Women will develop Luo Nyanza- Not politicians

There is a discrepancy that has failed to make sense to me for a long time. My community, the Luo are the most learned and have contributed and are still doing so to many great achievements in the world. When the poverty index is published by Ministry of Planning and even UN agencies, we lag behind as the poverty stricken region in Kenya. It was encouraging to see that Siaya is position ten in the new wealth per county survey by the Revenue Allocation Commission. So, where is the problem?

The Chinese have a metaphor of yin and yang symbol of two fishlike shapes forming a circle. The more ‘male’ (yang) a society is the more the competition and total performance but weak group solidarity. The more ‘female’ (yin) a society is the more evenly rewards will be distributed and greater group solidarity but relatively low performance.

The yin factor is what kept Kikuyu’s economically afloat during the twenty four years of Moi era. Bad politics plays a role in entrenching poverty, but it only slows resilient people’s progress but does not stop it. A balanced society must attain the synergy between the ‘yin and yang’ for social growth.

Women make better leaders in social or business circles because of many reasons. They are relational; they share information and build people. Unlike men who outdo each other then bring each other down. Women tend to be less corrupt than men and are bound to look at long term solutions when men are consumed by the moment.

In an African family where the man is the head, the woman is the manager of the home. If the manager is not up to the task, it does not matter how much bacon a man brings home, it won’t have much effect on the health and wealth of the family. Look at it like the man is the CEO and the woman the operations manager. The ideas and policies the board comes up with will be pronounced dead on arrival when it comes to execution.

I am Kenyan of Luo descent, who grew up outside Luo Nyanza. When I was old enough to raise the fare to my rural home, I began to look at my people with an outsider’s lens. Among the Luo, a house belongs to the wife, a man builds a new house every time he marries. This led to many questions for which I will try to answer some and leave the rest to you. A Luo man who married out of the “lifestyle” as Luoism has come to be known will most likely meet an ‘enlightened’ lady. This will make his home more stable than of the man who married from within and had to make do with the average Luo ladies.

If I take a panoramic look at my village into several homes which look stable, I will find a focused mother. This is true even for the semi illiterate women. Women are born with innate abilities to multiply and nurture. When the woman gets it wrong like it happened in the Garden of Eden, everything goes south. Men may be strong but women are powerful, men have enormous spontaneous energy women have a long stay in power. Great men have realized this and Abraham Lincoln said that a woman is the only thing he was afraid of that he knew will not hurt him. Barack Obama calls Michelle the boss and definitely she is. The achievements of these men are evidence of the women behind them.

I then joined a public University to do a course with three hundred other freshmen in 1998. What shocked me and my Luo friends was the realization that we did not have a Luo lady in the class. Luo men made fun of it that now they could go out with Kikuyu ladies without a backlash from their sisters. This to me marked the epitome of social decline and educational decay in Luo Nyanza. Then the majority of student political activists were also Luos. This proved the theory that growing up in poverty and lack produces self driven individuals with a hunger for justice.

Then Nyanza led in the poverty index report and it was shocking how a region with a high concentration of intellectuals would be so poor. The report said that Nyanza Province: With a rural poor population estimated at 2.4 million, has the highest poverty rate across most Divisions and Locations in Kenya. The Leaders who did not agree said the report was more political than factual. On my next trip to Kisumu, the moment I entered Luoland from Kericho, I noted a big change. The difference is evident in people, houses and even cattle.

Let us hold politics constant and for Nyanza it also means leaving Raila out of this. I learned that numbers don’t lie- so I chose to believe the government statistics. The leaders from the region who concurred attributed it to pork barrel policies of the Moi regime and I do not dispute either.

United Nations Development Program released Multidimensional Poverty Index to look into poverty deeper than the income, it analyzes deprivation at household level. The indices measured are; school enrolment and retention, mortality, nutrition, water, electricity, fuel, sanitation and type of floor. Looking at Luo Nyanza with a high resolution lens, one gets the gist of why the region ranks high in poverty levels.

The theories, and scientific explanations in these reports however noble are not palatable to the same people the reports are meant to serve. The hydra headed face of development is not easily understood by the common man. They are used to their poverty which is caused by many factors and coming up with one reason as I have done here may appear pedestrian. I believe the reason for poverty in Luo Nyanza is the un-empowered Luo woman.

I have travelled across the whole region and interacted with Luos from all walks of life.  I noted that a Luo is a Luo regardless of where he grows up and Barack Obama is one typical Luo. Luo men despite their arrogance, pride and imposed swagger are diligent and hard working. They provide for the family and spare some of the evening hang out which is important to us. So where is the disconnect? The leak is in the household where UNDP and other agencies conduct their surveys. These households are the workstation, playground and property of the Luo women.

When a wife is not empowered she will lack access to information on common diseases which increases child mortality. It is mother who can keep a child in school even when the father provides school fees. It is the woman who will keep the house clean and the environment cleaner even if the man does not bring tap water. It is the woman who decides what food will be eaten and how it will be prepared.

The Luo woman has been disempowered by her men and now the whole society is paying. She is not just beautiful but morphologically endowed. Educating or empowering a beautiful woman is like pouring honey into a fine Swiss watch, everything stops. The Luo man who is used to a submissive lady now finds this new woman threatening. The ‘liberated’ Luo woman needs to find a balance for her sake and the good of the community.

To get the Luo out of poverty, I put my bet on the average Luo woman; she holds the key to the emancipation and development of Luo Nyanza. Politics may appear like the way out but we need to turn off the tap rather than keep mopping the floor.

