Totally enjoyed reading this book which is so info-packed yet it flows smoothly.
She was born Wangari Muta in 1940. Went to USA in 1960 on the Kennedy Airlift and returned to Kenya in 1966 with a Masters. After research in Germany she got a PhD in 1971 from The University of Nairobi (UoN) where she lectured.
The Greenbelt movement that she started in 1977 was 100% grass root, organic.
In 1969 Wangari got married to Mwangi who became MP for Langata in 1974. He left her in 1977 and they divorced publicly in 1979. For saying judge in her divorce case was corrupt she was jailed for contempt of court.
She added extra ‘a’ to distinguish from ex-hubby Mathai name.
Prof. Maathai ran afoul of President Daniel arap Moi regime in 1979 during National Council of Women of Kenya chair elections. In 1982 she resigned from UoN to vie for a Member of Parliament seat but the ruling and only party Kanu locked her out on technicality. UoN refused to rehire her and kicked her out of her university house. *After she won the Nobel UoN gave her a honorary doctorate.
As the Moi regime fought Prof. Maathai, Norwegian NGOs, UN Fund for women starting in 1982 gave seed money that saw Greenbelt movement flourish across Kenya through the efforts of village women. By mid-80s Greenbelt was global.
Found it cool that the Professor and Princess Diana celebrated each other.
In 1989/90 Prof. Mathaai protest against the construction of a tower at Uhuru Park saved the park. In 1990/91 she was part of the fight for Kenya’s 2nd liberation. In 1992 she was part of Release Political Prisoners women group that stripped at Uhuru Park’s Freedom Corner. In 1993 she shone spotlight on Rift Valley tribal clashes.
Had forgotten about Prof. Maathai running for President in 1997! She was a dreamer and an idealist who rudely discovered Kenyan voters are tribal, averse to policies and ideologies and only care for the Big Men tribal chiefs.
In 1998, Prof. Maathai despite being beaten by hired thugs stood up to President Moi who had parceled out Karura Forest to his friends to construct houses and hotels. Her protest was successful and Karura is currently a treasured public resource.
In 2002 Prof. Maathai was elected MP for Tetu. President Mwai Kibaki then appointed her Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources (you’d have expected her to be named a full Minister of Environment).
In 2004, she won the Nobel Prize as a culmination and celebration of her life’s work of protecting the environment.
She passed away in 2011.
Methinks Uhuru Park should be renamed Wangari Maathai Park as a reminder that in 1989 – 90, Prof. Maathai saved Uhuru Park by protesting against the proposed building of a 60-storey Kenya Times Tower by the Moi-led Kanu govt.
Totally recommend this book about a phenomenal woman whose story is deserving of a movie.
In a previous life I used to be a huge Caine Prize fan.
The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing to use it’s full name is a registered charity whose stated aim is “to bring African writing to a wider audience using our annual literary award.”
The lapse was due to a realization that writing for the Western gaze means the authors have to meet stereotypical expectations of what people in the West expect to be “African”.
Also, the Caine Prize seems to be rotated based on location, gender and not solely dependent on the writing.
However, I still read shortlisted stories, rank them and wait to see the judges’ pick.
Slow start. Then builds up. Not quite fleshed out. A child’s perspective of specific war, with a killing witnessed. Also, tales of different wars from a child’s eyes. Rugged. Jarring. Typos?
2. A Separation
Starts well. Soggy middle. Good end. Life, death, continuity, spirit world, what you can see and what you can’t see, culture, diaspora. A granddaughter mourning her grandma. Humane.
3. Street Sweep
A sideways look at the NGO world, white folk living it up pretending to save Africans, older Africans cynical, younger Africans naive until they smell the coffee and join the make believe world. Merit is irrelevant and it is a different world. Brilliantly descriptive of people and places. New coat on an expected tale. Long.
4. Giver of Nicknames
Pompous. Presumptuous. Big name dropping. Jarring writing style. There is a story, the themes are valid but felt like writer did too much and got in the way of the story. Coming of age. High school. Bullying. Inequality. Gender based violence. Migration. Long.
5. This Little Light of Mine
Disability after an accident. The changes in life, mind, relationships. Life from a disability perspective. Real. Gripping. Short and sweet. Loved it. Tugged at my heart.
**Predictably, themes in 4 out of 5 of the Caine Prize shortlist were expected stories of Africa as seen by white people. Sigh.
//
If I was a judge my Caine Prize ranking of the 2021 shortlist would be:
On shortlist only Ethiopia and Rwanda/Namibia had never won. Given Kenya has had 4 winners and Nigeria 7, any chance of Kenyan or Nigerian writer winning the Caine Prize anytime soon is minimal.
Top of Africa screams the headline. It is a rare day when the endless noise of Kenyan politics is not the main story in Kenyan media.
Team Kenya with 4 golds, 4 silvers and 2 bronze is the best ranked nation in Africa on the medal standings at the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Due to this achievement, sports which is rarely taken serious in Kenya – whether in the newsroom, in the corporate world, by the national or county governments or even by the Kenyan public – gets it’s once-in-every four years moment to briefly shine before it is once again ignored.
What do you think of the performance of Team Kenya at the Olympics is a question that I was asked a lot since the start of the Games.
Given that the athletics program started on the second week of the Olympics and Kenyans were impatient for wins early on, a narrative was born and it stuck that Team Kenya preparations were poor, the team sent to Tokyo was bad, heck there was even fake news about the number of officials accompanying the team.
The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) which is the body mandated by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to run Olympics related matters in the country delivered in its job.
