Zimbabwe ...... er, votes ??

Well, Zimbabwe went to the polls yet again today to vote for their, er, "candidate of choice", in the Presidential run off.

The competition was fierce, Mugabe was quietly confident and expressed hope for a clear majority. The voters rushed to the polling stations, (mostly with men in uniform carrying guns chasing them, which meant rushing was definitely in order), and those that tried their best NOT to go to the polls were persuaded otherwise with rather large rungus and machetes!

So there we have it, Mugabe's idea of a smooth run off, in which he is the ONLY candidate and chances are rather high (apparently), that he shall be declared the outright winner before the weekend is over ..........

AND THAT PEOPLE, IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS "DEMOCRACY" IN ZIMBABWE.

Perhaps this cartoon from the paper and this joke I was sent through the email sums it up better than I can .......

"Mugabe dies and goes to heaven.
When he gets there, St. Peter tells him that he is not on the list
and he does not belong in heaven. Mugabe must go to hell.

So Mugabe goes to hell where Satan gives him a hearty
welcome and tells him to make himself at home.

Then Mugabe notices that he left his luggage in heaven
and tells Satan, who says 'No problem,
I'll send a couple of little devils to get your stuff.'


When the little devils get to heaven they find the gates are locked
St.Peter is having lunch - and they start debating what to do.
Finally one comes up with the idea that they should go over the wall
and get the luggage.


As they are climbing the wall, two little angels see them,
and one angel says to the other,
'My Lord, look at that! Mugabe has been in hell no
more than ten minutes and we're already getting refugees!'"

A topic for discussion perhaps – or just insults ??

WARNING: Brace yourselves people, this post is likely to create a small storm .....


My cyber friend ‘Reluctant Memsahib’ wrote a post the other day with regards to the anonymity (or NOT), of being a ‘blogger’.

It seems a friend of hers was concerned that she was not as anonymous as perhaps she should be because of the abuse that I’ve been receiving over here about being white, and therefore ‘obviously racist, elitist, Euro trash,'…and the rest ?


Anyway, back to the point, I, like many other bloggers out there I’m sure, started out on the ‘anonymous’ route – I even gave an interview on CNN and another on BBC Radio 4 all under the moniker ‘Mzungu Chick’ and ‘The Lost White Kenyan’, back in January. Then I met a fellow who challenged my anonymity and persuaded me to creep out of said closet, and what I realized was he, and others I have since met through this common link, are incredibly interesting, diverse characters that I would probably never have had a chance to meet in ‘my other life’, and so for that I am grateful.

Since then a couple of very close friends and a couple of my family have also been let into the shenanigans that I get up to in cyberspace. And the Reluctant Memsahib is right, you do need to think of these people and their feelings and identities before and as you write;


“The thing is: it’s not what other people think about me that I mind. (I stopped caring about that sometime in 2001, when most of the people I knew had a view on an action I had taken and most felt at liberty to vocalize their disappointment and disgust vociferously). No. I don’t care what anybody thinks of me. But I’d hate anything I said about the lives of any of those I love most in the world to impinge upon them. I can spill my own secrets, that’s my prerogative and I’m big enough to cope with the fallout. But not theirs. Never theirs. Because then they won’t be secret anymore. They won’t be secret enough.”

I also would never want to do or say anything that would hurt those I have let into my little secret, or our relationships. Since getting all those nasty comments on free flow, I’ve even felt guilty for the links to fellow bloggers sites that I have on my side bar – lest they have these anonymous idiots divert their way and start their nonsense somewhere else on one of those innocent sites that I just linked to because I thought they were fab.



But then, I had an idea (not dissimilar to Janelle it seems); “a cheerful two fingers up to stuffy conformity” is most definitely the way to go. This blog is just my thoughts and feelings, it is not the way anyone else needs to see the world, but the last time I looked, it was not against the law to say what you think, and basically we are all very different and between us ALL, the world goes round.

I am not advocating that we should all write hate messages because that is how we feel about the world, but I’m not sure that all those comments were thrown at me because of what I had to say, but because of the fact that I have given more information than they wanted, in other words, I have said I am ‘white’ – god forbid, and that, naturally, makes me an elitist racist. If I said I was a shade of brown from the Middle East – would that have made me an Arab extremist? And if perhaps I’d have said I was black from Illinois – would that make me an Obama supporter??



The only reason I ever called my blog ‘The Lost White Kenyan Chick’ is because that was exactly how I felt at the time. Lost because I am a single white girl from an African country (who has roots in no other place in this world), living in a black Kenyan male dominated society (- although please peeps, before you blast me here – this is changing as we speak I do agree, but it is still the majority – have a look at those seats in Parliament right now), and I that is exactly how I felt – LOST; where do I fit in to the bigger picture?

The fact that this name has caused so much controversy was totally unintentional, although I’m not really sure that I should be apologizing for it.