Poverty is rampant all over Kenya and every community must debunk their points of leakages and plug them. We shall never eliminate poverty totally, but the advent of a devolved system of government is a good starting point. A precondition for its sharp reduction is for professionals and the middle class to become more proactive and get closer to and learn more from those who live in poverty; then act accordingly. Sometimes you have to look at the dog not people to know the true economic status of a home.

The more underdeveloped a society is, the more underdeveloped the women. Develop the woman and you develop a society.

AIDS: Human grain will be resistant to HIV weevil

Imagine an AIDS free world. What would change socially in the world? The first time I heard of HIV/AIDS was in late eighties, 1987 to be precise and I was eight years old. Joe Muriuki and Ugandan Phylis Lutaya brought -mdudu- as we called it to our screens. It was remote then, infecting ‘other’ people. A decade later it had spread and today every home is affected.


I received a call from the village and as is the rule, I was informed of the latest souls to depart. I was not shocked but I sighed at the thought of another addition to the statistics. Today HIV/AIDS has infected infants, teens, adults and the senior citizens. Sexual freedom devoid of responsibility has spelled doom for this generation.

My late grandmother was a bright woman, whenever I visited her I would inquire from her how people were doing before I visited them. Her response on some of my enquiries would be- “that one has been infested by weevils,” she would turn her neck sideways in resignation to their fate. That was her way of saying they had contacted the HIV virus and that they would not live long. Once grains have been infested by weevils, you cannot completely eradicate them. The best option is preventive and so it is with HIV virus.

This scourge has created social paradigms in third world countries. It has raised poverty levels by weakening bread winners and drowning resources. AIDS has diverted resources meant for other important sectors into a bottomless pit.

Researchers have made great strides towards finding a cure for this disease. So far we have drugs that slow down the virus, while the focus is on finding a vaccine. My theory is not to trash the efforts of these great brains that have devoted their lives to this end. Our hope lies in our ability to develop a natural ability to resist this virus.

I am none the wiser to delve into the intricacies of biochemistry and molecular biology involved in the research for a cure. I will shed light on evolution theories (I have my reservations) which my lecturers taught me.

Nature abhors liabilities, weak species or elements in a species. So all the people infected will pass on eventually if a cure does not come by soon. The virus has been mutating so fast that it has evaded researchers trying to decode it. These different strains have made the ‘weevil’ to spread deeper and wider into the human ‘grain.’

This mutation as much as it is a challenge it may lead us to the evasive light at the end of the tunnel. Imagine if the virus mutates into a softer version of the virus due to ARV impact. The other option is a strain that that is ARV resistant, both ways could lead to a breakthrough.

The softer strain will be weaker as time goes by while the stubborn strain will shorten the life of those infected thus reducing the rate of new infections. The soft version may become a natural vaccine or inhibitor while the other may become as deadly and rapid as ebola with time.

Those who will be lucky to escape will survive and give birth to healthy children. The offspring tend to be stronger and sophisticated than the parents. These children may be able to resist or withstand HIV/AIDS. There is a possibility of a human generation coming up that is totally HIV resistant.

Meanwhile sex is booming across the divide. Older men are known to prefer younger ladies, now older women are preying on young men. This is one frontier that will complicate the war on AIDS, as young people will be infected then infect each other. If we can all agree to consciously reduce infections then we can begin to dream.

As we make baby steps towards seeking solution to this calamity, I believe God created nature in a way that it balances out extreme situations. Global Warming and HIV/AIDS are a threat to human survival today and in the near future. I can’t wait to see how nature will readjust back to equilibrium if it happens in my lifetime.

My grandmother may have left the weevil causing havoc to the next generation. Her great grandchildren may usher a new era of HIV resistant generation.

Aid for Gay Rights is Gay

There is a new tune from the west- American liberals and British conservative governments are singing to the developing world. When these two divides think alike on an issue, then it is serious. They are all united in saying that gay rights are human rights and they will open their purse to nations who agree to dance to this tune.

Two watershed world conferences were held in the nineties, one in Beijing and the other in Cairo. The women met to count the gains of feminists’ movement in Beijing. The homosexuals and pro-gay movement met in Cairo Egypt as well. I now realize why they had to bring the conference to Africa and especially Egypt. Since then, the tide has been unstoppable both for women and gays.

I am not against gays, they can continue with the lifestyle as long as they don’t interfere with me. My basic knowledge of law is that my rights stop where your rights start. I have a problem with the West arm-twisting the third world to accept their culture.

As it has been the norm with other western ideals like democracy, human rights et al, the poor nations will follow South Africa in legalizing gay unions. Democracy has been practiced in the West for centuries, yet the third world countries were arm twisted to adopt democracy and perfect it instantly. The pressure to democratize and improve human rights came with the same aid tag. What will we be told to do next for aid?

African nations will make steps towards development the day we find a balance between adopting the positive attributes of the western society without losing who we are. The Asian tigers have achieved it the same way albeit without democracy. They are moving towards democracy slowly as they transition from second world into first world nations.

They kept their Asian culture of Confucius (moral order) and hard work while they adopted industrialization and free market economy of the west. You can only take in as much as your culture and social structures can accommodate. Africa is not ready for the liberal lifestyle of the west.


The greatest war you will fight in this world is to be you, to have your own identity. It is what pushes us to achieve great feats in life. That satisfaction that we made a difference in life. You can not do the same if you do not have an identity. It is this identity that the west will not let us have, for it will make us hard to manipulate. A bongo flava song Swanglish has a line- we are going into slavery without chains or bells.

