Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Scandal – Kenya vs USA

Breaking news on CNN this morning when I woke up was;

“Sex Scandal Threatens Key Democrat”.

“New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a key backer of Hilary Clinton, who rose to prominence by rooting out corruption, was facing calls to resign Tuesday over allegations that he paid thousands of dollars to a prostitute.”


Here in Kenya “Political Gossip” from one of our local dailies went like this;

“An MP from Western Province was held briefly Friday night when he was soliciting for sex. Police pounced on the MP at a parking lot with a half naked girl. The girl admitted the MP was just sampling the goods before they reached an agreement on the price. The policemen held the MP for one hour before they released him after he paid a substantial amount of money.”


Hmmmm, spot the difference and similarities between the stories.

For similarities, I have;

1. Turns out all men of power have to buy sex in order to get any at all!

2. Corruption is most definitely everywhere, no matter what the 'good guys' say.
3. You will eventually be caught out.
4. When you do happen to get caught, do what you can to get out of it smelling of roses.


... and the only difference I can see is that in Kenya no one really gives a damn for a small scandal anyhow, as 'Who are you?' unless you have a spot of 'take-away' going on somewhere, and if that means buying it, and then buying the silence of the cops so they don't let onto your wife - so be it!
If, the press gets hold of the story, it's not really an issue, you can just go with -

"You know you cannot believe a thing these journos write dahling,

they cannot tell one MP from another.

They are all just tribalists !"


The only thing I do advise to the Governor in the States is, perhaps he should have also done a little ‘sampling’ before parting with his cash ! Apparantly, that's the done thing to do :-)

15 comments:

nuttycow said...

Thousands of dollars? Blimey.. what *was* he doing with her?

Expat mum said...

Hilarious. One thing I don't understand here (USA) is why in god's name these politicians think that no one's going to find out about this kind of thing. Apparently it was uncovered during a 'routine tax investigation" (itself troubling) but you know it was just a matter of time. Silly, silly men!

aims said...

As we sat watching this on the news - The Man asked me 'Why is it the wives are always standing stoically by their man?"

I agree - why bother?!

Gorilla Bananas said...

"...they released him after he paid a substantial amount of money."

Haha! Nice to know there are places in the world where the police are not too proud to take a bribe!

Mzungu Chick said...

Nuttycow - Not sure if the amount of money is relevant but the question "What was he doing with her?" most certainly is!

Expatmum - It's funny how men are the same all over the world - no matter the background, it seems the groin always does the thinking!

Aims - with you there - why bother to stand by, I don't get it either.

Mr Bananas - Our police are extremely fond of the exercise especially around the mid month and end of the month - it's the only time they are seen to be on the case (in order to top up their salaries, it seems!) :-)

Misssy M said...

I tell you (Margaret Thatcher aside) this would be another good reason why political parties should put their women members up for Presidential and Prime Ministerial election. The chances of sexual scandal are much lower.

Think of it...no "I did not have sex with that man", no "My husband is standing by me", no "I slipped and fell whilst hoovering naked" type speeches.

Mzungu Chick said...

Missy M - totally with you there Missy although I'm not sure about the 'no "I slipped and fell whilst hoovering naked"' excuse - Personally I think that one could be very useful, and should be kept for use in 'emergency' by all women. :-)

Baba W 'n' M said...

Spitzer makes all us guys look bad. How could he get caught, and to add insult to injury, he should have taken a leaf from Clinton and denied, denied.
They say they found records showing that he had paid a pro; what did Spitzer do pay by credit card or check. Oh my !!

Anonymous said...

difference between spitzer and his kenyan counterparts is he RESIGNS! Freaking MP will not be leaving his post come rain or shine - even if he was caught actually performing a sexual act!
I can't believe this spitzer bloke paid somewhere in range of $80k to this escort service - i can't even begin to imagine what kind of 'services' warranty that kind of $$$$$

Sukuma Kenya said...

Maybe I am a bit behind with the news but perhaps we need more goat and cow giving between our fellow tribal Americans to bridge the great divide:
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL29354901.html

Mzungu Chick said...

Baba W&M - You're right there, all these politicking fellows give all you guys a bad name.
You know these girls are high class these days - I'm sure they always carry a swipe card thingy for VISA in their back pocket !

Seinlife - You surely can't expect any Kenyan to resign over a spot of take away sport surely - you know better than that! Here his buddies will be patting him on the back BUT if the wife finds out, there'll be nothing like 'standing by your man' - it'll be 'How shall I cut IT off!'

Sukuma - I think the giving of farm animals is the perfect solution to all problems and should be used more often.

Anonymous said...

In the US, the media would report the name of the politician or it wouldn't run the story at all. What use is this news--or is it news at all--without identifying who it is about? The self-censorship in the media here does real harm to democracy--can't understand this!

Mzungu Chick said...

Anon - that's what they call 'Free Press' in Africa

Anonymous said...

Hey

My name is Grace Kerongo, I work for a Kenyan newspaper called Nairobi Star.
For a while now, I have been thinking of doing a feature story, based solely on Kenyan Bloggers.
I have a couple of questions I would like to ask you, and if you will oblige me I will send them to you ASAP.
Thanks

Mzungu Chick said...

Hi Grace, I would be happy to answer your questions. You can send them through to my email mzunguchick at yahoo dot com