There was no issue of kits being stolen or allowances not being given to sportspeople as has been the norm in past Olympics. This was alleged to have happened during the last Olympics held in Rio in 2016 resulting in those in-charge being arraigned in court. It is a testament to the slow nature of Kenya’s wheels of justice that the Rio case that involves among others former Sports minister Dr. Hassan Wario is still dragging on in court.
Additionally, with it being a pandemic year, NOC-K ensured the sportspeople heading to Tokyo were put in training bubbles. Luckily no Kenyan heading for the Olympics tested positive for Covid before or during the games.
To boost performance in Tokyo, Team Kenya was even accompanied by a sports psychologist, a sports scientist, a strength and conditioning coach and a nutritionist.
So NOC-K under legendary athlete Paul Tergat did its work with the sportspeople it was given.
Still under NOC-K it is fair to celebrate the fact that Kenyan rugby legend Humphrey Kayange under the recommendation of the IOC President Thomas Bach was appointed to be a member of the IOC Athlete Commission.
*
The mandate of preparing, qualifying and selecting sportspeople to represent Kenya at the Olympics falls under the specific national federations.
Only after a sports person has qualified for the Olympics does NOC-K get involved. Therefore, the biggest responsibility regarding performance falls on the national federations.
Now to answer the question about performance let’s tackle each sports on its own.
Athletics:
Athletics is the cornerstone of Kenya’s sporting dominance and the Olympics is no different.
Since 1964 independent Kenya has participated in 13 Olympics (there were boycotts in 1976 and 1980) and bagged a total of 35 gold medals. All the golds apart from 1 have come from athletics.
Tokyo 2020 was no different with athletics delivering all the 4 gold medals Kenya won.
Of the 4 golds, 2 were in the marathons with track victory only in 1500m women’s and 800m men’s races.
For awhile now Kenya’s athletics dominance has been taken for granted. However, Athletics Kenya which is the federation that runs the sport in the country has to wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late.
Men’s 3000m steeplechase race has traditionally been Kenya’s race. Since the first win during the 1968 Olympics by Amos Biwott, a Kenyan has won the steeplechase gold in every Olympics Kenya has participated. In Tokyo 2020 Kenya lost her steeplechase crown managing only bronze.
Kenya has only ever won the Olympics men’s 10000m race once when Naftali Temu was victorious in 1968 in Mexico City. 11 attempts later and Kenya has been unable to solve this puzzle. The Olympics women’s 10,000m was introduced in 1988 and no Kenyan woman has ever won gold.
In the Olympics 5000m race only John Ngugi (1988) and Vivian Cheruiyot (2016) have ever won gold for Kenya. In Tokyo, Hellen Obiri was fourth in the women’s 10k and she bagged silver in the women’s 5k. While for the men Nicholas Kimeli was fourth in 5k and Rodgers Kwemoi in 7th was best placed Kenyan in 10k.
Part of the problem has been that Kenyan 5,000m and 10,000m athletes opt to switch to road (marathon) running very early and not after a long successful career on the track. There is more money in road running and as athletes run to make money their choice is obvious. It is up to AK to figure out what Ethiopia, Uganda and even America are doing right.
In the middle distances – 800m and 1500m – it’s a mix of hope and despair.
Men’s 800m transition seems to have been managed well. The absence of David Rudisha was not felt as America-based Emmanuel Korir won gold and Ferguson Rotich took silver in Tokyo.
Women’s 800m transition looks shaky. With the end of the era that had Eunice Sum, Janeth Jepkosgei and Pamela Jelimo, Kenya had no representation in the Tokyo final won by 19 year old American and in which a 19 year old Briton took silver.
Timothy Cheruiyot won silver in the men’s 1500m after poor tactics in the final but the emergence of Abel Kipsang who set an Olympic record in the semifinals before placing fourth in the final shows there is current and future potential.
In the women’s 1500m, Faith Kipyegon defended her Rio Olympics gold. That is the great news. The bad news is there does not seem to be another Faith bubbling under ready to take over the mantle.
The sprints – 100m, 200m, 400m and relays – have never been taken seriously by Athletics Kenya. While the middle and long distance running is all about talent and little expert input, the sprints require financial input which AK opts not to do.
Sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala made it to the final of the 100m men’s race setting the national record twice in Tokyo which was great.
However, there was a cloud of doping hanging over the Kenyan sprint success as 100m sprinter Mark Otieno tested positive for a banned substance and could not compete in Tokyo. Incidentally, Omanyala had previously served a ban for a doping violation.
In men’s javelin despite Julius Yego throwing his season best of 77.34m he did not get to the final. Remember he threw a massive 92.72m in 2015 Beijing Worlds to win gold and 88.24m in 2016 Rio Olympics to bag silver.
Seems to be an end of an era with no immediate successor in sight.
Overall, my take home from athletics in Tokyo is Uganda has joined Ethiopia as credible opponents and Kenya has to do more to protect its turf and legacy. The days of just showing up and winning are over.
With teenagers and 20 year olds winning athletics golds for their countries at the Olympics, Athletics Kenya has to ask itself whether the pipeline of Kenyan athletics talent has been punctured.
The country hosted a very successful and well-attended World Under 18 athletics championships in 2017. This led to Nairobi winning the bid to host the World Under 20 athletics championships in 2020 that was pushed to 2021 due to Covid-19.
But Kenya does not seem to have reaped rewards of hosting the age-grade athletics championships to identify young talent to bolster the seniors ranks. What happened to Edward Zakayo, George Manangoi, Jackline Wambui and Carren Chebet all who won gold for Kenya at the 2017 World-U18 in Kasarani? Only Mary Moraa who narrowly missed a spot in the final of the Olympics women’s 800m final seems to have emerged as a young red hot talent for Kenya.