Come to think of it- what has aid done for Africa? The same developed nations siphon back the aid through expensive supplies and expensive expatriate labour. If we apply the law of relativity, the aid comes at the western speed then it gets stifled by the third world bottle necks. By the time the systems clear, the plans have been overtaken by events creating a conducive atmosphere for corruption.

It is time Africa stood her ground in the face of such bullying. Recognizing gays or legislating pro-gay policies will not result in any meaningful social or economic change. We can do without aid if the West can work out the North- South trade imbalance. Why don’t they peg this gay rights arm twisting with progressive trade with the developing nations who will agree to it?


We have enough problems to look into, gays and homosexuals can wait- it is not an emergency!

© Since 1978

Tribalism is bigger than Al- Shabab

I have followed closely the war of words that has followed Hassan Omar Hassan’s (KNCHR Commisioner) comments in a past issue of Sunday Standard. He wrote that Kenya is not ready for another Kikuyu president after Kibaki, mainly due to Kikuyunization of crucial government dockets.

 As a matter of fact, Hassan is not the first to say that Kenyan’s will not replace Kibaki with a Kikuyu. The problem is he chairs the commission that has the responsibility to choose the Kenya Police Service Commison and the Commisioner General.  Some Kikuyu MP’s feel that he will be against candidates from their community.

This is the kind of catch 22 situation we find ourselves in when we delve into the Kenya ethnicity matrix. We are damn if we don't tackle it and damn if we try to sort it. The sly choose to weigh their words, the orators circumvent it. The few like Hassan have the guts to call the devil in the room by name.

Hassan is one of the people who inspired me to jump into student activism. He had just been expelled for proposing that Moi University changes its name. He dubbed as the Kenya National Students Union chairman so he kept himself busy around Nairobi. I came to meet him as a freshman before I became a SONU congressman. One thing I know about Hassan is that he is not a tribalist, he may be many other things.

Tribalism in Kenya, just like many things about us is peculiar. We are very hospitable, stay, play, work and worship with each other for four years then go for each other in the election year. It has permeated our social systems from politics, corporate Kenya and even our churches. It is a system that the colonialists used to govern us and our political leaders have perfected the art.

We may be fighting the Al-Shabab in Somalia, but tribalism has killed more Kenyans than terrorists. It is a threat to our national security more than Al-Shabab and other gangs. It is time we faced it, sugar coating words and ignoring it will not help.

I was born in Nakuru and I grew up in Kaimosi. My first language is Kiswahili laced with Kikuyu words for slung. I spoke Luo only with my folks at home so it was not all that. Then I found myself in Ikolomani and I spoke Luhya in three months.

Kaimosi is an educational complex that attracts staff and students from all over Kenya. In a small area, I met Kenyans from all walks of life. I ventured deep into the villages to play with my Tiriki friends so much that today I am the only non-tiriki member of Tirikis on Facebook.

My encounter with tribalism was in a very unlikely place-The University of Nairobi. This is the very place where we expect to teach young minds to shun it. Like virginity my Kenyan innocence was ruptured and lost, may be for good. Nowhere is the Kikuyu-Luo rivalry axis huge like the University of Nairobi. I confess I have sometimes looked at many issues in Kenya with a tribal lens.

There was only one lecturer (who I will not name) who was a tribalist and did not give a damn about it. He spoke his mind about his tribe’s supremacy and I respect him to date for that. He is the only lecturer who taught me who I can take time to go and visit back in college. Unlike most of us, who will preach water by day and drink wine by the night.

Slowly I resigned to the fact that tribalism like corruption are as Kenyan as Mt. Kenya and Lake Victoria, they aint going nowhere soon. Tribalism and corruption are two sides of the same coin, the main impediments to our social and economic development.

I concur with Hassan’s latest remark that we have to come out and discuss tribalism. The Luos live in a siege mentality due to pork barrel politics of previous regimes. The Kikuyu have this engrained claim to Kenya as the people who fought for independence. The Luo believe they have to fight for their 'right' while the Kikuyu are out to defend what is 'rightfully' theirs.

These are the tribes that form the two axes upon which Kenya’s tribal turfs revolve either by design or default. The times Kenya has made meaningful progress is when the two communities have worked together.  It is time the Luo and Kikuyus looked beyond politics, may be we will see the Kenya we want.

The church is as guilty as the political class by not standing up to fight tribaism. Listening to Anglican politics before the election of Archbishop of Nairobi leaves you with a sour test. It will be ages before another Luo gets to the pinnacle of the Anglican Church however qualified a candidate is. It will not be said openly like is the habit in the mainstream churches, but that is the bottom line.

In the build up to 2007 elections, the Kisumu Catholic Bishop publicly disagreed with Cardinal John Njue. When a Bishop says that the Cardinal's statement is personal to appease his flock, we have a problem. Times may have changed, but the underlying problems have not been sorted.

The regional division of churches that was done by the colonialist has been retained to date. That when I hear of a Methodist in Kenya I see a Meru, PCEA is for the Kikuyu, SDA the Kisii and Luo and so forth. It is time churches stepped out and reached to people of other tribes out of their ‘area of operation’ and even put them in major positions of leadership.

This can be done by offering scholarships to bright students from these regions and slowly inculcating them into the church. The missionaries did it very well, the times may have changed but the needs remain the same.

There are drastic measures we need to take if we are to see some gains in this war. 


The first is to strengthen and streamline the county governments. Putting up the systems will be a challenge but we need to sacrifice and overcome the teething problems that will arise. By equitably building the parts, we will build the whole (Kenya) easily.

