Of family and royalty

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. 

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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.

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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.

He must have enjoyed organizing his own funeral as a final piece of his own rebellion and independence from the Monarchy.

**

Prince Philip was reported by most accounts to be a man who did not suffer fools gladly and who had little time for ceremony. That was the British understated way of saying he was nasty and a racist.

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.

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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.

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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.

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(All photos are courtesy of Google)

Covid-19 vaccine offers Kenya a glimmer of hope

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

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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?

The science regarding receiving a single dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is reassuring.

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.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

Turbulence on the airwaves

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 Kamene Goro.

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. 

Enter Media Council of Kenya (MCK). Supposed to be the watchdog for Kenyan media MCK keeps playing catch up.

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.

Speaking of law and a player that stormed into the debate was Communication Authority of Kenya (CA). Quoting the Kenya Information and Communication Act, Section 46, I, as well as Section 1.3,4 of the Programming Code, CA through a press statement fined Homeboyz one million shillings and issued a raft of punitive measures.

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.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

The fix on Kenyan football and the confessions of a global match-fixer

“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.

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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.