Aside from more intensive talent identification and nurturing, training and coaching of Kenyan athletes has to get modernized.
Sports infrastructure (stadia) in Kenya has to be sorted out urgently as athletes should not be worrying about where to train. The main facility in Eldoret – Kipchoge Keino stadium – has been under renovation since 2016.
The doping menace also has to be stamped out. Additionally Athletics Kenya should have a coherent rule book regarding an athlete who has served a doping ban representing Kenya.
Clearly there is potential to diversify and win medals in sprints and in field events but success requires Athletics Kenya to invest heavily and constantly and not just depend on an athlete to train via YouTube and achieve success.
Athletics Kenya elections is a conversation that needs to happen with fresh blood needed at Riadha House.
Boxing:
Robert Wangila Napunyi poses with his Seoul Olympics gold – courtesy of The Standard online
Boxing has the honour of winning 1 out of the 35 gold medals Kenya has ever won at an Olympics. Robert Wangila Napunyi won the gold during the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
This was the climax of the Hit Squad performing well at the Olympics that began with Philip Waruinge winning featherweight bronze in Mexico City in 1968 and upgrading to silver in 1972 in Munich.
Since then the Hit Squad – which is the name of the Kenyan boxing team – has been taking hits.
In Tokyo 2020 all the 4 reps lost their in first bouts. From the thrashing the boxers got the level of Kenyan boxing is sub-standard.
Coaching and training, needs to be upgraded to embrace modern rules so as to eliminate constant complaints about robbed victories. The league also should being revitalized and the dormant clubs awakened to tap new talent from the hordes of unemployed youth.
The Boxing Federation of Kenya clearly has its work cut out.
Rugby sevens:
Shujaa captain Andrew Amonde who has retired in a reflective mood at the end of his final game for Kenya
Rugby sevens was introduced to the Olympics in 2016 with Kenyan rugby legend Humphrey Kayange instrumental as an ambassador in the sport’s bid for Olympic status.
The national sevens men’s team Shujaa has performed poorly at the Olympics. Shujaa finished 11th in Rio and only went one better to finish 10th out of 12 in Tokyo.
This is disappointing given the huge potential. The probable next step in this familiar script is a change of coach, and player exits, retirements. One wonders if root problems will ever be addressed and a solid plan formed.
Over the years the success of Kenya sevens has glossed over the problems at Kenya Rugby Union. With Shujaa performance dropping, the facade of Kenyan rugby success is unraveling.
The Kenyan Rugby story has sad echoes of Kenyan cricket which reached the peaks of a semifinal berth in the Cricket World Cup before crashing down to oblivion. Hopefully history will not be repeated.
In the Women’s 7s rugby Kenya was represented by the Lionesses who finished 10th out of 12 after playing with a lot of heart.
This despite Covid protocol challenges where half the team had to quarantine in Tokyo until just before the start of competition after sharing a flight with someone who tested positive.
The ladies need more support and they will achieve just as much as the men’s sevens national team has.
Volleyball:
After a 16 year absence the national women’s volleyball team qualified for the Olympics Indoor Volleyball. The Malkia Strikers lost 5 out of 5 matches and won zero sets. The African champions showed potential and played with a lot of joy.
Sharon Chepchumba, Leonida Kasaya and captain Mercy Moim stood out and one hopes they secure professional playing contracts abroad.
Curious how Kenyan coach Paul Bitok who engineered the return to Olympics was demoted to assistant coach and a group of Brazilian coaches initially seconded to the team as technical advisors were promoted to the head coach as well as team manager.
With the upcoming retirement of the long-time chair, the Kenya Volleyball Federation needs fresh blood and hopefully former volleyballers get into sports administration.
For the first time Kenya qualified for Women’s Beach volleyball. The team lost 4 out of 4 matches and won 0 sets. However there is potential, there is sand and for starters Coastal county governments should take up this sport.
Taekwondo:
Faith Ogallo was sole representative. She lost in her first match where she could not score a point losing 13-0.
Her technical skills were totally lacking but you could not blame her as much of Kenyan taekwondo is individual effort and just her qualifying for the Olympics was a huge accomplishment.
Swimming:
Emily Muteti placed 43 out of 81 in women’s 50m freestyle heats while Danilo Rosafio placed 56 out of 70 in the men’s 100m freestyle heats.
Both swimmers got wildcards to participate in Tokyo from the international swimming body. They are arguably the best in the country with the fact that their swimming exploits are financed by their parents playing a huge part.
Unfortunately, Kenyan swimming drowned long ago with wrangles in Kenya Swimming Federation the norm.
*
With the Tokyo Olympics done and dusted it will be interesting to read the official report that will be prepared by the National Olympics Committee of Kenya.
While NOC-K and even the Sports ministry may have done a fairly good job at managing the Tokyo Olympics team there is pause for concern regarding management of sports in the country by the various sports federations.
Case in point is that Archery, Judo, Weightlifting representation which was present in Rio 2016 was missing in Tokyo 2020.
Over the years, Kenya has also had Olympics representation in Shooting, Hockey, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Cycling and Rowing.
It is a shame that now most of these sports do not have a functional league or even a functional federation.
Globally sports has proven to be a big industry that generates billions of dollars.
Given Kenyan sports peoples’ raw talent that enables the constant success, just imagine if Kenya took sports seriously the amount of money and employment to Kenyan youth that this industry would generate.
My thoughts when the death of the Duke of Edinburgh was announced were:
Prince Philip was 2 months short of 100 years . That is oooold! As in I cannot begin to comprehend OLD.
He gave up 70 years of his life for Elizabeth.
He was an outsider who married a Princess but ended up with a Queen.