 Then we need to elect someone from the small tribes into state house. They have already gained from the mistrust among the big tribes as crucial positions in post new constitution Kenya are going to them.We can learn from Tanzania where all their presidents have come from minority tribes, it is the CCM party that matters.

Then we need to elect a Luo president, the earlier the better. It is a bridge we came to long time ago but we have never crossed. For some wounds to be healed and chasms bridged, this will have to happen, who and when is up to Kenyans.

Then the long term answer to this problem is inter-marriage among the tribes. The next generation born from these unions will be devoid of tribalism. This has proved the answer between the Luo and Luhya. In spite of underlying differences they can trust each other. Their common border is a buffer zone as most families do not know where they belong.

Meanwhile, it will take people like Hassan who will courageously and truthfully speak against tribalism to fight it. We cannot wish it away, but engage on ways to right past wrongs and put up ways to secure a good Kenya for us and the next generations.

Kenyan middle class madness- our biggest undoing

For scientific minds which I have always acknowledged I lack, the term middle class takes many shades depending on where you are describing it from. The middle class distinguish themselves from the class below them by their ability and willingness to depend on their expertise and determination rather than wait for 'serikali itusaidie.'





To me these are the people who live by the carrot and stick. They have not made it, but the environment portrays all attributes that they can make it if they worked a little hard. The middle class are known the world over to be the engines of growth, change agents and definers of the social values of a nation. 


The above description sheds some light of who the middle class are. They have the skill and know how and a twenty four hour access to information. They also have the means to support themselves and a few relatives who remind them of where they have come from and where they do not want to find themselves in.


It is the middle class who have initiated change everywhere in the world. Be it fashion, music, political or social yet the Kenyan middle class has failed in this responsibility. There are those who have chose to live in a bubble and mind their own business. Then the ones who have stood up for change still have hangovers of tribalism, nepotism and corruption. Do not listen to their words, just listen to what they lack the guts to say.


These are the same people who will talk of how tribe does not matter. Yet when you hear them talk in hush tones, you get to the bottom of their heart. They go ahead and vote for 'one of their own' and use their influence to spread the same vitriol to the lower classes. It is the middle class who seek elective posts as well, the rich would rather support and sponsor them.  Then they go to their hang out joints to drink and proclaim how they are not tribal and how things will never change in Kenya.


We are the same people who overlap on the road then complain of traffic jams. We get absorbed by English Premier League, Rugby and Motor Cross (note I did not mention Polo and Golf) and forget that the lower class who are breathing at our feet play and watch basketball, football and hockey. If these sports do not develop, the youth from humble neighbourhoods will come knocking at our doors. What we will do is erect a tall fence and enhance the grills, but again it wont help. We can live and let others live as well by offering our time and expertise to assist them grow.


From Che Guevara, Nelson Mandela, Osama bin Laden and many others who have stood up for something, they were all educated with at least a first degree. They could have lived a good personal life but rallied their fellow middle class and lower classes to a greater cause. Until the Kenya middle class gets an antidote for its hangovers, we will continue to hear 'tunaomba serikali itusaidie' and laugh about it without knowing we are laughing at ourselves. Then send our children to 'group schools' we can ill afford. 


Lazima tupate dawa ya hii 'kasumba ya mabwenyenye wa kadiri'


Stand up and be counted................................

Why Sofapaka will be one of the BIG clubs in Kenya.....

Football is more than just a sport; it is an art, a language and to some extent a war in which every match is a battle. The world governing body FIFA tries to maintain sanity in a sport that generates emotions all over the world. Football was invented in England, thanks to colonization it spread all over the world and the English must be wondering what happened to ‘their’ game.

There are many dynamics in football in every country and culture. Kenyan football clubs took a tribal dimension while the Tanzanian clubs went the social class way. Simba is a club for the middle class while Yanga is for the working class. The community clubs in Kenya have had a tribal following; Gor is mainly supported by Luos while AFC Leopards by the Luhyas. The other clubs in KPL are institutional, formed by employees and sponsored by a corporate body.

In 2009, an unknown club called Sofapaka was promoted to the KPL. It had metamorphosed from a men’s ministry pass time at M.A.O.S church into a professional outfit in five years. They spent a year each in the Nationwide two and Nationwide leagues before the promotion. In their first year in the league, the club was fully sponsored by business man Elly Kalekwa and they clinched the title- a world record.

Then the old teams woke up, they were shocked by the new kids on the block. K’ogallo and AFC fans began to cheer Sofapaka’s opponents in the 2010 campaign where they finished fourth. Mathare United came into the league with a bang but took time to win it while ‘watoto wa mungu’ as they are known won it in their maiden appearence.

I have many reasons to believe that we have not seen the best of Sofapaka yet. While arguing a case in court, a lawyer will quote authorities; these are related cases whose judgments give weight to his arguments. I have my authorities as well.

Two English men Herbert Kilpin a lace maker and Alfred Edwards from Nottingham found themselves in Milan, Italy towards the end of nineteenth century. Being foreigners, they must have been bored after work due to limited social ties. They formed AC Milan in 1899, after a row the Italians broke away to form Internazionale of Milan in 1908. The rest as they say is history, the club has won eighteen officially recognized FIFA and UEFA titles. It is now owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

In the Catalan province of Spain, a twenty year old business man from Winterthur Switzerland arrived in Barcelona in 1898 and formed FC Barcelona in 1899. Hans ‘Joan’ Gamper had formed FC Zurich just before he left his native country. Barcelona has morphed into one of the biggest clubs in Spain and just like AC Milan, it was founded by a foreigner.