I am WHITE, KENYAN, A CHICK and totally LOST in life, and if you don’t like it, I’m really, really sorry but, *said in my most polite voice*,

“Bugger OFF!”

I shall do an ‘Uncle Bob’ on you and skip into the distance care free;

“La, la, la, la, la” ……

.... And from Here !

This is yesterday's cartoon from The Standard;



The caption reads; "See, He's scared I'm going to beat him in a free and fair fight!", and it was pointed out to me by one of my commentators (- you see, I DO get nice ones as well!)

I hear that Tsvangirai has officially given a letter into the electoral commission resigning from Friday's run-off, but not to worry, as Uncle Bob hasn't missed a beat and is campaigning full on for his one horse race!

What Zim looks like from here ...

How I see it is that it is absolutely no surprise that Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out of the Zimbabwe run off election that is scheduled for the end of the week, because surely with Mugabe openly saying he'll never let him win, torturing any opposition supporters he can get his hands on and meanwhile locking up the MDC leader at every given opportunity he can, the fellow is bollixed if he participates in the run off and .. well, frankly, bollixed if he doesn't, so what to do?

I understand he is currently holed up in the Dutch Embassy, and meanwhile All Africa news reports that the Justice Minister in Zim's response is as follows;


The Justice Minister described Tsvangirai's decision as a nullity saying: "This is the 11th time that Tsvangirai has threatened to withdraw from the presidential run off and on each occasion I have challenged him to put it in writing as required by law."

He told The Herald newspaper that "Zanu PF is not treating the threats seriously."

"It is a nullity. We are proceeding with our campaign to romp to victory on Friday," Chinamasa said.


It sounds a bit like a scrap behind the bike sheds to me!

Gado, the Kenyan cartoonist, summed it up perfectly months ago with this cartoon:


Robert Mugabe couldn't honestly give a flying fart what anyone thinks. For some obscure reason, the world seems to be leaning on Thabo Mbeki to get the fellow to see some sense, but let's get real here people, Mbeki is not the man for this job. He'll never rock the boat with the neighbours no matter how much pressure he's put under - rumour has it our end that the two are somehow related for goodness sake.

So really it's "Na, Na, Na, Na, Na" for the whole lot of them. Mugabe will win and will stop at absolutely nothing to do so.

Kenyan humour ....

This short clip illustrates what a fabulous sense of humour the MAJORITY of Kenyans have and what sadly those minority 'Anonymous' types seem to be lacking.

For the rest of you, enjoy ........... this is brilliant!

surprised?

This just came through on 411;

"ANTI-GRAFT COURT summons Embakasi MP-elect Waititu"

..... And are we surprised?

I think Mama Taa is on his case already!

Kenya's by-election results

Good Morning Viewers ......

Sorry to disappoint you but I am still here and still have lots to say!!

As you may (or may not) know, we had some few by-elections yesterday of which the results are being released as we speak.

Sadly, because of the demise of two prominent members of parliament being killed in the tragic accident on Tuesday afternoon, it seems that, unsurprisingly, voters were kind of dejected, and voter turn out was quiet and numbers reported low.

Anyway today it seems in great Kenyan traditional electioneering spirit, things are livening up especially in the Kilgoris constituency - which is not entirely unexpected, that's for sure. It was always a tribal contest from the beginning with the most prominent two contestants advocating that the other would throw their fellow tribesmen off the land there.

We have one candidate from the Maasai tribe and one from the Kipsigis and both have been telling anyone who will listen that whatever happens - if you are a Maasai, you must stick with the Maasai, and the Kipsigis the same which actually is the reason why we never had any results that stuck the first time round, because with this kind of hate campaigning going on, whoever loses is very obviously going to have his fellow tribesman protest.

The latest I have on the Nation's (Kenyan daily by the way) update site was that Konchellah has won the seat and followed five minutes later by;
FRESH SKIRMISHED IN KILGORIS AS 14 HOUSES AND A CAR ARE SET ABLAZE. TENSION REPORTED IN MANY PARTS OF THE CONSTITUENCY.

And there we have it, those pyromaniacs are back on the case, and already things are looking bad. We have to hope that the huge numbers of police that had deployed to the area get a grip very quickly on the situation and that these skirmishes will be plugged soonest.

Meanwhile the Wajir North seat has been won by ODM, (although over half way through results showed the KANU candidate leading), Ainamoi is also ODM with Langat clinching the seat, Emuhaya has been won by Otichillo, and now Waititu of PNU has just been reported to have won Embakasi from Esther Passaris of ODM (- so that's the Embakasi street lighting project out the window then!)

I'm sure this will NOT be the last of it, as we all know Samuel Kivuitu of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) is such a reliable kind of a fellow, I can't see anyone actually agreeing to these results if he has anything to do with it! Seeing as there are already reports in all of today's Dailies with regards to nonsense at the polls, chances are things may heat up a little yet.

Meanwhile here in town it's ..... BUDGET DAY


(Not sure of the definition of the Kenyan economy but currently it looks slightly fictional I feel!)