**
It is funny how life turns out. Here was a man who was born a Greek and Danish Prince, got exiled at less than two years old and then lived in poverty and constant moving around as a child after his family was ruined.
At 18 he joined the Royal Navy and started a correspondence with 13 year old Elizabeth. The Navy and Elizabeth were his true loves and tough as it may have been at 31 he gave up the Navy to devote his life to Ellizabeth.
**
My thoughts after watching the funeral service of Prince Philip:
You gotta feel for the Queen. Burying someone who you have known for 80 years is tough. She looked her age.
The simplicity and straightforwardness of the funeral service was goals. No frills. No speeches.
While now the racists have to be politically correct in his day racism was the norm and he was just doing, saying what was expected of his class.
Additionally, I reckon being the Consort was hard. Yes, he loved Elizabeth and he willingly gave up his role as head of the family but as a man I am sure it was tough and the rudeness, callousness was him lashing out. And no that does not excuse his behaviour in any way.
**
My thoughts on The Queen, Prince Philip, the Monarchy and colonialism:
I am sure The Queen, Prince Philip and the monarchy are being bashed online and it is fashionable to hate them.
Black or white and being so sure of one’s rightness is the luxury of the young who are loudest. When you grow up and do life you realize that there is a lot of grey. Personally opt for the humane and hope Queen finds peace and strength.
**
As my friend pointed out, given his age Prince Philip was part of the colonialists. Not an abstract reference in the history books but a living breathing colonizer.
As a student of history, I am keenly aware that the colonialists were brutal and sadists and the British Empire which was built on the plunder from colonies should pay for its crimes.
I cannot condone what the Brits did in Kenya, Africa and other parts of the Commonwealth. But to not have the grace to extend compassion to a grieving widow is to be as base and savage as the colonialists were.
**
Musings after the Meghan and Harry TV interview with Oprah:
Is Megan a replacement for Diana? Harry lost a mother, rebelled as a youngin’ and has now married a mother-figure?
To please Megan he has loudly, openly disowned his family and even aired their dirty linen globally. What happens when Harry awakes from what appears to be a trance? Will he resent Megan?
I watched Meghan on Suits. She’s a good actress but ain’t invested in her.
I and a lot of guys my age had a huge crush on Diana. Probably it is why I am still invested in her and her family. Probably Di did some things wrong but for me my narrative is, I don’t like Charles, hate Camila, cheer for William and Harry.
So I get how Meghan (new Di) is flavour of the millenials who wholeheartedly buy her narrative and support her.
Bottom line is families are messy.
**
Further musings based on history:
History does repeat itself. Leave alone Prince Harry who is so far removed from the line of succession. In the 1930s, King Edward give up the throne for American Wallis Simpson who had two living ex-husbands.
George took over the throne from his brother Edward but he died young and his daughter Elizabeth became Queen.
Wallis, Diana, Meghan. In the last three generations some of the men in that family have married strong, different women.
The women have in their own ways changed the family internally and to the world.
The only thing is the family always wins due to centuries of survival. Yes it evolves, adapts but never breaks.
Unfortunately the women and their partners break because of the huge toll of the fight. Sadly.
Wallis was banished to an Island. Diana reportedly started dating a Muslim and died in a weird car crash. Fingers crossed third time is a charm for Meghan.
Just like the Mafia, it’s not personal just business.
Regular family drama but on steroids.
**
A couple of days after Prince Philip’s death during one of walks I happened to overhear a discussion by group of roadside mechanics.
They were discussing the Royal family and someone who thought that public popularity (Harry) instead of line of succession (Charles then William) played a part in who becomes the Monarch was swiftly corrected.
The question of whether Charles should let his son William succeed Queen Elizabeth was also brought about.
**
Got me thinking that it is wrong to presume just because the men were roadside mechanics the scope of their political talk would be restricted to the banality of Kenyan politics.
Hate it or love it there is something about the monarchy that resonates on a human level globally. Maybe it is the fact that despite the titles and trappings of power the royal family is at the most basic a family complete with all the corresponding drama.
**
So the world awaits the next episode of the soap opera or is it reality show from Windsor.
After 5 days of waiting the text finally came providing actual proof of an event which I was privileged and lucky to have been part of – receiving the Covid-19 Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
Courtesy – Reuters
The process had started with online booking on a portal for the hospital where I was to get the jab. This entailed filling out the Ministry of Health form and receive a booking number through a text notification.
On the day of the vaccination I arrived at the hospital and presented my booking number to a receptionist. She wrote the number on a piece of paper in front of her that had other booking numbers (felt this was digitally redundant) and asked me to wait at the reception.
The wait provided me with ample time to think about the prevailing situation in the country regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kenya is currently in the middle of a third wave of the pandemic. Unlike the previous strains that were prevalent in the country for most of 2020 which saw many get infected and stay asymptomatic, the current strain is lethal.
Death and ill-health have engulfed the country. Every family is mourning a loved one or scrambling to raise funds to ensure medical care for a relative.
ICU beds and oxygen are scarce with admission to a hospital for a Covid patient pegged at USD 3,000 in cash up-front.
Kenya’s healthcare is shaky at the best of times and despite a one year grace period to get a semblance of order and even a warning, the Ministry of Health has been caught flat-footed. This has resulted in an average of 20 deaths daily from Covid-19 being reported each day for the last one month.
A silver lining amidst this prevailing gloom is the fact that Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine through the global COVAX facility in early March 2021.
Courtesy – AP
According to the Ministry of Health, the first beneficiaries were to include frontline workers such as health care professionals, teachers and security personnel.