Argentinean club Boca Juniours is known as the club that ushered Diego Maradona into the world of football.  In April 1905, five Italian boys met in one of the boy’s home to form a club. The father to the boy was not happy and he threw the boys out. They went to a nearby house called Plaza Solís to continue with the project and Boca Juniours was founded.

These are just a few examples of football clubs started by foreigners in their adopted countries. I believe it is not only in football, foreigners tend succeed where the natives fail. I believe there are other foreigners who took charge of many clubs and raised their profile even if they were not the founders.

Football elicits great passion, especially among the working class who form the majority of any society. This attracts influence from the political class who are in pursuit of votes. A local administrator will definitely have political leanings. This will work for some time until he falls out of favour with his allies or they are thrown out of power. I talked to Elly Kalekwa a few years ago and he was very categorical that his politics is football. Foreigners will avoid getting directly involved in politics hence concentrate more on their private business.

Kenyan clubs are more inclined to tribal and regional loyalty. AFC Leoprads has signed most players from the Luhya community except Congolese import Jonas Nahimana and Ugandan Jimmy Bagaye. Gor Mahia has tried to move away from this trend and has several players who are not from Luo Nyanza. Sofapaka having a Congolese owner has a few refugees but the bulk of Kenyan contingent is a mixture of many tribes. This is another factor that will endear more people to ‘watoto wa mungu’ in the near future.

The foreign touch has spiced many leagues in the world. The great Pele came out retirement to play for New York Cosmos and American Soccer (not football) grew by leaps. Arsene Wenger brought the French finesse into the English Premier League. The Dutch invasion of Barcelona led by Rinus Michels and later Johan Cryuf transformed football in Spain. The Congolese invasion of KPL may just trigger a transformation in our football.

The entire France contingent that won the World Cup in 1998 were descendants of immigrants. Already we have Bob Mugalia in the national team, who knows who will be next. If we embrace more foreigners we are bound to see growth in the quality of our football.

History repeats itself, so it is prudent to learn from it so as to repeat the good and shun the wrong aspects of it. The current supporters of the clubs I have mentioned above may not know the foreign hands that shaped them. Like mercenaries, these men made the best of their love for the beautiful game in a simple way and many people are benefiting today. Sofapaka may be a Kenyan club owned by a Congolese businessman today, but I see a trailblazer in many fronts. Time will tell. 

I speak for the African..

I have tried to describe myself in parameters that the world has set but none comes close to fully describe who I a am. The conclusion I have arrived at is that I am not a conservative, because I am open minded though I do not adopt new trends for the sake of it. I will say I am just not conventional, I will adopt a trend only if I am satisfied that it is for my good or the good of man kind.

I do not see why Africans, especially the youth should adopt and copy the trends in the West just to look cool. That the parametres of coolness or 'being there' are measured by how Western you are or rather by how much you can copy the styles of the West.

I appreciate beauty, even the subtle beauty that does not scream. I know African women are beautiful; who said that they have to put on hipsters to look cool. Not every hip looks good in a hipster, or even a trouser so it is better for some ladies to stick to skirts. It is prudent for people to understand their physique and dress them accordingly. Again, not every lady looks elegant in heels, some can save themselves from the torture.

What we fail to understand is that the masters of capitalism, which is also a western ideology spring up this trends to rip us of our cash. They know some copy cat cannot wait for what is next in line to buy. We roll over each other to catch what ends up to make the West more rich.

The lingo, oh my! we have our sheng they have their slung. Yet we cause our tongue mayhem just to adopt the lingo that suits a specific Harlem neighbour-hood. The biggest mistake was for our people to work so hard to be like the British. So much so that my people the Luo, who are known to adore their culture would discard the removal of six lower teeth as a way of initiation because the uninitiated  spoke 'better' English.

This has killed our creativity. You cannot express yourself artistically in a language you have not mastered. At the moment, our Kapuka music will never hit it big simply because our youth cannot express themselves fully in either English, Kiswahili or their mother tongue. They end up singing songs that cannot rule the airwaves for long. On the contrary, South Africans will sing and act in any of their Bantu languages and move the world.

This is the same misconception that rules our media houses. That one must have a certain twang to get the opportunity to go on air. The twang will have to be imposed if it does not come naturally. No wonder radio has become very boring.

To all this I say, we will remain the second best, we shall never compete with other people in their culture, what comes naturally to them. We can learn from them, and domesticate it, then grow it in our culture. Ask, Nigeria and South Africans. They have learned from the West but have come up with their own versions, that suits them in film and music.

We missed the boat a while back. The shift will have to be generational, so we have to nurture the younger generation to appreciate Kenyanese. That is the only way we will discover the KENYAN DREAM.

Systems, Al-Shabaab and Sharp minds....

I have been trying to get information on the Kenyan invasion of Somalia from all sources. It is the first time our country is going out in a semblance of full war. It is good that we like to make noise as Kenyans, complain and rant about almost everything. This may be the cause why we are never quick to go to war. We can even say that Al-Shabab threatened our tourism industry, our golden egg goose that is why we had to go for them.

It brought me to systems, the networks that supports such outfits. It is claimed that the commanders of Al Shabaab are in Kenya's Eastleigh Estate. They command a port that brings them Ksh. 5 Billion per annum at the expense of some youth out fighting a holy war. Like the confusion in Mogadishu, it is difficult to differentiate the head from the tail in Eastleigh. The systems that operate here are known only to the people who run and fund them.