I'll keep you posted as and when I hear of anything ....

Commentators ...

On this blog, it seems comments go something like this ......





And I do think we are ALL entitled to do this ............BUT: Please note that your browser is NOT automatically directed to this site and has no need to visit here at all if you don't like it, it's really not compulsory to come here.

Breaking news tells death of Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones

Kenyan minister, asst minister dead in plane crash

10 Jun 2008 16:03:39 GMT

Source: Reuters

By C. Bryson Hull and Wangui Kanina NAIROBI, June 10 (Reuters) -

A Kenyan cabinet minister and assistant minister died on Tuesday along with two others in the crash of a light plane near the Masai Mara game reserve, officials said.

Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones, 56, and Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Lorna Laboso, 47, were aboard the plane with a pilot and a security guard, a spokesman for their party said. "I am confirming that they were on the plane that crashed. I am not confirming that they are dead, but the police are confirming that all aboard died," Orange Democratic Movement party spokesman Salim Lone said. Narok District police boss Patrick Wambani said all four people in the plane died.

There was no immediate confirmation for the cause of the crash in a remote area called Kojonga. "The plane came down on an unoccupied house and disintegrated, killing all four occupants," Wambani told Reuters in Narok, 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Nairobi. In Nairobi, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the names of Kones and Laboso were on the flight manifest.

Both politicians were members of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which had opposed President Mwai Kibaki and advocated public protests after he won a disputed re-election in December. The vote sparked Kenya's worst violence since independence from Britain in 1963, and deal to end the political impasse brought ODM into a coalition government with Kibaki's Party of National Unity alliance.

Kones is a five-term member of parliament and was first elected in 1988, after a career as a teacher and manager at a produce firm. He has held several other ministries throughout his public career.

Laboso is a first-term legislator, who has campaigned against the cultural practice of female genital mutilation in her Kipsigis tribe. After a career as a secretary and accountant, she got her university degree in communications last year.

(Reporting by Wangui Kanina, Helen Nyambura and Bryson Hull; Editing by Jon Boyle)

This has all just been confirmed through our local news stations;
"Kones, Labosa, pilot Schner and bodyguard Kenneth Bett are all confirmed dead."

Obama Rocks !

This is the cartoon by GADO in The Daily Nation today ............

Over here it's all about Barry.

Well in our neck of the woods, politics has been diverted temporarily to front page stories all over about Barry, the Luo fellow from Siaya district who happens to be running for a seriously high powered presidential seat, although not here in Kenya I might add.

To those hailing from Western Province, there's absolutely NO explanation needed here as to who on earth I may be talking about, but for those of you from further afield who may be slightly lost, I am speaking of none other than Senator Barrack Obama.

To a lot of Kenyans (especially those from the lakeside), Senator Obama is nothing less than 100% Kenyan. His father came from here so that'll do it for us. The fact that the Senator has only actually visited this country three times in his entire lifetime is totally irrelevant, and the point that he hardly knew his father who is reported to have been a drunk and abusive husband is somehow totally overlooked.

I think this quote from Rob Crilly in "The Times" really sums up this Obama fever here in Kenya and what it's really all about ...... (a spot of cash and a free US visa);

"A steady stream of would-be economic migrants has been arriving at Granny Sarah's door seeking an American visa. Almost every day she has to explain that the U.S. embassy in Nairobi is the only place that can make their American dream come true. But even Granny Sarah admits to harbouring secret hopes of a local windfall if Obama's momentum carries him all the way to America's highest office. "What we hope is that with his Kenyan and Africa roots we will see some of the fruits of his power, like electricity, water and a new road," she says simply in her native Luo language."

At least she got herself an autographed picture...

By the way,"Granny Sarah" is actually Obama's step-grandmother and his grandfather's third wife. And the fact that she lives in a little house in a very small village looking after chickens and goats, has no running water or electricity, and it was her fellow villagers who raised money to get her a TV with a small solar panel so that she could keep up with US politics is of course of no matter now that young Barry's got a shot at the most powerful position in the world!

Hey, perhaps he'll chuck some extra aid money our way as payment for bringing up his father. I'm sure our local politicians could do with a bit more cash to squander on their expense accounts.

Long lost weekend for me ….

Well we have just done with a loooong weekend, and now we head into a 4 day week.
“Absolutely fabulous”, I hear you cry.

We woke up to these cheeky blighters in our garden ...

Then off my son and I went to the Nairobi park with a bit of a packed lunch on board, and went and saw these …

and lots of these ….

And a few of these ….

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with these ….

And having a few games of this ….

Sadly right now, my life feels a bit like this ….

And so although it really was an excellent weekend (and I have the bruises to prove it), finding anything half full right now is becoming increasingly difficult, and yet as you can see from my photos, I have absolutely NO excuse at all to feel this way.

I do hope that I will wake tomorrow to a better frame of mind.

Wish me luck ...