Due to vaccine apathy among the service providers, the government opened up the vaccination programme. First to Kenyans above 58 years as a priority and then eventually to the general public.
This is what eventually led to my being at the hospital reception awaiting my turn and my chance to receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine so as to enhance my chances against getting critically ill from a Covid infection.
Presently my number was called out by a medic and she asked me to proceed down the hall and queue outside Room Number 4.
Then after awhile I was ushered into Room Number 4 where I AGAIN filled out the Ministry of Health form before another medic took my blood pressure, blood sugar and body temperature and wrote the results on the form despite having a computer in front of her.
I then went back out and waited to proceed to Room Number 3. After she had collected a sizeable amount of filled forms the medic in Room Number 4 took them next door to Room Number 3. Presently another medic holding the forms she had being given called me into Room Number 3 for the jab.
The jab administered by yet a different medic was over in a split-second.
I am not a fan of pain and I felt nothing so there really is nothing to fear.
A little while after the jab I felt a tingling on my pricked arm which eventually felt like a dull pain that went away after a couple of days.
I also experienced mild chills, fever as well as a mild headache. The biggest reaction was a dry mouth, hiccups and a lot of thirst. There was also mild fatigue. Basically what one would feel at the start of a cold and I was lucky all these mild side-effects were over in a couple of days. In contrast two of my female friends reported more intense flu-like symptoms.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, which Kenya is using, has raised some health safety concerns in some regions of the world, especially in Europe. Yes, there are more serious side-effects to getting the vaccine but the benefits of getting vaccinated far outweigh the one in a million risk of getting for example a blood clot.
The road to victory against the pandemic will be long and winding but the vaccine moves humanity that much closer to victory. So if you have a chance to get vaccinated please do grab it.
Courtesy – Google
**
As of today, 700,000 of the 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine imported have been administered in Kenya.
Due to increased Covid infections in India which is the location of the manufacture of the AstraZeneca, the Indian government has chosen to cease exports and this will affect availability of vaccines globally. How is the Kenyan government going to tackle this development?
Despite the fact that it took 5 days before I received a text from the Ministry of Health Chanjo (Immunization in Kiswahili) portal confirming my first dose vaccination and informing me of the date of my second jab, the digitization of the process is impressive.
Watching the medics shuffle my form from one point to another got me thinking that there is an opportunity in our hospitals to fully digitize their processes for both efficiency and safety. Are Kenyan techies ready to provide solutions?
***
In my I-am-tired-to-be-Kenyan moments there are things that I think of.
The Kemsa Covid theft reportedly saw 8 billion Kenyan shillings stolen. How many vaccines are those? In 2020, Kenya borrowed or got grants worth 250 billion Kenyan shillings for Covid mitigation. Again, how many vaccines could have been bought with say 100 billion Kenyan shillings of that?
I have just gotten done reading George Orwell’s 1984 and it is uncanny how so much of that book is totally relevant today.
For example this quote, “Manufacturing weapons of war is a convenient way of expanding labour power without producing anything that can be consumed.”
So apt for Kenya which constructed a small arms factory grandly opened by President Kenyatta the Second but has an oxygen shortage and a scarcity of ICU beds.
***
These are trying times for all. Health-wise, economically and ultimately mentally.
May we all find the strength to survive day by day and eventually pull through.
Disgust was my overwhelming feeling upon watching the 140 seconds of the video clip posted online.
The video showed three men in a radio studio wallowing in their ignorance and privilege. Their careless words accompanied by callous laughter and gestures. The subject of their frivolous banter a victim of horrific gender-based violence.
When Shaffie Weru, Joesph Munoru and Neville Musya hosted the Lift Off breakfast show on Homeboyz Radio on that fateful morning they had no idea their words would cascade into a storm that would eventually see them fired in disgrace.
Words have power. The power of the pen and mic is drilled into every first year student in journalism school. Unfortunately Kenyan media houses in a quest to amass huge numbers which translate to mega bucks from advertising revenue have sought to hire opinionated, comical, loud mouths who would not known journalistic ethics if it hit them in their face.
I support freedom of expression but how would you in your right mind find it okay to joke and jest about a woman being pushed off a building for refusing a man’s sexual advances?
Even journalistic ethics aside, as a person do you not subscribe to humanity, decency, common sense? Apparently not at Homeboyz as two years ago it was the night time Mtaani show at fault.
Shaffie, DJ Joe and Neville are the bad result of a 20 year experiment on Kenyan radio which was ironically started by Radio Africa Group and then copied by most of all the other radio stations in the country.
25 years ago Capital FM was the standard of the emerging FM stations after decades of the national broadcaster KBC ruling the airwaves as a monopoly. Capital was structured along British radio style that one can still get a taste of on the likes of BBC Radio 2.
Kiss FM sought to break the rules.
Kiss was the pioneer Radio Africa radio station. From the start it sort to push the boundaries. Remember the red lips tease advert that ran around Nairobi raising interest before the launch in the year 2000? And who can forget the kidnap stunt featuring star presenter Caroline Mutoko?
Caroline and later Maina Kageni had been hired from Capital FM. The duo and their bosses hold the lion share of the blame in the dumbing-down of Kenyan radio.
The format of radio featuring a loud know-it-all presenter and a comic sidekick spewing uninformed opinion on every topic under the sun has its roots at Radio Africa. Caroline with Nyambane and later Jalang’o on Kiss while Maina has his Mwalimu King’ang’i on Classic FM.
Radio presenters most of whom have had no journalistic training have become marriage counselors, sex therapists, political analysts, sports pundits, pastors and everything else that you can think of.
Case in point, still at Radio Africa’s stable, is Radio Jambo’s infamous Patanisho segment that is hosted by an ex-rapper and a football coach.