A college classmate came to mind. Alvin Lee Oguga (RIP) was one bright man. This is a man who I believe like many others was messed up by our own education system. We were doing a Science degree, but all indications in him were clear that he was an 'artist' at heart. His command of English was exceptional, the books he read and his thought process betrayed his disdain for Geology and Mathematics. He drowned his frustrations in alcohol until he could not complete his studies.

What brought Lee (as we called him) to mind was a tag line he would have used in the Luo spirit of pakruok. He claimed to be the first man to have made love to a woman in the rebel held town of Kisangani. It was the time when Eastern Congo had the combined forces of Rwandese and Ugandan forces as well as the Intarahamwe and Banyamulenge  rebel militia armies.

Today as I take a look at social systems that should make life better but end up to make it worse for some people. I honour Lee, who made our college life worth the hustle of proving and deriving equations. His humour, love for rhumba and easy demeanor added to a true sense of Luo nyadhi and pakruok was off the hook. Today he would gleefully quip that he was the first man to make love to a woman in the Al Shabab held port of Kismayu.

May we all tweek our personal, corporate and social systems for the sake of social good and sharp minds like Lee.

I will speak...

Last Saturday we held the Nairobi chapter of International Stammering Awareness Day  at Mavuno Church in Nairobi South C. It is held every year on 22nd October.. It was such a wonderful event, being in a room with many stammerers and people associated with stammerers. I took the microphone as the master of ceremony for the day and immediately realized I have come from far. A microphone is like a hand grenade with safety seal off to a stammerer. I may not get a chance to be an MC in a major event, but here I was, with people who will not mind if I am not eloquent or humourous.

This year Kiss FM came in to give us publicity and Caroline Mutoko did a super good job for two weeks prior to the event. People went up the stage to share their stories to change perception. It was inspiring to hear stories, contemporary gospel artist Eko Dyda inspired us when he said his stammering rap style has given him an edge over other artists. I enjoyed myself all through the day and for a whole day, I thought about my stammering.

I have come a long way with my stammering, since as a ten year old I walked away embarrassed from the stage after I could not recite the poem 'chura,' but silently resolved not to coil back. In class seven I asked my scout troop leader to let me command, call it kimbelembele, I call it confidence. I went ahead to lead the Scouts in my last year in primary school.

I have fond memories for the people and teachers who went out of their way to build my confidence. I am forever indebted to my primary school head teacher Mr. Reuben Lumasia (God rest his soul). Many other people did the same in their own small ways and I thank them too.

I am an outgoing person, I get this in comparison to other people who stammer including my big brother. I go out of my way to do things many stammerers will shy away from. I have acted in plays, danced, recited coral verses and even led initiatives. I vied for posts in student union in campus and won, someone commented on my wall that if I was not a stammerer he wouldn't have listened to me. I served as a full time pastor where I led and trained volunteers to the best of my ability.

I am also very perceptive, something I relate to my stammering. Growing up, my stammering was intense. I would keep quiet even when I was meant to speak. This gave me an opportunity to listen and analyse what was going on. I would then deduce my solutions and speak,- oh viola people would be shocked at my brilliance. I have perfected this art and to date, my analysis of many events and processes is spot on.

Stammering has become part of me, so much so that when I speak fluently it comes out as odd. Like most stammering men, the dating scene is a scenario one would rather leave to the heart. I realized that in my early dating days, I was a nice guy. Hanging around a lady long before saying what I really mean to say, when I get to say it, the answer was "we are just friends." It takes a different species of a lady to navigate through this stage with a stammering man. Like Mr. John Ngumi pointed out on Kiss FM, when the time comes to recite wedding vows, the stammerer needs extra grace.

We can never be spin masters. I tend to be economical with words so I dont have the temerity to lie lest I spend the rest of the day explaining myself out of it. Eloquence has its advantages but it also gives someone the temptation to extend the truth. We will never have the luxury to excite crowds with beautiful words and scintillating phrases. In a brief and concise way, we will pass on the message.

These challenges will lead stammerers to end up in careers below our potential. Some of us will also get into relationships out of availability rather than compatibility. It is one of those conditions whose effects are not directly evident. In a world that puts image above substance and communication and public relations as the core of ones worth, stammerers will always fall short. The world moves so fast to care to stop and listen patiently to us as we try to put across our message.

Oh yes, I will speak. Even if the world will not stop to listen I will speak, even if the words will take time to come out, I will speak. If I have to stamp my feet and squint my eyes, pause, take a deep breath and say one word, I will speak. Because I have a story to tell the world in words and in deed, I WILL SPEAK, just be patient and take time to listen.

I when I grow up I don't want to be a pilot or a soldier...

The first desire a child will have after watching an aeroplane fly high above is to fly it.It looks like the ultimate job, away from the common things on earth. My earliest dream was to get into radio, I had memorized most radio commercials and would sing the common songs of the time. I loved the way Hamini Themo would say 'samahani nitarudia tena' in the one o'clock news bulletin.

Then I visited my cousin who was an officer in the Armed Forces and fell for the army. I prayed for the day I will join the forces and be an officer like him. Little did I know that the two careers I desired will forever remain a dream. A stammerer can not be recruited into the army and definitely cannot read the one o'clock news. It was also disheartening to hear that I can never get a flying license as well just because I will be at risk if I can not communicate with the controls clearly and on time.

