrary, he seeks to highlight what pornography can lead to in extreme cases  from his personal experience. To conclude Ted’s story, here is his last input during the interview.

“As we have been talking, there are forces at loose in this country, especially this kind of violent pornography, where on one hand, well- meaning people will condemn the behavior of Ted Bundy while they’re walking past a magazine rack full of the very kinds of things that send young kids down the road to being Ted Bundy’s. That’s the Irony.”

For the full interview, please follow the link below:-

http://www.pureintimacy.org/piArticles/A000000433.cfm

 

Pornography and The Making of a Serial Killer Part 2

A lot has been said in relation to the ills of pornography in societies today all over the world. I wish to explore e the same issue albeit using the example of a real life serial killer and the effects pornography had on him. That is in molding him from normal person to a serial killer of great infamy. At the time of his execution, I was barely two years old but I want to believe we can all learn from his experience with an aim to avoid or at least avert such an occurrence in the future to the best of our abilities.

All paraphrasing herein contained are from him from an interview with psychologist Dr. James Dobson on January 23, 1989, hours before his execution on January 24, 1989 at 7:15a.m

Ted Bundy, a good looking, intelligent law student, learned to lure women into his car by various forms of deception. He would put a cast on his arm or leg, and then walk across a university campus carrying several books. When he saw an interesting coed walking or standing alone, he’d “accidentally” drop the books near her. The girl would help him gather them and take them to his car. Then he would entice her or push her into the vehicle where she was taken captive. After he had molested the girl, and the rage of passion had passed, she would be killed and Bundy would dump her body in a region where it would not be found for months. This went on for years. (Courtesy; The Interview, by Dr. James Dobson, Introduction part).

He was finally captured, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a twelve-year-old girl and dumping her body in a pigsty. This after he had killed at least 28 young women and girls. Ten years of appeals and legal maneuvering followed before a judge gave the order for Bundy’s execution. He personally asked his Lawyer to contact Dr. James Dobson for an interview that would be his last before execution.

Ted Bundy was brought up in a wonderful Christian family with his brothers and sisters by dedicated parents. In his words, “I grew up in a wonderful home with two dedicated and loving parents, as one of 5 brothers and sisters…we regularly attended church. My parents did not drink or smoke or gamble…but it was a fine solid Christian home. I hope no one will try to take the easy way out of this and accuse my family for contributing to this.”

Question is, how did he transform from a normal kid to a full blown serial killer and what influenced him towards such end? At 13 years of age, he’d discovered “dirty magazines” in a dump near his home. What is referred to as “soft pornography.” With time he became more and more addicted to violent images in magazines and videos. He got “kicks” from seeing women being tortured and murdered. When he couldn’t get the same “kick” from this, his addiction moved from fantasy to reality.

For more on this, kindly read part II.

A Different Approach to Job Creation

In this hard economic times what should the youth do?

This is a question I have asked myself for a very long time. Though am yet to come up with a conclusive answer, it has led me to wonder about more pertinent issues affecting me and other young people in societies nowadays all over the world. I recently saw a news item on television that actually proved to me am not the only one facing the same predicament. A young man was recently barred by the government( in Kenya) from going to the middle east to work as a driver in a company he had secured a job despite having all the requisite documents allowing him to go. The reason? In the recent past countries in the middle east have been accused of committing unimaginable cruelty to citizens who go to work there as casual laboures especially as house helps. The stories that we have been told by those who have by the grace of God made it back home in one piece so to speaking have been barbaric, heart breaking and outright unacceptable.

The Kenya government instead of using its domestic ties with this countries to put an end to this sufferings has reverted to denying its citizens a chance to go work in those countries. Back to the story of the young man who was among the victims of this act of the government. He said in the news article he opted to go work in the middle east as a driver since he has been unable to secure gainful employment in Kenya despite having two degrees from Nairobi university( One of the best university in the country and the whole of the East African region). His is a plight faced by many young people in the country as well as those of other young people the world over. Despite the inherent dangers he might face if he were to go and work in the middle east, he non the less opts to risk going because the options back home are limited. While some countries are grappling with the possibility of having a deficit in skilled labour in the coming years due to their aging populations for instance Japan, Africa is facing the opposite challenge. The number of youth who can provide skilled labour courtesy of acquired education far outweighs the job opportunities available.

I am also victim of the same. Despite having a degree in Commerce majoring in finance, It has been a challenge to get a formal job. But at the end of the day, one must make a living. So I have had to do informal jobs to make ends meet. This trend is quite counter productive as it robs the youth and the country necessary manpower to spur economic growth. As a result crime rates and other social evils are bound to increase as the young people try to make a living against very hard economic background being experienced the world over. Hopefully as technology continues to become more entrenched in the day to day running of affairs the world over the youth might benefit form jobs created by the sector. For those of you reading this, I would like to ask you to please list a number of companies that offer genuine online job opportunities as this is the easiest avenue I can honestly think of of utilizing the vast majority of skilled youth who are unable to secure formal day jobs.