While Caroline and Maina may have benefited from the training at Capital FM, latter-day presenters seem like they are picked off social media or the streets and put in front of a mic on the strength of their popularity.
Radio Africa may fire out statements proclaiming editorial standards but they did recently hire controversial Andrew Kibe to co-host the prime breakfast show on Kiss with KameneGoro.
Across the corridor, the harm done on the Kenyan society in general and relationships in particular by Classic FM’s breakfast show presenters by Maina and King’ang’i purporting to be marriage counselors will one day be quantified by sociologists.
Nonsense FM is the nickname given to the Classic breakfast show in some parts of Kenyan social media. But the reality is that while many Kenyans swear they do not partake of the content, for years now Maina’s show tops the ratings charts and rakes in millions of advertising shillings. The hypocrisy of Kenyans runs deep.
This hypocrisy extends to Kenyan companies. As long as Maina has the numbers then they are willing to turn a blind eye to the content and that is why East Africa Breweries Limited (Eabl) wadding into the Homeboyz presenters’ debacle was viewed with suspicion.
With the issue raising a storm on social media Eabl announced they were suspending sponsorship to Radio Africa on any show featuring the disgraced trio. Curious thing being that under law, alcohol in Kenya is not advertised in the morning. Eyes are now on Eabl and other corporates to see whether they would ever withdraw sponsorship from a show like Maina’s or if their reaction regarding Homeboyz was merely a case of optics and looking like they care.
Arising from this storm is the issue of media freedom and whether an advertiser should be allowed to overtly dictate content.
First up, it needs to ensure that the curriculum of journalism schools across the country is pushed into the 21st century as the calibre of journalists being churned out currently leaves a lot to be desired.
Secondly, MCK needs to protect the media industry from quacks. While talent is a bigger cornerstone for success as a media practitioner and this has occasioned the idea that anyone can be a journalist there is a huge need to avail journalistic training to the comedians, socialites, and loud debes that currently populate the airwaves.
Thirdly, MCK needs to ensure that laws made in relation to media in the country are not punitive and that Kenyan corporates do not excessively wield their advertising revenue power as a stick or carrot to media houses.
According to the law, the fine is payable upon conviction. Conviction should happen after a case is heard and decided. The CA statement was issued on 28th March while the offending show was broadcast on 24th March. Were 4 days really enough to conduct an “extensive review” of the matter? Or was CA merely playing to the public gallery?
If it is a matter of optics may I suggest that the one million shillings fine if it is ever paid be donated to organizations that deal with matters relating to Gender-based violence?
The Homeboyz storm may have blown over but it is my prayer that the numerous issues arising do not get swept under the carpet until the next social media storm.
Gender-based violence is unfortunately a scourge on our nation and its reportage needs to be handled with sensitivity.
Media houses and journalists need to realize that journalism is more than celebrity status, quest for ratings and search for advertising revenue.
Both Media Council of Kenya and Communication Authority of Kenya also need to figure out ways to be supporting cast in the growth and betterment of Kenya’s communication industry and not just the bearers of fines and sanctions.
“Why had I not met you before? You know exactly what you have to do and you deliver it single-handedly.”
High praise from the high priest of football match-fixing globally.
These words are from a memoir “Kelong Kings” described by its publishers as the “ultimate tale about gambling, soccer and match-fixing, told directly by the man who made it all happen.”
Courtesy – Amazon
The man was Wilson Raj Perumal, one of the shareholders of a Singapore-based match-fixing syndicate that manipulated the outcome of football matches worldwide so as to bet on the rigged results.
Singaporean Perumal spoke as he reportedly struck a deal in 2010 with Willis Ochieng, a Kenyan goalkeeper who was then playing in the Finnish top league.
The goalkeeper is alleged to have been paid twenty-five thousand euros (6 million Kenyan shillings) to fix two games with Perumal gushing in his praise, “Willis proved to be the kind of player that match-fixers want for their business; convinced and dedicated.”
Despite the details of the deal being spelt out in Perumal’s book, football’s world governing body FIFA found the Kenyan goalkeeper had no case to answer.
Fast forward 11years later and Willis having retired from active professional football now works as a goalkeeper trainer in the Kenyan Premier league (KPL).
For the last 4 years he had been tasked with sharing his skills with the goalkeepers of KPL defending champions Gor Mahia.
How a player whose name on Google search reveals his match-fixing past was not only able find work in the KPL but on the technical bench of the perennial champions should be cause for concern.
Pool – Sportspesa news
39-year old Willis, born and bred in the slums of Mathare in Nairobi and known in football circles as Awilo resigned his position at Gor Mahia last month claiming his abrupt departure was because he had not been paid for 14 months.
However, his exit coincided with a probe instigated by Gor’s officials to investigate whether a string of poor results by the team was as a result of some players and technical officials being involved in match-fixing.
Willis continues to plead his innocence but Kenyan football lost its innocence long ago.
As far back as 2009 Perumal had an association with officials in the Kenyan football federation (FKF). Through his wheeler-dealing national football teams participated in tournaments across the globe that are mentioned in “Kelong Kings” as having being manipulated for financial gain.
The dalliance culminated in the fixing of Kenya’s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria that eventually saw defender George “Wise” Owino banned for 10 years from all football related activities by FIFA and handed a hefty fine.
In February 2020, FIFA banned four East African players for manipulation of matches during the 2019 KPL season. This as dubious Singaporean companies purported to sponsor teams in the KPL with a curious provision that they be allowed to introduce players – normally defenders and goalkeepers – into the teams. As recently as January 2021, a Ugandan was arrested in Kisumu allegedly trying to fix a KPL match pitting Western Stima against KCB.