Stammering is not a disability just like being short sighted or colour blind. From the above examples, it is obvious that it leads to loss of potential. It is good if the society realizes this and assists children who stammer to scale the heights in that which they are good at. Even if I cannot fly, be in the army or read news, I am good at very many other things. It is about living a full life even with lost potential.

sharing stories, changing perceptions.....

Love brewed in the stammering pot

Love is a mystery, so I am none the wiser even after all these years on these earth to speak about love. A few years back, in my attempt to settle down after a three year break from campus- I made friends with some lady. This lady had a friend who stammers and was timid and shy due to her condition. Here she meets a man who despite his stammer was as outgoing as he could be. She introduced me to her friend without giving details and I added her into my new data of acquittance.

The next time I met this lady, we got talking about her stammering, I told her that I speak as much as I can. If I experience blocks or prolongation of speech, I just pause and then go on with what I was talking about. I was a sort of a ruffian, impulsive and smoked almost as much as I breathed, another friend described me as volatile. Here was a born again sister who was as organized and a perfectionist as they come. Apart from stammering, which we enjoyed when we were together because we 'felt' each other, we had nothing else in common. We would spend time together with very minimal talk and still communicate.

To cut the long story short, I fell in love. I came to know Christ and she ended up as a student leader thanks to my ground work and people skills. Then love ended, and as they say, some people come into your life for a season, a reason or forever. Mercy was godsend for that season of my life and I respect her to date. Sometimes I think I had to go for one thousand days 'compulsory academic leave'  just to meet her on my second stint.

Love brewed in the stammering pot- sharing stories-changing perceptions.

4th October 2011

I am not shy or sly, I just cannot maintain eye contact

Simple things are the hardest to do. We all know that when you are talking to someone, you should maintain eye contact. We even teach children to look at someone when talking to them. You either come out as shy or sly if you do not look someone in the eye.

To those of us with the blessing of a mind that works faster than our vocal chords, maintaining eye contact is an uphill task. It is something we have to remind ourselves in every conversation. When my mind is working overtime to construct sentenses and guage which words will be troublesome, eye contact is the last thing I care about.

You may think that we are just being sly, or too shy for this world but that is far from it. What should you then do? Just maintain eye contact. Look us in the eye, the few times we will pass a glance at you, it is just to confirm that you are still listening. Be patient, maintain eye contact and respond when we are done.

If you are in authority, then you have to cultivate an easy atmosphere for a stammerer. We tend to stammer more around authority figures. So, relax and look us in the eye.

In our struggle to put across the message, the quality of speech is not as important as passing the message. We will never convey a message exactly how we would love to, even if we practice over and over. It is good to wait and ask for clarification than interjecting. It is one thing we have to practice over and over especially when we go for an interview, to look people in the eye even who the mind is running around looking for words.

Sharing stories,changing perceptions..........

27th September 2011

Strength of a woman is evident in stammering

Reggae crooner Lord Laroh has a comical song- woman ruler; he sings that one day women will rule the world. If there is one thing that proves this it is stammering. One percent of the world population stammers, of those who stammers, one out of five is a woman. Women are also known to naturally grow out of stammering. This is one indication that women are genetically stronger than men, I leave the rest to researchers.

I have met few women who stammer, I even fell in love with one of them. I will speak about that one next time. I believe it is better for a man to stammer, I tend to find it so unfair when women stammer. You know women are meant to be nice and calm. The jerks and blocks of stammering make it so un-girly.

If you ever doubted the strength of a woman, learn from stammering that the fairer sex is stronger. In children who stammer, boys tend to stammer longer while girls will most likely stop stammering before teenage. Even when women let men to take the lead, let us remember that they were created with an inherent strength to help men.

As we celebrate the International Stammering Awareness Day on Saturday, October 22nd, we take time to salute women, for showing us that someone can conquer this condition.

Follow us on www.nairobistammering.wordpress.com

© 21^st September 2011     kenyatta otieno

Do not hang up on a stammerer

It is frustrating to have something to say and not be able to say it. It is even more frustrating to try to say it and not say it as well as you would like to. This is a stammerers way of life, we go through it daily. Our world is full of anger, disappointments and frustrations. People have come to label us ‘an angry lot,’ maybe we are, but 

maybe it is because the fluent speakers think we are slow or are wasting their time.

There was a young man who went to borrow an axe from a neighbor. Upon arrival, as is the custom before he could say what he wanted the host offered him a mug of tea. He accepted, and then sat to drink the local version of a cold coke. Then all of a sudden another young man came into the compound and asked for the axe. The host brought it to him but the first man stood up and said that’s what had brought him to the home as well. The host was caught in an awkward position.

I like to tell the above story but I have never thought that the first man may have been a stammerer. It happens to us a lot, we agonize and prepare to say something then back off at the last minute. We have thus lost opportunities or seen what we want slip away just because we could not say what we wanted at the right time.

Watch out for the caller who seems to take long to speak on the other end. Sometimes the world moves so fast for us, and what we can do is to keep what we have to say in our hearts. Who can stand the jerks, gyrations, blocks and prolonged speech? It is worse when you hang up on me. A lady hanged up on me around March and I have never called her since. It is the harshest thing someone can do to us. Nevertheless, we get hang-ups every day, when we can’t say what we want to say. The phone is the worst invention to have been made, just ask any stammerer.

If you have not read the new constitution, please do so. It is against the Kenyan Constitution to complete sentences for a stammerer or hang up the phone on them. Oh yes, this year’s International Stammering Awareness Day is about sharing stories and changing perceptions.