If I can be able to get such an opportunity, my vision is to help as many young people as possible earn a living doing work online. If international donors can shift their focus from funding education wholly and concentrate on providing job opportunities to the already skilled labour by partnering with companies in their native countries that require business process outsourcing services such as data entry, data mining e.t.c. I believe this waste of skilled labour can be reduced. An example of such a scenario as I see it is as follows:-

Hypothetically speaking, assume a country in Europe say Germany has a company X that requires data entry services and is willing to outsource this service. A donor from Germany can partner with a local internet service provider in Kenya say Safaricom and advance loans to the youth in the form of laptops and a modem. The terms of the loan would include a clause that requires the beneficiary of the loan to repay the loan form the proceeds gotten from the data entry jobs provided by company X from Germany courtesy of an agreement with the donor. For this to work, company X can come up with a framework that ensures a certain percentage of earnings by each beneficiary goes to Safaricom to repay the loan while the rest goes to the beneficiary.. Thereby the company X gets value for its money by getting its work done, Safaricom gets to recoup its profits from loaned laptops and modems; the youth get to earn a living and the donor realizes his/her goal of reducing the level of unemployment.

This is just one scenario that I think might work and if am able by the graces of God to one day be in a postion that may facilitate me with the necessary coonections to realize this dream, I think the level of unemplyment can be greatly be reduced. But until then I can only work hard and hope the situation in the world economy will improve. For those in a postion to do such a feat, I would encourage you to do so as it is a win win situation all round. GOD BLESS.

Tribute To Reggae Icon Bob Marley

Reggae music is loved all over the world and it is for this reason I wish to pay my tributes to one founding father of this genre of music.

Bob Marley:

Bob Marley was born Robert Nester Marley on February 6, 1945 to 50-year old white quartermaster Captain Norval Marley of the British West Indian Regiment and 18-year old black Jamaican woman, Cedella Malcolm. His early life was spent in rural community of Nine Miles, nestled in the mountainous terrain of the parish of St.Ann. Fast forward to the late 1950s, Bob barely into his teens; left St.Ann and returned to Jamaica’s Capital Kingston. 

He eventually settled in the western Kingston vicinity of Trench Town, so named because it was built over a sewage trench. The town was made up of a low-income community comprised of squatter-settlements and government yards developments that housed a minimum of four families. Bob quickly learned to defend himself from the Town’s rude boys and bad men earning himself the respectful nickname Tuff Gong for his formidable street-fighting skills.

Despite the poverty, despair and various social ills in Trench Town, Bob Marley’s abundant musical talents were nurtured there as the community was also culturally rich. The town would go ahead and be a source of a lifelong inspiration for Bob which he immortalized in his songs “No Woman No Cry” (1974), “Trench Town Rock” (1975) and “Trench Town” (Released posthumously in 1983). Since his passing on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley’s Legend grows larger each day evidenced by his ever increasing list of accomplishments attributable to his music. Through music he identified oppressors and agitated for social change while simultaneously allowing listeners to forget their troubles and dance.

Bob Marley was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994; in December 1999, his 1977 album "Exodus" was named Album of the Century by Time Magazine and his song "One Love" was designated Song of the Millennium by the BBC. Since its release in 1984, Marley's "Legend" compilation has annually sold over 250,000 copies according to Nielsen Sound Scan, and it is only the 17th album to exceed sales of 10 million copies since SoundScan began its tabulations in 1991. (Source; http://www.bobmarley.com/life_and_legacy.php).

Bob Marley's music was never recognized with a Grammy nomination but in 2001 he was bestowed The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor given by the Recording Academy to "performers who during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording." That same year, a feature length documentary about Bob Marley's life, Rebel Music, directed by Jeremy Marre, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video documentary. In 2001 Bob Marley was accorded the 2171st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, in Hollywood, California. As a recipient of this distinction, Bob Marley joined musical legends including Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations.  (Source; http://www.bobmarley.com/life_and_legacy.php).

My favorite demonstration of just the sort of man he was is during the Liberation celebrations of Zimbabwe. The scenario was as follows; On April 17, 1980 when the former British colony of Rhodesia was liberated and officially renamed Zimbabwe and the Union Jack replaced with the red, gold, green and black Zimbabwean flag, it is said that the first words officially spoken in the new nation were "ladies and gentlemen, Bob Marley and the Wailers". For the Zimbabwean freedom fighters that listened to Bob Marley, inspiration and strength were drawn from his empowering lyrics. Marley penned a tribute to their efforts, "Zimbabwe", which was included on the most overtly political album of his career, 1979's "Survival" and he was invited to headline their official liberation celebrations. Zimbabwean police used tear gas to control the crowds that stampeded through the gates of Harare's Rufaro Stadium to get a glimpse of Marley onstage. As several members of Marley's entourage fled for cover, he returned to the stage to perform "Zimbabwe", his words resounding with a greater urgency amidst the ensuing chaos: "to divide and rule could only tear us apart, in everyman chest, there beats a heart/so soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries and I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries." "There was smoke everywhere, our eyes filled with tears so we ran off," recalls Marcia Griffiths, who sang backup for Marley, alongside Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt, as the I-Threes. "When Bob saw us the next day he smiled and said now we know who the real revolutionaries are." (Source; http://www.bobmarley.com/life_and_legacy_legacy.php).

Bob Marley will forever remain a source of entertainment, encouragement and inspiration for many people all around the world. Perhaps his mother sums it all up perfectly:-

"He made his reggae music to uplift us, inform, entertain, inspire, and make change in the world. He's a musician, a poet and songwriter, a philosopher, a soldier, an activist and a leader." - Cedella Marley