European betting is mostly premised on results: win, draw or loss but Asian betting is more about goals scored, conceded and at what time. This makes it harder to detect a match that is being manipulated especially in a league setting.
According to “Kelong Kings”, “if you have a league club, you let it play, because this is your chicken that’s going to give you an egg every week: a golden egg.”
The KPL has a total of 34 games in a season all which are available for betting and whose results are updated in real-time making the Kenyan top flight league a golden goose for betting syndicates.
Pool – KPL Media
How golden? According to the book, illegal Asian betting syndicates powered by live betting reportedly make over a million US dollars in profit from a single fixed match.
To ensure that the goose keeps laying the eggs, the match-fixers are willing to splurge. Perumal shares that, “In 2008, the market rate for players was around 20 thousand US dollars per match for a goalkeeper and 10 thousand US dollars for a defender. While sixty thousand US dollars bought you the full set of referees (1 centre ref and 2 assistants).”
When you consider these amounts in the backdrop of the poverty that engulfs Kenyan football it is clear that the managers of football in the country have their work cut out to rid the beautiful game of the match-fixing stain.
However, this may prove to be tough as Kenyan football currently runs on betting money. BetKing is the title sponsor of the KPL while OdiBets are so-called motivational partners of Harambee Stars.
Pool – FKF Communications
This sticky situation is aptly captured in “Kelong Kings” as Perumal states, “Nowadays football equals gambling plus live betting and betting companies provide a good portion of the money needed to keep the whole circus afloat.”
After reading the “Kelong Kings” one cannot help but look at football in a new light. Thinking how much of what is cheered on so loudly is real and how much of it is fake.
The book also shows the mindset of a compulsive gambler as Perumal gambles away millions of dollars in matches that he has not fixed.
The “Kelong Kings” which is currently only available on Kindle on Amazon with the paperback version out of stock should be a must read for all football fans.
Fair warning though, the book is mostly written in Perumal’s words and the language is crude and his prejudice seeps through.
Patience is required as the book builds up slowly starting in rural Singapore before going on to touch all the corners of the globe in an astonishing web of corruption and greed.
***
Pool – AIPS
A silver lining over the cloud of match-fixing that hangs over the Kenyan football is the fact that NTV’s Idah Waringa and former Daily Nation football writer Jeff Kinyanjui were recently feted by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) for their investigative reporting on the scourge on various Nation Media Group platforms.
This post celebrating Kilifi was shockingly forgotten in my drafts after atrip there a couple of years back.
The beauty of the pictures (taken with an Infinix phone) and the awesome memories evoked is a timely reminder of the beauty of travel and of being random.
Enjoy!
***
From Mombasa to Kilifi the scenery is gorgeous.
Once you are past Mtwapa town and into Mtwapa rural then sisal is all you will see.
With majestic Baobab trees dotting the landscape.
This was a view from a public barazani just metres away from the entry into Kilifi town.
I stumbled on it and it took my breathe away.
Sat here for a couple of hours. Gazed into the Indian ocean. Felt so peaceful.
According to the locals who I sat next to, the house peeking out at the corner of the picture is owned by a Kenyatta-era big-shot civil servant. It was used as an example of locals feeling a sense of injustice.
Chapati and coconut beans. Ordered for two chapatis. Added a third. Most tasty meal I ate in 2016. So yummy!
So affordable. If you are ever in Kilifi then you know where to eat.
There was little magical about the 2021 Magical Kenya Open European Tour event that was held at the par-71 Karen Country Club last weekend.
South African Justin Harding may have smiled as he banked 20 million Kenyan shillings for his win as he improved from joint-second in 2019 but for Kenyan golfers, the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) who are the organizers of the event and for the Kenyan government which is the title sponsor, there was little to smile about.
South African, Justin Harding, is presented with the Kenya Open Golf Championship trophy by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Karen Country Club. (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)
The Kenya Open which is Kenya’s premier golf event joined the prestigious European Tour in 2019 as the Kenyan government sought to use golf to boost tourism in the country.
The Coronavirus pandemic saw the 2020 edition cancelled with the 2021 edition looking to build on the 2019 gains. In keeping with Ministry of Health guidelines the 2021 Open was played without fans in attendance and with golfers and caddies in a bio-secure bubble.
This meant the visiting golfers would not be able to adequately sample Kenya’s tourism offering lying to waste the government’s ambition of using golf to boost tourism numbers.
When announcing the Kenya Tourism Board title sponsorship in 2019 of the Kenya Open, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala had celebrated the fact that the event would be beamed into homes globally. A television reach estimated at a possible 600 million viewers was set to offer a great marketing opportunity for Kenya as a tourism destination.
However, due to what the European Tour Productions termed as “logistical difficulties” the live world feed coverage that was to be used by Sky Sports and global broadcast partners was unavailable for three of the four days of the Magical Kenya Open. No TV coverage basically meant that if there was any magic on the greens it was being seen by no-one thereby hammering a further nail into the sports tourism coffin.
Courtesy – Google
For the main story out of Karen country club on international media for three days of the Kenya Open to have been the lack of TV coverage was a huge blow to Kenya’s ambition to be a sports tourism hub through the hosting of high profile international sports events.
In June, the iconic Safari Rally is poised to rev off as a World Rally Championship leg. Kenya’s ability to pull off a flawless Safari amidst Covid-19 will lie in its ability to have world class organization and attention to detail. The world will be watching if the WRC Safari Rally organizers will have learnt from the mistakes of the 2021 Magical Kenya Open.