Share with us on www.nairobistammering.wordpress.com

© 18^th September 2011      kenyatta otieno

God knows why he made you the way you are

As we prepare to celebrate the International Stammering Awareness Day on Saturday October 22^nd 2011, a good story came to mind. My cousin Fred, claims to know me so well, better than any of my relatives. He had been admitted to Kenya Polytechnic where he had made many friends and even became a leader. He invited me for lunch and an afternoon drink just to see how he was making it. We met in town and walked into the college with him.

No sooner had we entered the gate than he heard someone call from the balcony, Otie (that was my high school nick name) then there was a shout of Onyatto and Kenyatta-Kenyatta, my student activist tag, we all had double names since the days of Miguna Miguna and Kabando wa Kabando. Where he thought he would introduce me to his friends, I was the one introducing him to his colleagues.

We sat down in the cafeteria to have lunch and Fred smiled shyly in his characteristic way. He squinted; he does this always before unleashing words of wisdom or utter nonsense (I also know him well.) “God knows why you have to stammer Kenyatta, if you had fluent speech you could have destroyed the world.” He said and patiently waited for my response. I laughed out loud, not in agreement of or lack of the same but at his wise observation.

What Fred did not know is that the stutter that he thought was holding me like a dog chain was responsible for unleashing me into a man of the people. Like everybody else, he has his own opinion on stammering. It is for this reason that we come together every year to celebrate this condition that is still a medical mystery.

According to Fred, God made you short, fat or short sighted, for your own good and the good of mankind. I would not say so of stammering, because it is only those of us living with it who know what it takes. We invite you to come and share with us, as we seek to change perceptions.

Al Komaroff said, “If you can’t communicate well, you’ll never participate fully in society… overall your career and relationships will be below your potential.

Present your final submission at the Hague.....

Many years ago I appeared before the University of Nairobi Senate Disciplinary Committee.This was to answer charges for being involved in many acts of unruliness. I even got to learn the word picketing for the first time and that it was an offense. I may not have been involved in the actual acts, but I created an environment where students would do such acts. I lost my cool and I did not do my best in my defense.

The lawyers representing the ODM 3 of the Ocampo 6 are giving their final submissions today. I have followed the proceedings sparingly but it is hard to tell who should take political responsibility for what happened. That aside, if I took you to the Hague and brought charges committed between January 1st and February 28th 2008 what would be your final submissions. I accuse you that you had negative tribalism thoughts as you watched the news. That you shied away from speaking the truth citing the hand of God in what happened. That you watched as people incited others to violence and looted and said or did nothing.

Leadership has responsibilities, as I went through my hearing and a court ordered retrial later for which I prepared well it downed on me the that the burden of leadership is huge. Some of the Ocampo 6 may have to bear the responsibility for what other people did, but allow me to ask WHAT DID YOU DO? or to put it better, WHAT DID YOU NOT DO?

To build a good future for Kenya, free from violence and negative tribalism I hereby ask you to present your final submissions. The Kenya we want depends on you!

When Things Change:- tokelezea

I was named after a fisherman, my grandmother used to call me ‘jalupo’ dholuo for fisherman. I go fishing once in a while when I am at home; it is the way of life for my people. Having grown up in Western Province, going to my rural home is always an experience. I came to learn that fishermen are very good Geographers who can predict the weather and forecast seasons.

To get them to the fishing grounds faster, they rely on wind. To them wind is feminine- the wind from the North to the direction of Kisumu is called nyar Kisumo, it blows in the morning. The stronger afternoon wind that blows from the South- direction of Migingo is nyar die nam dholuo for the lady from the middle of the lake. The fishermen go fishing with nyar Kisumo then nyar die nam brings them back in the afternoon. Many times they have to hang around Rusinga Island to wait for the wind to change direction.

I have realized that God created everything for a reason and a season. In life sometimes we have to flow with the system. We may want to change direction but we will still have to wait for the wind to drive us there. The other option is to use extra effort in paddling against the wind. When the wind changes direction, like my people of South Rarieda, just raise your sail and it will absorb the wind. God will make you cruise faster to your destiny. UTATOKELEZEA.

Whoever gave wind a feminine noun must have had very good reasons. I will dwell on that next time.

©  6^th September 2011        kenyatta otieno   

There is a drop of madness in everyone

The common cliché in Kenya is that every Lavington has a Kawangware and every Ngumo and Lang’ata has a Kibera. This changes a bit to the East, Runda has a slum but Muthaiga has a mental hospital protecting it from Mathare slum. What does mental illness got to do with economic class?

Word has it that there lived a special mad man in Migori, South Nyanza. He would come from his home smartly dressed and engage people in normal talk and political discussions. When it came time to answer to a long call of nature, shock on you if you were not prepared. He would walk to an open space, and then proceed to fully undress himself. He would go ahead and relieve himself oblivious of people around him then dress up again. He would then proceed with the day’s business as usual.

Like the man from Migori, we are all prone to a surge of insanity. Then again, it is mad people who change the world. What matters is how you use the madness streak in you. Like the ‘mad men and women’ who went before us, those who were first misunderstood but later revered, we can make the world a better place. 

John the Baptist and his cousin Jesus Christ were ‘mad men’ when they sprung into the scene in Israel. Galileo shocked the world with his revelation that the world is not flat like a table. William Wilberforce knew that Britain could survive economically without cheap labour from slaves. The irony is, these men were rejected by the people before what they said was believed. May our madness not separate us from each other like Mathare Mental Hospital but bridge the many social gaps that exist among us.

© 31 August 2011-  otieno kenyatta