Onto the golfing action and from a Kenyan perspective there was very little to cheer. Only one Kenyan professional golfer, Samuel Njoroge of Railway Club made the cut in 2021 down from the two – Simon Ngige of Thika Golf Club and Justus Madoya of Great Rift Valley Lodge Golf Resort – who made the cut in 2019.
25-year old Njoroge, carded at par overall after rounds of 72, 68, 74, 70 to finish at position 77. For his efforts he banked 2, 257 euros which is Ksh. 293,000 from the event’s purse. He also took home the Ksh. 100,000 award from KBL for every Kenyan golfer to make the cut.
Railways professional golfer Samuel Njoroge in action during the 2021 Magical Kenya Open. (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)
This poor performance was despite the best efforts of KOGL through the Safari Golf Tour, which was launched in 2018 as a preparation pad for local and regional professional players heading into the Kenya Open.
No Kenyan professional golfer has ever won the Kenya Open with Jacob Okello’s second place finish in 1998 the closest a Kenyan has gotten to success. It speaks volumes that Okello is still representing Kenya 23 years later.
(Left to Right) Pro-Golfers Dismas indiza, Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, Samuel Njoroge, Rizwan Charania, Jacob Okello, Greg Snow and Mathew Omondi. (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)
From a layman’s perspective there are various reasons as to the continued poor performance of Kenyan golfers at the Kenya Open. First, golf still retains an elitist tag and is not seen as an actual sport by the general public. Second, the median age that Kenyan professional golfers pick up the sport is quite high compared to top golfers globally. Third, sponsorship of actual golfers to horn their skills at high level golf events outside the country is negligible. Fourth, the public golf facility at Lenana School that has been promised for years by the government is yet to be actualized.
A public golf facility would take the sport to the masses in ways the members-only golf clubs cannot while the facility been in a school would serve as a way to attract regular Kenyan kids to the sport thus removing the elitist tag while also reducing the age of Kenyan pro-golfers. Public tennis spaces in the under-privileged areas of California in America gave the world the phenomenal Williams sisters.
The one Magical thing about the Kenya Open is its ability to attract sponsorship. While other sports federations are barely surviving with the effects of the pandemic hitting Kenyan sportspeople hard, Kenya Open Golf Limited is swimming in money. Kenya Tourism Board, Vision 2030 Delivery secretariat, Absa Kenya, Kenya Breweries Limited all swung in with millions of shillings to boost the 2021 Magical Kenya Open.
Courtesy – Google
How to turn the cash liquidity to Kenyan success on the greens is the million dollar question.
*A version of this article first appeared on Business Daily.
The Ongea Summit is in its third year and as someone who has the feel of the Nairobi art scene it was embarrassing that I was yet to attend the annual festival in the past three years.
Script would have been the same in 2018 had I not stumbled on a tweet by Tim Rimbui who was the moderator of a session dubbed ‘Beats and Business that piqued my curiosity.
The thrust of the conversation was on to get content into the hands of industry shapers that matter and eventually to the audience.
Writing this a week after the chat my take-homes are:
You have to know your audience, you have to know your market, you have to know the gatekeepers of your industry. Intimately. And be aware that change happens constantly.
The internet and social media is great as a content maker but you have to build actual real life relationships and grow interpersonal skills to push your content as every cog in the production line of content is important.
The content is not for you. Once you create you have to get folk to like it and buy it. Therefore best you be adaptable to the market in as much as you strive for purity of the art. If it cannot be bought, what is it for?
Passion and grit is the difference between average and above average. And you would be surprised how common talent is.
Yes, you can and you should be proficient in multiple skills but find a niche and really work on it.
All the panelists brought their A-game even DJ Space who was picked from the audience after DJ Creme was a no-show. Special mention to Adelle Anyango who wowed me with her eloquence and understanding of the Kenyan music scene vis-a-vis radio. It was awesome to finally understand the rationale behind Kiss FM overplay of hits.
Troy White, the founder of Temple Management also had awesome gems from the American hip hop scene that resonated with me. In addition stumbled on Martin Keino who is also part of Temple and he intimated that Temple would also be unveiling several partnerships with Kenyan sporting icons soon.
The audience was also great with thought provoking questions asked. There is clearly as huge a hunger for knowledge on the arts as there are artsy folk in Nairobi. Got me thinking that perhaps there is need to have the Ongea Summit talks more often as there is a hunger that needs satisfying.
This was best shown by how folk crowded Sauti Sol’s Polycarp Otieno after talk seeking to get more information.
Once was done with the engaging conversation walked around the Sarit Centre Expo hall checking out the exhibitors in the 56 stands to get a feel of the range of the Kenyan art scene currently.
It was lovely to see Musyoka of Decimal Records holding court on the white couch at his stall and giving eager artistes 5 minutes of his time to pitch him. There was even a queue.
In my walk about learnt about the Presidential Music Commission of Kenya that was gazetted in 1988. Gotta say they have not done a great job at shouting about their existence. From the website the commission should be of huge help to Kenyan musicians.
The organ was a huge part of my formative years and seeing a mini-version at a stall made me stop and gawk.
This lead to a chat with the old man who sold the pianos. My protestation that I was too old to learn how to play was countered by a 15 minute monologue on how it is never late. So maybe I shall choose an instrument and enrol for classes.
Leaving the venue and walking around Sarit stumbled on an activation by Nairobi’s newest radio station NRG. The activation brought to the fore the new way to hook crowds in a mall in the age of social media. It has to be eye-popping, catchy, picture-worthy so as to be shared on social. Even I stopped to take a picture.
Change really is the only constant. You have to adapt constantly so to keep on being with it.
All in all a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon with numerous tidbits picked.
Moderate Kenyan 